“It’s just been tough to get a rhythm,” Brenden Aaronson says. “And I think that’s everything for a footballer — it’s just finding your rhythm and confidence.”
“Tough” is a word Aaronson uses a lot right now, which is not surprising in the circumstances.It is Thursday afternoon, less than 48 hours after Union Berlin were knocked out of the DFB Pokal by Stuttgart, condemning them to an 11th straight defeat in all competitions. On Saturday, against Eintracht Frankfurt, that losing streak was extended to 12 matches, leaving Union third from bottom in the Bundesliga.
For Aaronson, who joined Union on a season-long loan in the summer on the back of suffering relegation from the Premier League with Leeds United, it must feel like a never-ending cycle of misery.
In fact, the 23-year-old could be forgiven for saying he’d rather not talk about any of it — whether that be Union Berlin, relegation with Leeds or losing matches.
Instead, Aaronson offers a warm handshake, pulls up a chair in one of the sponsor’s suites at the Stadion An der Alten Forsterei, Union’s home in the east of Berlin, and answers every question.
Aaronson talks about a loss of confidence at the end of last season, about being told by his coach that he was putting too much pressure on himself, about hitting the gym to build his strength, about how proud he felt representing the USMNT at the World Cup finals, about letting the fans down at Elland Road, about still loving Leeds, about ignoring social media, and about Union Berlin’s incredible supporters.
More than anything, Aaronson talks about refusing to allow what has happened since moving to Leeds for £25million ($30.8m) from Red Bull Salzburg last year define him and about his determination to use the remainder of this season to turn things around at Union Berlin (who The Athletic has been embedded with this season) both for the club and for himself.
Aaronson smiles briefly.“I feel like, mentally, I’ve grown so much,” he adds. “I could maybe be more negative in a situation like this, but I feel really positive. I feel like I’m still trying things on the pitch and just waiting for my chance again to show that I can play.”
Darmstadt, August 26, 2023
It is the second match of the Bundesliga season and Union are leading 1-0 when Aaronson is shown a second yellow card.
Despite playing with 10 men for 70 minutes, Union went on to win the game 4-1, but news of Aaronson’s dismissal (which seemed incredibly harsh) caused a stir on social media.
…Aaronson listens to that extract, which is taken from an article that was published by The Athletic in May, when Leeds were on the brink of relegation from the Premier League and the post-mortem was already underway at Elland Road.
Aaronson felt he started positively but later lost confidence at Leeds (Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
Perhaps all of that is to be expected. Aaronson, after all, was only 21 years old when he signed for Leeds — for a fee that, he says, never bothered him, but arguably raised expectations among the fanbase to an unrealistic level.
Looking back, it was a chaotic season for Leeds full stop. The team was led by four different managers — Marsch, the then-under-23 coach Michael Skubala, Javi Gracia and Sam Allardyce — and Leeds registered only three Premier League victories after the season resumed in December following the World Cup in Qatar.
For Aaronson, who came off the bench in all four of the USMNT matches in Qatar, the biggest sporting event on the planet passed by in a blur.“I’m proud to be an American and to represent my country in the…