Who Is Brenden Aaronson - How Good Is He Really?
Let's dive into the meteoric rise of this young USMNT star
On March 17th, 2019 the Philadelphia Union midfielder Brendan Aaronson scored his first professional goal vs. Atlanta United. It was the 47th minute of the match when Aaronson found some space and slotted a shot past Atlanta’s goalkeeper, Brad Guzan. Guzan fell to the ground ushering in a new wave of USMNT talent with Aaronson at the forefront. Well…not so fast.
It was at this time that Aaronson was barely on the USMNT radar. We’ll get there.
Fast forward to February 10th, 2021 and Brendan Aaronson was back at it again. This time Brendan would score his first goal for Red Bull Salzburg in an Austrian Bundesliga match. Lastly this season Aaronson would strike another goal monumental goal. This goal you could argue would be his biggest professional goal to date. The setting was in the UEFA Champions League play-off match against Brondby. Aaronson would not only score his first ever Champions League goal, but it would end up being the game winner against the Danish squad.
So how did Brendan Aaronson the Philadelphia Union homegrown player go from making his professional debut for the Union in 2019 to scoring in the UEFA Champions League only two years later? Let’s find out.
Aaronson’s career really got started when the Medford, New Jersey native decided to enroll at YSC Academy. Well technically Aaronson was scouted to attend the Academy. It was there that Brendan continued his education off the pitch and played in the Philadelphia Union academy squad. The year was 2015 and Brendan might not have known it at the time, but this move would path the way for his professional success in only a matter of years.
In fact only two years later Aaronson would appear in the USL Championship for Bethlehem Steel F.C. Making a total of 21 appearances in the USL Championship (the division right below MLS) Aaronson would eventually sign a professional contract with the Philadelphia Union to start the 2019 season.
Remember Marco Fabian?
Yes, the same player who scored a brace for Guadalajara against FC Barcelona in 2011.
The former Mexican National Team icon, 2014 World Cup participant for El-Tri, and DFB-Pokal winner for Eintracht Frankfurt. Well going into the 2019 season you might remember that the Union splashed some cash, roughly 2 million dollars to sign Marco Fabian. With tons of excitement, and anticipation Fabian’s signing would somewhat overshadow Brendan Aaronson’s homegrown/first team agreement with the Union. In fact it wasn’t truly until Fabian got hurt that Aaronson started taking the reigns as the Union’s true #10.
In an April 17th, 2019 Philadelphia Soccer Page article fans & even Jim Curtin were starting to take notice at how special this kid could be. The Philly Soccer page stated:
“Aaronson started his first game for Philadelphia after Fabián picked up a red card and accompanying two-match suspension against Sporting Kansas City. All he did was score his first professional goal in the home of the defending MLS champs, Atlanta United FC. The Homegrown from Medford, NJ hasn’t left Curtin’s game-day starting XI since. The kid has become the most discussed Union player in both the local and national media.”
At the end of his rookie season, Aaronson finished second for 2019 ‘MLS Rookie Of The Year, with three goals and two assists in over 1,640 minutes played. Aaronson was the youngest player out of the five finalists at only 18 years of age.
The 2020 season would see more of the same for Brendan Aaronson. But even before the start of the 2020 Major League Soccer season Brendan would be called up to the USMNT came in January of 2020. The midfielder’s impact was immediate. Aaronson scored in his second game, a 6-0 friendly demolition of El Salvador in December 2020. He ran, unmarked, into the box from deep and received a pass from Lletget on the left and tapped it home via a deflection. His movement, positioning, and tenacity was a breath of fresh air for a young USMNT squad.
When Brenden attended the camp Coach Gregg Berhalter challenged Aaronson to ‘validate his progress.’ Berhalter would state ’he’s had a fantastic season, improving almost weekly.’
Aaronson would validate the process, or whatever dramatic phrase Burkhalter used. Then following his first ever camp with the USMNT came the MLS Is Back Tournament. With the nation’s eyes all over MLS, Brenden Aaronson would put on a show. He would showcase to the rest’ of MLS that he was the real deal, and it was at this tournament that European teams started contacting the Philadelphia Union. The 2020 Major League Soccer season would come to a close with Aaronson earning not only MLS Is Back Tournament ‘Best XI,’ but also ‘MLS Best XI’ for the entirety of the 2020 campaign.
On October 16th, 2020 it was announced that Aaronson would join Red Bull Salzburg effective January 2021. With the highest transfer fee paid ever for an American homegrown player from MLS, Brenden would make the leap to the Austrian Bundesliga. Reported fee was somewhere around $6 million, but possibly as high as $9 million dollars. Brenden’s arrival at Salzburg saw him playing for former Red Bulls coach and now coach of Red Bull Leipzig, Jesse Marsch. Under Jesse, Aaronson excelled and had 7 goals in all competitions for Red Bull plus 5 assists (not bad for making the jump to Europe at only 19 years of age).
This season has been more of the same for Brenden and now with a more consistent role for the USMNT, his name is finally at the forefront of Berhlater’s World Cup Qualifying campaign.
So this leads me to my next question, what makes Brenden Aaronson so effective? What is the young midfielders ceiling?
Let’s first start with Brenden’s traits as a player.
His number one trait is his motor. If you’ve ever watched Brenden, then you know that he can run all day long. Whether he is in the midfield or out on the wing, Aaronson will give you his all on both sides of the ball. Brenden is very rarely substituted out due to fatigue so if he is every pulled late in a match it is typically more for tactical reasons. He is very tidy on the ball. The young USMNT player has an extremely quick first step. You will see Aaronson commit with conviction, and confidence in the final third. He’s very skilled at generating space for himself and signaling out his teammates.
The one focus for Brenden during his time with the Union was to work on his scoring abilities. In only a couple of years he is already finding the back of the net more often and will even more as he becomes more polished.
If there is any area of improvement for Aaronson it is in his ability to hold the ball. His vision has certainly improved, but from a physicality standpoint sometimes Brenden will lose the ball in a tight space or make an errant pass.
Let me be clear…these are my observations from watching Brenden as a Philadelphia Union supporter, and USMNT fan. From the clips I’ve gathered and articles I’ve read, he is rapidly improving in each one of these categories while at Red Bull Salzburg.
So that leads me to my next topic…what is Brenden’s ceiling?
Well one thing is certain, top European clubs are taking notice. Brenden has already been rumored to move to AC Milan in the offseason. Red Bull Leipzig would of course be a natural move for the young player to join forces with Tyler Adams and Jesse Marsch, but this is Aaronson’s career. He will dictate his own trajectory.
To be quite honest, I’ll leave the ceiling part up to you guys. You’ve already heard from me how much Brenden has improved over the past three seasons. So let’s turn this question towards you, the State Of Soccer Weekly subscribers, what do you think Brenden Aaronson’s ceiling is?
Lastly where would you like to see him move to?
So that does it for another article of State Of Soccer Weekly.
I want to thank you again for your time, and until next article support your local club and as always, GO USMNT!!