It’s fair to say Brenden Aaronson has found the going tough of late. The US international made an electric start to life at Leeds United following his summer switch from Red Bull Salzburg, but the pace of progress has slowed considerably over the last few months.
As such, after starting the club’s first 19 Premier League games this season, the midfielder has played just 73 minutes over the last four. He has done little to force Michael Skubala’s hand with his appearances off the bench and at Goodison Park on Saturday, he looked a shadow of the player that established himself by terrorising Chelsea back in August.
He was a prime candidate to drop down to represent the Under-21s on Monday night against Aston Villa at Elland Road, then. It was a chance for him to build up some traction and confidence, and while he only played 45 minutes before being replaced at half-time by Sam Greenwood, he certainly took the opportunity to impress.
Read more: Leeds United U21s ratings as Greenwood and Aaronson stand out in hard-fought Aston Villa win
In truth, Aaronson was relatively quiet during the opening stages of the game. He had the occasional involvement but he grew into the contest as the first half progressed, coming inside to play his part in build-up play on a regular basis and combine with the likes of Darko Gyabi, Georginio Rutter and Mateo Joseph.
The American took his goal exceptionally well, too. Latching onto a cushioned knock down from Kris Moore, Aaronson held off the defender, kept his nerve and drilled a low effort across the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner of the net from a tight angle.
It was a sublime finish, which is something Leeds fans haven’t seen too much of from him in the senior set-up, with one goal on his record so far. He should have had another moments later, scooping an effort wide from the edge of the six-yard box.
His energy and movement continued to ask questions of the young Villans, who had won their last five prior to coming unstuck in West Yorkshire, before his withdrawal at the break. Of course, the level of opposition must be taken into account, but the hope is that Aaronson can use the 45 minutes he picked up in the youth side as a springboard to go on and rediscover some form at a senior level.
It will obviously take more than just a good first half in the U21s to work his way back into the starting XI, but he will have done his chances of starting against Southampton at the weekend no harm at all, with Skubala watching on closely, no doubt.
Aaronson wasn’t the only man to impress on the night as the U21s snapped their four-game winless run, with Greenwood stealing the show with his second half performance. The likes of Kris Moore, Kristoffer Klaesson and Darko Gyabi caught the eye too in what was a hard-fought and tough win.
Rutter managed to show glimpses of his talent, but he’s still acclimatising to life in West Yorkshire and supporters are waiting to see what the forward is really capable of. Like Aaronson, he will have been aiming to gather a bit of momentum by performing well against Villa, but it just didn’t really happen for him.
The American, though, has every right to approach training this week with an extra spring in his step following his goal-scoring efforts on Monday night as he strives to help Leeds out of the relegation mire.
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