In Matthew Doyle's latest Armchair Analyst column on MLSSoccer.com, the senior writer considered each team's best 22 Under 22 contender. The 22 Under 22 are the top players in Major League Soccer under 22 years of age. While it was a coin flip between Philadelphia Union homegrowns Mark McKenzie and Brenden Aaronson, Doyle settled on Aaronson.
Doyle's 2019 analysis made note that "he's great at checking his shoulder and finding space to be an outlet for his teammates in build-up play, and he's very good at receiving the ball" but just wasn't deadly enough like one expects in the No. 10 role. "All that great work he did to find killer spots didn't matter much if he was unwilling to make the killer pass after getting on the ball," Doyle wrote. It's not anything new and it's what Aaronson spent the offseason working on and was shown in the opening weeks of the 2020 MLS season.
"This happened much more quickly than I thought it would," he continued. "I didn't have much Aaronson stock heading into this year, but the early returns say I was wrong about that. Both McKenzie and Aaronson will be on this year's 22 Under 22, I'm certain. But Aaronson might well win the damn thing."
You can read the full article on MLSSoccer.com here.
