Daniel Farke’s substitutions turned the game in Leeds United’s favour almost instantly against Tottenham.
Melvin Bard’s throw-in was flicked on by Dominic Calvert-Lewin towards Harry Wilson, and the ball eventually broke for Noah Okafor, who scored the only goal of the game. That’s three substitutes having a direct impact for our goal.
However, the German also deserves credit for who he didn’t sub on. Both Dan James and Brenden Aaronson remained unused substitutes.
One of these two in particular cannot complain about the drastic switch Farke has chosen to make with them, and the data supports his decision.
Damning statistic emerges regarding Leeds United’s Brenden Aaronson
Last season, Brenden Aaronson featured in all but one of our Premier League games, starting 30 of them.
But this season, his role under Farke has been drastically reduced so far.
In our ten Premier League games so far this season, he has made eight appearances. However, just three of these have been starts.
Aside from a purple patch in January, Aaronson’s performances didn’t warrant anywhere near the 2473 Premier League minutes he played for us in the previous campaign.
And now in this campaign, Aaronson looks like his role is finally being reduced to that of a squad player. This is something that is long overdue.
In all honesty, the American cannot even have any complaints either.
In the 291 Premier League minutes he’s played this season, he’s done nothing of note. (Sofascore)
And it’s not just me saying this; a recent graph posted by DataMB proves it. The graph ranks Premier League midfielders for passes into the final third as well as expected assists.
Aaronson is extremely close to being the worst in both metrics. The worst thing is, no Leeds fan will be surprised to see how far down the American is on the graph.
But for Aaronson to rank so low despite operating mainly in the final third is criminal.
49ers need to know when to let go of Brenden Aaronson
In the game against Spurs, it showed how valuable having quality depth in each position is.
When Gabriel Gudmundsson came off injured, Bard replaced him and was outstanding.
But if we want to get to that next level as a team, players like Aaronson and James need to be thanked for their service and moved on to bring in players who will elevate the squad.
I’m not naive to think we can just rip up our whole team. It’s a process that will take time and multiple transfer windows.
Aaronson’s new contract at Leeds runs until 2029. If he sticks around for the length of his deal, then that would reflect poorly on the 49ers and their ability to keep United trending in the right direction as a club.
The data already proves Aaronson isn’t good enough for us now, so in a year or two, he shouldn’t be anywhere near the team if we’re a serious Premier League outfit.
