Daniel Farke finally dropped Brenden Aaronson as Leeds prepared to face Manchester City.
Fans have been furious to see the United States international start on a weekly basis despite doing very little to earn a spot in the starting XI.
Farke opted to defend Aaronson when asked in his press conference on Thursday why he continues to select the American, saying: “I have to say… he works his socks off, he’s relentless. Can criticise his performances, but right now, it’s unfair. He’s covering 13k per game. We’re looking so solid on our right.”
After Daniel Farke did finally drop Brenden Aaronson for the trip to the Etihad Stadium, some Leeds fans were still left infuriated – believing the German did it for one particular reason.
Leeds United fans actually think Daniel Farke chose to drop Brenden Aaronson so he can justify starting him
Supporters on X (previously known as Twitter) have theorised that Farke knew Leeds would struggle against Manchester City, so opted to leave Aaronson out as a way to justifying bringing him back immediately next time out.
Brenden Aaronson’s stats for Leeds in defeat to Villa
- 80 mins played, 6.4 FotMob rating (third-worst of Leeds’ starting players)
- XG+XA: 0.34, seven defensive contributions
- 1/3 shots on target, 1/5 successful dribbles
- 38 touches, 17/20 successful passes
- Two tackles, five recoveries
- Five duels won, eight lost
Struggle Leeds did as Phil Foden scored to put the Citizens ahead within the first minute.
One Leeds fan wrote: “Instead of trying a different formation or set-up he’s done like for like subs – some absolutely pointless ones – just so he can have an excuse for playing Aaronson again after we get hammered today. He’s a joke, should’ve been gone after Forest.”
Another supporter sarcastically posted: “I love this from Farke. Drop Aaronson for the game we get battered, so he can preach after the game about how important and valuable Aaronson is.”
A third Leeds fan echoed this sentiment when another supporter asked why Farke chose this particular game to start the likes of Dan James and Willy Gnonto, posting: “So he can use it as an excuse to say ‘well they didn’t do anything last time I played them’ and then continue playing Aaronson instead.”
The sarcasm continued as another Leeds fan wrote: “Like how he drops Aaronson for this game knowing we’ll get beat so he can say ‘I did it because the fans wanted it’ and then he’ll bring him back next week. Farke, get him gone.”
It was a widespread theory within the Leeds fanbase as others posted “we all know the rhetoric after the game” as supporters felt Gnonto and James were hung out to dry as Aaronson was protected on the bench.
What Daniel Farke said about Brenden Aaronson makes Manchester City exclusion very strange
As mentioned at the start of the article, Farke mentioned how Aaronson “works his socks off” and covers around 13km every game as a reason to justify his inclusion.
Daniel Farke shaking his head in his technical area, he’s furious at that second goal 😡
However, Leeds are unlikely to run more in another game this season compared to the tough clash against Manchester City – it feels like it would have been the perfect match for Aaronson to actually start.
It is the latest in a line of strange comments from Farke – who has opted to boast about possession and “physical output” in recent weeks despite Leeds suffering six defeats in the last seven games coming into this match.
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