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US Media react Brenden Aaronson as Leeds United loanee starts in Trinidad and Tobago defeat
Leeds United loanee Brenden Aaronson started and played the full 90 minutes as the United States lost 2-1 to Trinidad and Tobago on Monday 20 November.
The USMNT won their CONCACAF Nations League clash 4-2 on aggregate, but were beaten on the night by goals from Reon Moore and Alvin Jones after Sergino Dest’s early red card saw the away side reduced to 10 men for 50 minutes of action.
Despite the disappointing result on the night for Gregg Berhalter’s side, Aaronson had a fairly impressive night for his national side from the left wing, earning plenty of credit for his performance from the United States media.
ESPN gave the Leeds loanee a 7/10, describing the 23-year-old as one of the United States’ most energetic players as well as crediting him for asking the opposition defence plenty of questions with his “dangerous shots”. They were also impressed by his good distribution to teammates.
American outlet MLSSoccer.com was more critical of Aaronson’s display, grading it a 6/10 and admitting that the midfielder’s quality in the final third was “frustratingly absent”. They point out the fact the Union Berlin man spurned a couple of chances when he would have been better served to look for teammates.
The US version of Goal also agreed that the 23-year-old “could have and probably should have” scored one of his early chances in the game. However, they were impressed with his overall energy and battle in the middle of the park, giving him a 7/10.
Not a bad night
It hasn’t been a great start to life for Aaronson away from Leeds United this season, with the 23-year-old struggling for form for his national side and during his loan spell with Union Berlin and facing criticism for his poor start to the campaign.
But Monday’s clash, even if it ended in defeat, seems to have seen a better display from the Whites loanee, even if it once again lacked that all-important end product, something Leeds supporters know all too well after his short spell in the Premier League.
No player created more chances in the match than Aaronson with three and the 23-year-old had four shots on goal himself, spurning one big chance in the match in a performance that summed up the overall frustration felt by the USMNT and their supporters.
What was good to see was that he got stuck in out of possession, entering 20 ground duels in the match, and won 11 of his battles. The Leeds loanee also entered five tackles but failed to win a single challenge, it wasn’t the perfect performance but it was a step in the right direction.
In other Leeds United news, Simon Jordan has hit out at “tabloid tales” over the Whites reported lawsuit against Everton