After a bizarre 24 hours in which several different conflicting reports emerged about his status for this window, Brenden Aaronson was officially ruled out of the final three games of qualifying on Monday afternoon due to an MCL injury that will reportedly keep him out for the next few weeks.
Losing him is a legitimate blow for the USMNT ahead of World Cup qualifiers Thursday at Mexico, Sunday against Panama and Wednesday at Costa Rica. The 21-year-old has emerged as an important contributor during the Octagonal, recording two goals and one assist and appearing in all 11 qualifiers to this point. While his final product was crucial in the opening two windows, Aaronson has done some of his best work without the ball. His tireless running adds an element of verticality to the USMNT attack and significantly enhances the team’s ability to press opposition defenses.
We don’t have access to the same tracking data for US matches as head coach Gregg Berhalter and his staff, but Aaronson’s numbers from Salzburg’s recently-ended run in the UEFA Champions League show how active he is defensively. According to FBref.com, Aaronson leads the entire Champions League in number of pressures, number of successful pressures and number of pressures in the final third. Those rankings do not account for Salzburg’s UCL qualifying matches from last summer. Salzburg’s pressing system is a major reason behind those numbers, but they’re also illustrative of Aaronson’s remarkable endurance and intensity as a runner.
The US could have used that ability this window — particularly against Mexico. Christian Pulisic and Tim Weah are likely ahead of Aaronson on the depth chart and both are capable defenders in their own right, but neither brings the same level of activity as Aaronson when the other team has the ball. If Berhalter rotates the US
