Leeds United men dealt huge setback after being omitted from national team squad
Leeds United loanee Brenden Aaronson has been omitted from this month’s United States squad. The USA have the opportunity to get their hands on silverware this month as they compete for the Concacaf Nations League title.
Gregg Berhalter’s side take on Jamaica in the semi-finals on March 21, with the winner progressing to the final to take on either Mexico or Panama at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The US are the current holders of the Nations League crown, having won the previous title last summer with the help of Aaronson.
They’ve chosen to enter the final stages of the competition without him this time around, though, with his struggles for form at Union Berlin appearing to work against him. Aaronson has been a regular for the Stars and Stripes since making his international debut in 2020 and despite his struggles last season with Leeds, he remained part of the set up.
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However, after seeing the midfielder fail to find traction over a prolonged period with Union in the Bundesliga, Berhalter has made the decision to leave him out of his 23-man squad. It will come as a huge blow for Aaronson, especially given the US will be competing in the Copa America and the Olympics later this year.
The Leeds man will be desperate to be involved in both competitions but after his latest setback, he obviously has work to do.
Interestingly, though, Berhalter has made the decision to recall ex-Leeds man Tyler Adams for the first time since the 2022 World Cup. Adams has played just 39 minutes of competitive football over the last 12 months after injuring his hamstring while representing Leeds in March last year.
He suffered a setback just 20 minutes into his debut for Bournemouth in September and after another lengthy spell on the sidelines, he made his first league appearance for the Cherries on Wednesday night, coming off the bench for 19 minutes against Luton Town.
“This decision was basically the output of months of communication with his club, to track where he’s at, to see the levels that he’s performing at in training, the loads that he’s doing and training,” Berhalter said of Adams’ selection.
“And then finally a conversation with his coach two days ago, and really hearing from the coach, where he thinks Tyler’s at, he couldn’t say enough good things about him. Certainly they think at the club that he has enough to play up to 45 minutes for us.
“So once we heard that, we jumped at that idea because he means so much to the team, both on and off the field. It’ll be nice to get him back. His last time with the national team was at the World Cup, so he’s been missed for a while and it’ll be nice to get him back into this group.”
