Leeds United sit at the summit of the Championship and are hot favourites to earn automatic promotion to the Premier League this season. The 1-1 draw at home against West Brom on Saturday was a disappointing result but it is being seen as a minor blip in their march towards playing Premier League football next season. However, the result did bring forward some of the weaknesses the team have been hiding over the last few weeks, just by the sheer weight of the collective performances and the results. Particularly, one player has escaped any major scrutiny despite not playing anywhere close to his best in recent weeks. However, the West Brom result has firmly brought forward his poor performance under the limelight.
The Whites still have a three-point lead at the top of the Championship table and an eight-point buffer over teams sitting out the automatic promotion spots.
Leeds United are still widely expected to earn automatic promotion to the Premier League and are also being backed to go up as promotion winners with eleven games left in the season.
However, the 1-1 draw at Elland Road on Saturday has highlighted some of the flaws and players Leeds were managing to hide in the last few weeks through their results and performances.
Some of the players were escaping scrutiny as the results were far too good but one iffy performance has firmly highlighted the weaknesses Leeds have been carrying.
The team’s results and performances were a perfect cover for Aaronson’s underpar performances, but he was again poor against West Brom, and this time the result wasn’t good enough.
Leeds United should feel more and more worried about Aaronson
Aaronson has ten goal contributions in the Championship this season, which is an okay number for a player who is in the team more for the way he knits the player together rather than goals and assists.
However, he is still considered an attacking midfielder and his form over the last month or so has been dreadful when it comes to creating chances and scoring goals.
The United States midfielder has scored just once and has no assists in the last eleven games, which is a staggeringly poor stat for someone who is in the team to create.
Leeds are the top scorers in the Championship and the likes of Manor Solomon, Joel Piroe and Danial James are scoring and assisting to cover up the deficit.
However, Aaronson’s numbers are shocking for a player denoted as an attacking midfielder and plays in the number 10 role where he is expected to score and assist goals.
His lack of form in front of the goal really comes to the fore in tight games such as the West Brom fixture where a bit of magic could have earned them all three points.
The promotion race could still go down to the wire where Leeds will come up against teams desperate for points at both ends of the table and there could be more tight games.
Aaronson’s lack of numbers should be worrying for Daniel Farke and everyone associated at Leeds as they approach the business end of the season.
It’s time Daniel Farke makes a tough decision on Aaronson
Aaronson won over Daniel Farke once he returned from his loan stint in Germany last summer and revealed his decision to try and help Leeds get promoted back to the Premier League.
The Leeds boss has been unsure about reintegrating players who left Leeds as soon as they got relegated in 2023 and still has an uneasy relationship with Max Wober.
However, he has shown steadfast faith in Aaronson despite all the criticism against him, including from a section of the Leeds fans who have never really forgiven him.
Can you name these past and present Leeds United players?
The American midfielder has started the last 33 league games for Leeds, playing the full 90 minutes in 20 occasions, which shows how much Farke values him.
However, his lack of form must be addressed and the Leeds boss cannot continue to argue that he does more than scoring and assisting goals.
A different option needs to be tried and the Portsmouth game is an ideal opportunity for Farke to send a message to Aaronson to pull up his socks.
Break his 33-game run in the starting eleven and check whether it gets a response out of the American in the coming games, as Farke also needs to decide whether Aaronson fits the team if they get promoted to the Premier League.
