Good Morning. It's Wednesday 8th October, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Daniel Farke's balancing act - grit or goals Leeds United’s return to the Premier League has underscored an old truth about life in the top flight: defensive resilience can only take a team so far without sufficient attacking output. Manager Daniel Farke’s side has shown admirable structure and discipline in the opening weeks, yet seven goals in as many matches highlight a clear need for greater creativity and clinical edge in the final third. Central to that conversation is Brenden Aaronson—an industrious, tactically astute midfielder whose relentless pressing and defensive intensity have been invaluable, but whose influence in attack remains muted. Aaronson’s first league start at Craven Cottage opened the door for a sustained run in the team, a reward for his attitude in training and his tireless energy on the pitch. With Wilfried Gnonto and Daniel James both sidelined through injury, Farke has relied on Aaronson to balance the side—especially when introducing flair players like Noah Okafor, whose game is built more on individual skill and less on defensive graft. Against Fulham, Aaronson epitomised the manager’s ethos: five tackles, twelve defensive interventions, and a willingness to chase every loose ball. It was, as Farke remarked, “one of the keys to why we were so rock solid.” Still, the trade-off is clear. Leeds are compact and difficult to break down, but they lack the transitional punch that comes from wingers who stretch opponents and create decisive moments. Farke’s pragmatic approach—prioritising defensive shape over attacking risk—has kept Leeds competitive, yet it also raises questions about balance. Can a newly promoted side afford to carry a player who contributes so heavily without the ball but rarely shapes outcomes with it? When James and Gnonto are fully fit, their sharper attacking instincts may force Farke into difficult decisions about where to compromise. please log in to view this image For now, Aaronson embodies the spirit of a team still learning how to survive and then thrive at this level. His relentless running and commitment are hallmarks of Farke’s evolving blueprint. But if Leeds are to prosper, especially against opposition like Sunderland, Nottingham Forest or Brentford, they will need more than honest endeavour; they will need their most advanced players to turn possession and pressure into goals. Herein lies the problem. Leeds have played some of their best football since Aaronson has come back into the side. They look combative, and have held their own against far more established sides. The matches they have lost, a last minute own goal at Craven Cottage and two wicked deflections against Spurs sum up Leeds Utd for as long as I can remember - they don't get an awful amount of luck. They say that throughout the course of the season, results will even themselves out - let's hope so! The next month, as injuries clear and competition for places heats up, may reveal whether Aaronson can take the next step—or whether efficiency in front of goal will again determine the limits of Leeds United’s ambitions. please log in to view this image Buonanotte breaks silence over Leeds snub Facundo Buonanotte has finally broken his silence over the controversial decision that saw him abandon a planned move to Leeds United at the eleventh hour to join Chelsea instead. The Argentine midfielder, once moments away from boarding a private jet to Elland Road, admitted that the allure of Stamford Bridge—and the promise of Champions League football—was simply impossible to turn down. His last-minute change of heart reportedly left Leeds officials furious, as they believed the deal was all but sealed before Chelsea’s call came through. Reflecting on the episode in an interview with TYC Sports, Buonanotte explained that ambition and opportunity drove his choice. “What you want is to play so you can be in the Argentine national team, but when a club as big as Chelsea comes along, you can’t say no,” he said. Despite being left out of Enzo Maresca’s Champions League squad, the 20yo insists he has no regrets. “I wanted to take on this challenge to prove I’m up to it,” he continued. “I’m very happy and very comfortable.” For Buonanotte, the whirlwind nature of his transfer may have caused friction in West Yorkshire, but his focus now rests on carving out a meaningful role in Chelsea’s evolving project. Whether his gamble pays off remains to be seen, yet his determination to succeed on a grander stage speaks to the mindset of a young player unwilling to settle for anything less than elite. please log in to view this image
Morning all Relegation possibility or joining Chelsea with their team of coaches who are all world class, it would be an easy choice for most
People need to park their pre-conceptions and not focus on the couple of times a game Aaronson holds on too long and gets bundled off the ball. Irritating though that is. It’s just his thing. It’s ok when Okafor loses the ball in a 1v1. If blinkers are off people might notice how involved he is in our build up play in addition to how many errors he forces, presses he leads etc. Now I like DJ - he works hard too and his pace was a real threat at champ level. It’s not been as evident a level up. I’m not saying Aaronson is a shoe-in. I’m not a particular fan, but he’s done well. Deserves more recognition for it.
