Leeds United man on his plan for a lonely Christmas and embracing the ugly side — YEP 22/12/24

By Graham Smyth

It will be lonely this Christmas for a Leeds United man.

Brenden Aaronson says Leeds United must embrace ugliness in order to take care of business away from home.

The Whites have a near-perfect record at Elland Road this season with 10 wins, one draw and a single defeat.

Since that loss to Burnley they have won nine in a row at home to stay in touch with Championship leaders Sheffield United.

On the road, however, things have not gone so smoothly. Draws at Norwich City, Sunderland, Bristol City and Preston North End have contributed to the Whites' two-points-per-game average but 1-0 defeats at Millwall and Blackburn Rovers bred frustration among the fanbase.

The performance at Preston was far from vintage, too. Boxing Day brings another tricky away day with an 8pm kick-off at Stoke City and Aaronson believes the same intensity that has made Elland Road a fortress will be key.

"I think we're very confident at home," he said. "I think all of us know how to cope with the pressure. We know that we have to win week in and week out, that's the standard. So I think that we show that in training, we train for that. And I think that we're all going to be ready for this game, and we're all going to be energetic and ready to go.

“These games away aren't easy, because the pitches might not be the best, the way that the other team is playing us is tough, but I think most [important] of all for us is just having this intensity. Sometimes it's not gonna be the prettiest game, but it's just getting over the line."

Boss Daniel Farke was critical of the way his side started the game at Blackburn Rovers and there was a similarly sluggish opening to the draw at Preston. Aaronson reiterates that intensity is required on the road right from the off but he admits that aesthetics might need to take a back seat.

"I think everywhere you go, it's going to be different games," he said.

“It's going to be a little bit different when you go away, because they're going to be confident at home, they're going to want to play their style, and it's tough, some of the conditions don't go our way.

“Not every game is going to be perfect away I mean, if you look at all the best teams in the world, not every game away from home is the easiest, but they are able to grind out results. And that's what we need to keep doing away from home.

“It might be an ugly game, but getting the one-zero win and just getting out of there, you know what I mean? That's what the season's about. So we've got to focus on that for sure."

With an important game at Stoke looming large, Aaronson's 2024 Christmas is not the most appealing. None of his family are in England at present so he will be cooking for one - although he admits the kitchen is not an area of strength.

"I have no one here at the moment, which is not the best," he said. "I would like to be home in America with my family and stuff like that, but, you know, that's the job. That's what I came over here to do.

“Playing football in England, I know that Boxing Day is a big day for everybody. I'm not much of a cook so it'll be interesting if I do try to cook, I probably won't to be honest but it'll just be me, myself and I.

“I'll put on my record player, probably listen to some Christmas tunes and I'm just going to be chilling, get on FaceTime with my parents and we'll open presents together."

The attacker will not face too long on his lonesome, with Christmas Eve and Christmas Day training sessions planned at Thorp Arch before the team travels down to Stoke together to embrace the ugly side of the festive period.