Paxten Aaronson: Leaving a family legacy in the City of Brotherly Love – scout report

After a promising MLS debut in 2021, Paxten Aaronsons start to 2022 hasnt gone quite as planned. The Philadelphia Union’s midfield depth has him coming primarily off the bench, giving him the last 15 to 30 minutes per match.

A member of the USA U20 national team, Aaronson is currently in Honduras with the squad competing in the CONCACAF U20 Championship. They have just beaten the hosts by a score of 3-0. Who scored the first goal? None other than Aaronson.

This experience with the U20 national team is exactly what the doctor ordered. As a focal point on the team, his brace against Costa Rica secured the USAs place in the U20 World Cup and the win against Honduras confirms their place at next summer’s Olympics.

A midfielder by trade, Aaronson has taken the pitch as a false nine, dropping between the lines and manipulating the opposition centre-backs with his intelligent off-the-ball movement.

Despite the lack of playing time in Philadelphia, Aaronsons career trajectory could very well emulate his brothers, Brenden of Leeds United in the EPL. Both Aaronson brothers got their start in the Philadelphia Union academy. Both were physical late bloomers and Paxten is being watched closely by Red Bull Salzburg, his brothers former club. Both brothers play as more advanced central midfielders. Both work very intelligently off the ball, and both have exceptional work rates.

The Aaronson brothers have many similarities. Once you’ve finished reading this scout report, have a look at Mak Pakheis recent tactical analysis of Brenden. In the meantime, this scout report will focus exclusively on Paxtens game. Through tactical analysis, well look at the 18-year-old’s skill set, showing through our analysis why Paxten could very well be the second Aaronson to make a big move this summer.

Football IQ

The Aaronsons are largely regarded as the best sibling duo America has to offer. While Brenden is more of a box-to-box player, Paxten is closer to a true #10 who can also operate as a false nine.

In terms of Paxten’s starting position, youll often find him occupying one of the two half-spaces. He does have a preference for the left, which allows him to cut inside on his preferred right foot. Looking at the heat map below, his receiving locations light up in areas that correspond with a player who gets between the lines against both the mid and low blocks.

That assessment of Paxtens heat map corresponds to the film analysis. Looking at the three image collage below, the top image comes from a US Cup match against Orlando City, the current club of former AC Milan wunderkind Alexandre Pato. As Philadelphia progressed up the left-wing, Aaronson, who was playing as one of two strikers in a 4-3-1-2, dropped into a massive pocket of space in midfield. From that position, he not only had ample time to receive and drive at the backline, but he also had excellent field awareness and body orientation to set his next action in motion.

The bottom two images come from the CONCACAF U20 championship