The international break was a good one for many on Leeds United’s books, with six of the 16 called-up to represent their countries even finding the back of the net.
Rasmus Kristensen, Dan James, Mateo Joseph, Sam Chambers, Diogo Monteiro and Junior Firpo all found the back of the net over the last fortnight. Ao Tanaka helped Japan qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Isaac Schmidt made his debut for Switzerland and plenty of others enjoyed the couple of weeks away from the pressure cooker that is the Championship run-in. For Brenden Aaronson, maybe not so much.
Mauricio Pochettino didn’t call Aaronson up, and the decision to omit him from USA’s squad came before his dismal mistake against QPR. For some while now, Aaronson has been poor in a Leeds United shirt.
Daniel Farke shares what he’s noticed about Brenden Aaronson
The £25m signing’s effectiveness has certainly reduced over the last couple of months and yet he still has the trust of Daniel Farke. Indeed, Aaronson has started the last 36 Championship games for The Whites.
Willy Gnonto’s ankle injury on Italy U21 duty might just give Aaronson a reprieve, with Gnonto expected to come in before he returned early from Italy duty. Now, Farke has said Aaronson has caught his eye.
“His tank was empty, but in the last few days in training he looks recharged. He looks relentless, he is on the up again. The gut-feeling is that his dry spell and more-challenging spell is over,” Farke said on him.
“That is not a guarantee he will play, there is competition. I’m pretty sure he will have a decent impact, like he has done over 90% of the season so far. I’m confident he can get back to his best,” Farke added.
USA axe might have been good news for Brenden Aaronson
That is the opinion of Farke, who felt Aaronson was running on empty and needed to recharge over the last couple of weeks. Judging by Farke’s verdict of Aaronson in training, he has done just that recently.
With Aaronson now likely to start against Swansea, the proof will be in the pudding. But Farke believes Aaronson was running on empty and now, has been recharged ahead of the final eight league games.
“We must not forget that he has had two difficult years. He had something to prove and yet he has been outstanding for a long period; goals, assists. You can’t burn like a candle from both sides for 46 games.
“There are going to be difficult spells. His work load is outstanding. His end product dried up and then an unlucky situation against QPR, he was disappointed. Beneficial for him to be left out of the US squad.”
Farke also confirmed that Patrick Bamford is available again, while Ethan Ampadu will be in the squad on Saturday and Gnonto could also be in the mix. Good news for Leeds then, on the injury front.
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