Re the above. Do you change a winning team… even if it’s not actually winning? . We’re performing well. I like to have a look at xg tables every now and then to see ‘what we could have won’. There’s a few variations of ‘expected points’ This one rounds the xg in every game up or down and makes it a result so: if our xg was .51 and our opponents 1.49 it would score a 1-1 draw. Apart from that obvious weakness it’s a simple way of looking at it. We have 13 points via this method and sit 5th in this table. https://www.squawka.com/en/features/xg-table-premier-league-2025-26/ What will be maybe surprising for some is the wolves game. Their xg was much higher than ours, we basically scored from 3 difficult chances and didn’t create much else. You can argue we didn’t need to… a weakness of xg is it doesn’t account for game situation. But still. Most of the other xg tables run algorithms to work out likelihood of results and dish out a points ‘average’ for the xg so in the .51 v 1.49 scenario it would work out the chances of each side winning the game or it being a draw. So the .51 side get will get a significantly lower points score than the 1.49 side. There’s a few of these about. We have about 10 points by this method and would sit mid table. https://understat.com/league/EPL What does this tell us? Nothing really, I was bored. And 7 games in is too few to draw too many conclusions. My opinion though is, it backs up the feeling that we’ve left points out there from bad finishing and bad luck. It backs up that in most games we are creating at least as much as the opposition. That tells you that the team set up/tactics whatever are working pretty well. It’s the luck/quality that’s missing. But you probably knew that already.
And it was Aaronson’s shot on target against Spurs which the keeper parried into the path of Okafor which resulted in Leeds’ equaliser.
Always liked Aaronson and people forget he’s still a kid and when he arrived to do a particular job (Bielsa wanted him to do a Gallagher role) when he landed he was then given a role by his yank manager who very quickly changed that role into something else. He was young green kid trying to do a man’s job in the toughest league in the world and was found wanting. He wasn’t equipped physically for the new role and I think he let it get to him. He decided he wanted to prove people wrong, he bulked up and got fitter and in fairness was pretty good last season scoring goals and creating. I like his attitude but has he made himself prem quality? Cannot beat his effort and commitment and he is still creating chances for the team but has fumbled a couple of chances himself. He is deffo a great squad player but as we didn’t bring in forwards he is needed.
Choosing to sit on Chelsea’s bench, playing a few minutes here and there, or playing a lot of PL games and challenging yourself with Leeds. Hmmm…maybe it was all about money
Totally agree with Aaronson. He has his flaws but he does alot of work for the team. every team has a scapegoat and now Coops and Bammers are gone he will take the flack Because of his leeds past. DCL missed 3 good chances against the cherries and scuffed a good chance against Spurs dont see anyone pointing any fingers if that was Aaronson how shyte he would of been just saying.
Largely agree but I think Okafor gets more of a pass because he is trying to get past a defender or is trying to create something. If it comes off for Okafor then the situation is very advantageous to Leeds and the attack. Quite often Aaronson gets caught on the ball a bit deeper and it's usually when he turns backwards or inside i.e playing safe. It gives the opposition a strong platform to get at us instead. There are exceptions to what I stated above but I'd guess that most of the time it's as stated above. Plus Okafor is a new shiny toy.
don’t disagree bud, I’m fine with Okafor having a go at defenders and Aaronson seems to get bundled off the ball in possession when stevie wonder can see he needs to get rid. It just doesn’t happen as often as people think… Stach and longstaff gave the ball away cheaply a few times against spuds… 1 of which directly led to a goal. But Aaronson gets bounced off the ball and everyone’s up in arms!
Have to disagree. I think Aaronson is one of the worst players to have ever played for this club. He absolutely irritates the **** out of me. I breathe a sigh of relief whenever he finally gets substituted.
