Leeds United have recovered from their stumbling start to the season to remain unbeaten in the Championship after four matches with two wins and two clean sheets in their last two, but now Daniel Farke must watch from behind the sofa as his players jet off around the globe on international duty.
Leeds players away on international duty
The Whites have a whole host of stars included in their national squads during this two-week break from domestic action – probably far more than most second tier teams in fact, leaving fans waiting with bated breath for injury-free returns to Yorkshire.
Junior Firpo starred in a 3-2 CONCACAF Nations League win for the Dominican Republic against Bermuda on Saturday, playing the full 90 minutes in a more advanced position than his usual role at Leeds, putting in plenty of hard yards after his teammate Edarlyn Reyes was shown a straight red card just ten minutes into the fixture.
Back in Europe the likes of Ilia Gruev and new signing Manor Solomon have been in action, with the former playing the full length of Bulgaria’s 0-0 draw in Belarus last week while the winger got 80 minutes in Israel’s 3-1 defeat in Belgium.
Former manager – now Canada boss – Jesse Marsch squared off against current star Brenden Aaronson in Kansas City, and it was Marsch who came out on top as his side beat the United States 2-1 and Aaronson was withdrawn with a quarter of an hour left after a quiet performance on the right wing.
Aaronson looks to have returned from his loan spell a new man this season, featuring in every league game so far and finding the back of the net twice – albeit possibly with one more had he buried the late chance against Portsmouth.
He was poor in action for USA this weekend however, with Sofascore statistics revealing he had virtually no impact on the game, mustering zero shots, key passes, successful dribbles or crosses, while he won just two of his seven duels (29 per cent) and lost the ball nearly as many times (9) as he completed passes (12). NBC Sport gave him a 4.5/10, praising his work rate but claiming he was “slapdash especially with the ball”.
Other USMNT outlets were quick to highlight his poor display too, as per MOT Leeds News, with Soccer America giving him a 3/10 rating and GOAL.com saying: “Just didn’t really do much of anything. He wasn’t bad, particularly compared to some of his teammates, but he didn’t make many positive things happen, either.”
The Whites return to action next weekend with huge home clash against fellow promotion candidates Burnley, but before that Aaronson has the chance to redeem himself as the USA take on New Zealand in a friendly late on Tuesday night – whether the timing of that fixture harms the 23 year-old’s chances of featuring in a 12:30 kick-off come Saturday is up for debate.
