Leeds United dos and don'ts for Brenden Aaronson — Graham Smyth's Verdict on shock return — YEP 10/6/24

By Graham Smyth

If Leeds United returnee Brenden Aaronson truly knows what he's signing up for then he must be made of sterner stuff than was once thought.

First, a myth. Or maybe it's just semantics. When this correspondent once put it to an ex-Premier League defender - 100 English top flight games and more than half as many international caps to his name - that the further you fell down the pyramid the more physical the football became, he scoffed. The higher up you go, he contended, the more physical it got, until you reached peak physicality in the Premier League. Where the strongest, fastest and most explosive players ply their trade with an intensity those below the level can only dream of.

What people probably mean then, when they talk about the EFL and its physicality, is that it's the land where wispy flair players go to get kicked up in the air. And Aaronson, in his first season at Leeds, could only really lay claim to wispy because though there were flashes of flair, he did not set the Premier League alight. Instead, he frustrated fans by going to ground under too many challenges that referees deemed fair, so the ball was lost. Herein lies the first of the dos and don'ts. Do come back a bit bigger, a bit stronger, more robust. Don't go to ground repeatedly holding your ankle and looking to the officials.

Aaronson was more than aware of the criticism aimed at him during that horrible first campaign in England. Speaking to The Athletic last season during his loan spell with Union Berlin he said: "I think since that last year I’ve gotten stronger because I’ve been in the weight room a lot more. I work on it every day. I try to get stronger every single day. But I think that I learned a lot more because I’ve always been the smallest one. So I’ve always had to be between the lines and be smart. Also, during parts of the season last year, I was trying to draw fouls around the box and people thought, ‘Oh, he’s going down too easy’. But that was just me trying to get fouls. So it’s a little bit of both. But I think I can definitely get stronger.”

As Crysencio Summerville will attest, you do not have to go looking far for fouls in the Championship. Defenders in this league might not be as big, powerful and quick as their Premier League counterparts, so there will be times when they rely on foul means, rather than fair, to dispossess you of the ball. Summerville's fitness had to be carefully managed for the duration of the last campaign and the kicks he took to his ankles and calves played a part in that. If they cannot catch you, they have to kick you and Summerville was fouled 77 times - almost twice per 90 minutes he played. Georginio Rutter was the most kicked man in the division, winning 113 fouls. To carry the ball in this division, let alone score goals or claim assists, you have to wade through pain. That's what Summerville and Rutter did to make themselves standout players in the Championship. That's what Aaronson is letting himself in for, by deciding that Leeds is the place for him in 2024/25. Do get ready, don't expect anything else. Do win free-kicks but don't let that be the only way that you hurt teams or what you're remembered for.

Which brings us onto arguably the most difficult part of Aaronson's return - how he's currently viewed by the fans. The YEP broke the news on Monday morning that Daniel Farke is going to make the American part of his plans next season. Social media, which is of course not to be taken as a true barometer because of the extremity of opinions and the faceless, unaccountable nature of some of the discourse, reveals a mixed response, at best. Some can see the merit in adding a number 10 with the potential to dribble past players and find passes through lines in the final third - so as long as Aaronson actually does that they'll be fine with his presence. Others have let the rat emoji do their talking. But this, Leeds will tell you, is how it was for Willy Gnonto. There was no way back, said some. At Bristol City, when he hit the back of the net, there was no holding the away end back. Goals can be a salve for even the deepest wounds, so do score them. Maybe don't do the Leeds salute for a while, though.

The Gnonto case was definitely aided by the Italian winger's talent and ultimately dictated by how he used it on the pitch. The same may happen for Aaronson. But Gnonto did other things too, which helped. He was part of some wholesome moments off the pitch, always flanked by his best mate Summerville, delighting young fans and giving up time for the club's community efforts. Aaronson, like so many American athletes, will be good at that stuff. He speaks well, he comes across like a nice kid. Do make time for the fans, just don't expect them all to sugarcoat their feelings.

Gnonto did not do a tonne of media work last season, especially in the months that followed his transfer request. The talking was left to Farke, the club's leader, and Gnonto was therefore protected from saying something that could be misconstrued or simply something he genuinely felt that would have poured petrol and not cold water on the embers of that August situation. Aaronson is a little more versed in media briefings - American athletes grow up around microphones in dressing rooms and by the side of pitches - and his USMNT involvement makes air time a little more inevitable. Leeds fans like to tell it how it is, they like to hear it how it is and if Aaronson is going to do any talking then they'll want him to speak plainly. Do be honest, don't shy away from reality. Do address your decision, do explain why you're coming back, do ask for a second chance. Don't expect it to come with a pat on the back.

Ultimately, this is not going to be an easy return. Leeds have started the reintegration process nice and early and that's smart. People will need time to get used to the idea, some will and some will not. Aaronson must know all of this and yet he's still signing on for a season of it. So maybe, just maybe he's got a bit more about him than many would have suggested last summer, or even last week. There were easier options on the table, by all accounts. Players have existed well outside the favour of the fans and then proven their worth - take Junior Firpo's unlikely emergence as an important part of Farke's team last season. To think the 'you've seen Firpo' song would ever be replaced with something far more complimentary would have been considered folly at one stage. And yet. Aaronson, too, has got a second chance. Do take it. Don't expect a third.