Leeds United have kept sharp over their Premier League break by competing in a number of training games at Thorp Arch, Brenden Aaronson has revealed. The Whites have seen two games postponed over the last couple of weeks following the death of the Queen, with games against Nottingham Forest and Manchester United being pushed back to be played at a later date.
With the international break taking up the final stages of September, Leeds will go a month without a Premier League contest, with their next outing scheduled to come on October 2 against Aston Villa at Elland Road. Training has continued under Jesse Marsch, though, and the head coach has been keen to see his players keep themselves ticking over and remain sharp.
As such, while some senior faces dropped down into Michael Skubala’s Under-21s for some much-needed minutes on Friday night, it seems the head coach organised some games on the training field, too, before seeing a handful of his stars leave on international duty. Aaronson has linked up with the United States national team this week for games against Japan and Saudi Arabia as they continue their preparations for the World Cup in November and he admits the last few weeks have been challenging.
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However, the 21-year-old insists he is feeling fit after some intense work with the Whites.
“It’s been kind of tough not being able to get back in the swing of things,” Aaronson said, as per the Philadelphia Inquirer. “But we’ve had some intrasquad [games], and we’ve been training hard. So I feel ready to go.”
He added: “When you look at it, you take a step back, it’s like, ‘Wow, this is a crazy year with a lot of games,’ and it’s just all kind of clumped in together. You have to try to stay healthy as best you can, do everything you can to look after yourself, train more, and be ready for these kinds of things.”
Aaronson has been seen in a couple of positions for the Whites this term with Marsch initially asking him to feature on the right side of Leeds’ attacking quartet. However, the injury Patrick Bamford picked up against Southampton last month forced a reshuffle, with Aaronson moving into a central role.
However, it seems the midfielder doesn’t really have a preference when it comes to his role on the field.
“Position-wise, it doesn’t really matter, I think,” he said regarding his versatility. “I like playing both positions in different games. I think different games ask different players different opinions on the game.”
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