Aaronson impresses again in ‘silkyyy’ performance
MLS IS BACK TOURNEY
The praise for Brenden Aaronson has been voluminous in the last year. But as the Philadelphia Union Homegrown midfielder bedeviled Inter Miami late Tuesday night, with a hand in both goals of a 2-1 win, an authority beyond the usual gushing pundits weighed in.
“Watching this philly/Mia match... and I like this kid Aaronson,” tweeted DaMarcus Beasley. “He is silkyyy! Is he in any of the youth national teams? Full team?”
You can forgive the 38-year-old Beasley, who retired last year after
20 professional seasons, for missing Aaronson’s national team debut in January. But the praise of one of the United States’ most decorated players — a four-time World Cup participant with the seventh-most caps
(126) and ninth-most goals (17) in U.S. history, who many would describe as plenty silky(yy) in his play — carries plenty of weight.
The MLS Is Back tournament has showcased Aaronson’s ascent, and many watchers of the league are growing in their appreciation for how impressive the 20-year-old Medford native has been.
The Union have scored three goals in their two victories at Orlando’s Wide World of Sports. Aaronson has been involved in all three. His run and partially cleared cross ended up on the left boot of Kai Wagner to blast the opener in the fifth minute Tuesday night. And Aaronson pushed the right buttons on Kacper Przybylko’s winner. On a night where — in manager Jim Curtin’s de facto dissatisfaction parlance — the club “passed when it should’ve shot and shot when it should’ve passed,” Aaronson was perfect in driving up the field and squaring to Przybylko.
Aaronson could’ve had an assist for a sumptuous pass to open the defense in the 26th minute, only for Przybylko to be judged offside. And Aaronson created the havoc that led to Alejandro Bedoya’s goal in the opener against New York City FC.
So yeah, Beasley(yy) is on to something, and he’s not alone.
“We’ve challenged him from last season to this preseason to his time with Gregg Berhalter and the national team to now the quarantine period to get better at making the final ball, to get more goal-dangerous,” Curtin said. “And he’s really taken that next step. Everybody sees his work rate and his ability to run and cover ground and cover distance. If he’s going to make it as a No. 10 at the very highest level, and that’s the ultimate goal for him, he’s going to do it as a volume player, a player that’s on the ball all the time. And he might make a mistake three or four times but he’s coming again at full speed. That’s something he’s worked hard on.”
The biggest difference from last year is the fearlessness. Aaronson’s defensive responsibility and his pressing verve were elite from the wide-eyed, fresh-legged rookie.
This year, he’s still doing the defensive dirty work. But his first move with the ball is more decisive. The run that led to Wagner’s goal, shedding a defender and bombing into the box, isn’t one he’d select last year. The pass on Przybylko’s waved off goal, which left both center backs marooned, is one he wouldn’t have executed last year.
“From the start, once I came into this team, the coaches have shown so much confidence in me,” Aaronson said. “I think that’s come with growing confidence from my team and working hard in training and showing them I have the ability to play with them on the field. I think that started from the beginning.”
Przybylko’s winner, from Jamiro Monteiro’s first dummy to spur the 3-on-2 break to the second dummy in allowing Aaronson’s pass to find the German striker, was pure class. On a night when the Union produced too few quality passages to Curtin’s liking, their ability to turn an Inter Miami
corner into a goal within 14 seconds was a difference maker.
“That goal is an example of how the Union wants to play,” Curtin said. “…. That’s the type of goal that we see as ‘us.’ It was quick, simple passes, always forward and central. A really good break by us, a good goal for sure, but we needed more of that.”
“You see the quality,” Przybylko said. “You see the movement of Jamiro that he’s passing me the ball or leaving the ball through his legs for Brenden. Brenden takes a good touch and then you see again, Jamiro was so unselfish and left the ball for me so I could finish. It’s just the quality of the whole team.”
The fulcrum is Aaronson, who is rewarding the Union’s faith. The Union wedged a doorstop in the long-spinning revolving door that has been the No. 10 spot. There’d be no replacing Marco Fabian, who was the replacement for Borek Dockal, who was the replacement for Roland Alberg, and so on.
Aaronson has gotten the keys to the attack. He keeps showing that he knows what to do with them.
“His final pass, his through balls in and around the box, getting shots off a little quicker, he’s taken big strides,” Curtin said. “But at the Philadelphia Union, we’re going to be greedy, we’re going to push and we’re going to demand more of him because he can even play better than he did tonight. Overall, the stats are nice, but we’re going to continue to push Brenden because we see how much talent he has.”
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NOTES » Jose Martinez, who picked up another yellow card for his fullthroated midfield play, was stretchered off in the second half. But Curtin said it wasn’t anything serious, merely a combination of cramping and a kick to the quad. … Sergio Santos, who missed the NYCFC game through injury, started and was menacing if not consistent. He was withdrawn at halftime for Ilsinho, a planned sub given Santos’s fitness level. … Ray Gaddis made his
200th career MLS regular-season start. He played a role in the opening goal, his ball teeing up Aaronson down the right wing. Gaddis is the franchise’s all-time leader in starts, games and minutes played.