Jesse Marsch is tipping Brenden Aaronson to play a key role for Leeds United this season after watching his encouraging performance against Aston Villa on Sunday morning. Aaronson produced a lively display at the Suncorp Stadium against Premier League opposition, looking to get on the ball as much as possible and create things in front of a crowd of more than 40,000 people.
The United States international impressed off the ball, too, as he pressed defenders high up the field and dropped deep in order to help his side win back possession. The match was only a pre-season friendly, of course, but Aaronson, signed from Red Bull Salzburg at the start of the off-season, certainly looked the part and the head coach likes what he has seen so far.
Marsch knows the midfielder well having worked with him in Austria and he certainly knows what the 21-year-old is capable of in the white of Leeds.
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“Brenden is obviously a very hard worker and he covers a lot of ground in matches,” March said after his side’s 1-0 defeat in Brisbane. “He's a very intelligent player so he understands tactically what we're trying to achieve with and against the ball.
“It's about continuing to add the last actions with assists and goals and but I know him and I know his cleverness and intelligence and quality. I think that will come more and more, and it's good for him, I think, to be in this match today and to see the level of physicality to see the speed of play, and to adjust.
“I'll say this when he first came to Salzburg, the first training session, I thought: ‘he's in over his head here. He's going to have to adjust to all of the level of what's happening’.
“Within two weeks, he was almost our best player and so that's the quality he has. Because of intelligence, because of his desire, because of his hard work, he's able to apply his talents rather quickly and adapt and grow. So we'll need that again.
“I think he's going to be an important player for us this year. I think for the first match against Premier League talent, I thought he had a good performance.”
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