"Dropped off" - Question marks raised over Brenden Aaronson at Leeds United | OneFootball

Brenden Aaronson's error at Loftus Road highlighted the American's drop off in form in recent months

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Leeds United saw their bid for promotion take a slight knock at the weekend, as the Yorkshire outfit had to rally from two goals down to claim a point against Queens Park Rangers.

Daniel Farke’s side were sloppy in the opening stages at Loftus Road, and were twice punished as Koki Saito and Steve Cook found the back of the net, before a Morgan Fox own goal and Jayden Bogle strike saw the spoils shared in West London.

Two dropped points saw fellow promotion contenders Sheffield United and Burnley hone in over the weekend, with the Blades level on points with their Yorkshire rivals, while the Clarets sit two points behind in third spot.

With every member of the squad needing to be at 100% to ensure a return to the Premier League is obtained in the next few weeks, we put it to Football League World’s Leeds fan pundit Ger Lynch to tell us who needs to up their game if his side are going to get over the line come May.

Brenden Aaronson chastised as Leeds United stumble in promotion quest

While it is nowhere near panic stations at Elland Road right now, Leeds have won just one of their last four league matches, with the draw against QPR coming off the back of another point earned against West Brom, as well as a damaging defeat to Portsmouth at Fratton Park.

United didn’t help themselves in the early stages against the Hoops, with Brenden Aaronson gifting the ball to Saito in the visitors’ penalty area, with the Japanese forward gleefully rifling home the gift given to him by the USA international.

To Lynch, this was the latest sign of a player who hasn’t been performing to his usual high standards over the past few months, with the Leeds fan calling out the playmaker to add more as the season reaches its conclusion.

When asked which player he wants to see more from in the next few weeks, he said: “Brenden Aaronson is a player that needs to improve; he is busy, he works hard for Leeds and does a lot of pressing off the ball.

“But in the last 12 or 13 games his form has really dropped off a cliff at the wrong time. He is not the most creative of number tens, but Daniel Farke’s number tens don’t tend to be that creative, he tends to look at the creativity coming from the wide players.

“Aaronson is still an important player in that number ten position, but he made the mistake at the weekend for QPR’s first goal, as well as being in poor form recently.

“So if any player needed to be improve at the club right now, it would definitely be Brenden Aaronson who needs to get up to speed, because he is probably the only one that has dropped off significantly in recent weeks.”

Brenden Aaronson fails to bring 2024 Leeds United form into 2025

Aaronson is a player who has ten goal contributions for Leeds in the Championship, but as Lynch alluded to, the majority of those came in the first-half of the season.

The 24-year-old has notched just once in the league since the turn of the year, as he got his name on the scoresheet in the 7-0 drubbing of Cardiff City last month, but has failed to feature as prominently as he did when the season got underway last August.

A halftime hooking against Rangers proved just how tough things have got right now, after playing a big part in the Yorkshire side’s impressive start to the season last year.

Two goals in the first three matches of the season put him back in the Elland Road good books after spending the 23/24 campaign on loan at Union Berlin, before adding more goals to his tally against Watford and Plymouth Argyle.

Three goals and an assist over the festive period also helped United’s momentum to continue when the games came at an unrelenting pace in December, with his winner against Derby County seeing his side finish 2024 with a flourish.

It has been a much different story over the past three months for the attacking midfielder though, with a single goal contribution in 2025 seeing his influence wane just when his side need him the most.

If they are to get the job done this season, Leeds will need everyone willing to stand up and be counted in crucial encounters, and right now everyone at Elland Road is willing Aaronson to get back to his early-season form to help their side get over the line and regain their Premier League status.