When MLS suspended its season and its clubs canceled full-team training shortly after the pandemic took hold in North America in March 2020, players around the league were forced to find creative ways to stay fit. Many were limited to bodyweight exercises in cramped apartments. Some needed to call their clubs just to have a ball delivered to their home.

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Brenden Aaronson had no such problems. When Aaronson was around 10, his father Rusty, who played at Monmouth College in the early ‘90s and bounced around the American semi-pro circuit in the years before MLS began in 1996, helped form a youth club now called Real Jersey FC near their house in suburban Medford, N.J. He currently runs the club, whose boys’ teams compete in the MLS Next academy league.

Early in 2020, Rusty Aaronson opened an indoor facility just a few minutes down the street from the Aaronson family home. The facility closed to the public once the pandemic hit, giving Aaronson, then in his second year with the Philadelphia Union, the run of the place. He also had a high-level training partner in his younger brother Paxten. Now turning heads in his first season as a homegrown midfielder with the Union, Paxten was then just 16 and in Philadelphia’s academy. 

Every morning while MLS was shut down, the Aaronson brothers, both of whom lived with their parents at the time, would drive to the indoor facility for a technical session with Rusty. When the weather allowed, they would then spend their afternoons working on their finishing at Bob Bende Park, the local field where Real Jersey hosts most of its home matches. The pair would return to the indoor facility the evenings for one-on-one games against each other, inside a tight, 20-by-20 yard area. 

Those one-on-one contests in the indoor facility weren’t new to the Aaronson brothers — they were just a more grown-up version of the barefoot matches that they grew up playing against each other in a corner of their parents’ basement. 

“If you watch Brenden or Paxten, the way they turn, how they’re always on a half turn and how the ball kind of rolls around with them, that’s from the walls in our basement and their barefoot games,” Rusty Aaronson said. 

And while Brenden usually had the upper hand, Paxten had developed to the point where he could meaningfully challenge his older brother. 

“I started recording some of these sessions because they were so good,” Rusty said. “I remember saying to one of my coaches, ‘You need to come over here right now and watch.’ It was so entertaining, because the quality and the competitiveness between the both of them, there’s just nothing like two brothers going at it.” 

(Footage courtesy Rusty Aaronson)

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Today, Brenden feels the break in MLS play was “almost for the better for” him. Without it, he never would have had so much time to focus on individual facets of his game he felt needed improvement. When the Union returned to full training in June before heading to Orlando for the MLS is Back tournament, Aaronson was one of just a couple of players on the team that showed up looking better than he did in March.

“It was so clear that he was playing and touching the ball every day with his brother and his dad at that facility. It was just clear. He showed up and he was miles ahead of everybody else,” Union head coach Jim Curtin said. “And then you put your couple weeks in, you head down to Florida. He gets a couple starts, he gets a little confidence, all the eyes of a world game are on these games because we’re the only league playing at the time, so it’s just this perfect storm. It was his moment, and he was as prepared for it as he could’ve been. That’s solely on the kid’s determination to get better. He deserves all the credit for it, because he was absolutely flying.”

‘Flying’ is a pretty apt way to describe the 21-year-old Aaronson, both in terms of his current career trajectory and his breakneck, hard-running style of play. Not even one full year after his MLS play resulted in a $6 million move to Red Bull Salzburg, he’s already one of the leading figures for the team, which currently sits atop its group in the UEFA Champions League. Aaronson has also developed into a force for the U.S. in World Cup qualifying. Heading into Friday’s massive clash against Mexico in Cincinnati, Aaronson, who didn’t even play in the Nations League final against El Tri in June, is one of the USMNT’s most important players. 

“It’s awesome to be on a good, confident track like I’m on,” Aaronson told The Athletic last month. “I think it actually started with the national team in (September). I had a really good run of games, I got really confident and I feel really good. Even in that Nations League in the summer, whenever you’re coming in, you feel a little nervous, you want to do well, you want to help your country out, so when you’re around all these guys like Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie who have done it, you want to do your thing, too. That’s nerve-wracking and tough, but I’ve grown a lot since then. To be where I am now, with this confidence and with how I’ve been able to help the team, it’s just an awesome feeling.” 

From the outside, Aaronson’s rise seems as seamless as it has been fast. But it wasn’t always so smooth.

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Aaronson was a late-bloomer physically. Currently listed at 5-foot-10 and 146 pounds, he’s not exactly huge these days, but he was almost comically miniscule compared to some of his teammates and opponents in youth soccer. He was always incredibly active with his movement and excellent on the ball compared to his peers, but his stature sometimes made things difficult. That was especially true after he moved to the Union academy full-time in 2015 and the club began playing him up an age group. Rusty remembers Brenden being distraught on car rides home from matches, times when he was brought nearly to tears because he was struggling to cope with the physicality of the older, more developed players. 

(Photos of Brenden Aaronson, center, courtesy Rusty Aaronson)

“It was a lot of me saying, ‘Listen, it’s going to be OK. You will catch them. You will grow,’” Rusty said. “You have no idea the therapy sessions in that car. There were times when I was all for just pulling him out of (the Union academy). I thought about putting him in another team where he would maybe be on the ball a little more, play his age and have a little success for his mental state, but he wanted no part of that. No part of it. He just wanted to keep fighting.

“And I think that’s what the spirit of Brenden is. I think that’s what’s different about him. With Brenden, it was weeks and months and years of not being good enough, not being big enough, not being strong enough and getting thrown around. That adversity, he doesn’t forget that. Everybody thinks how quick it was, it wasn’t quick. Brenden laughs all the time when people say how quick he rose, ‘I wish they were around when I was 16, crying in the back of the car.’” 

It helped that the Union remained supportive throughout his development. Though he didn’t join the academy on a permanent basis until he was 15, Aaronson had been training a couple of times a week with the Union youth teams through the club’s feeder program from around age 11. The club, which puts a higher priority on its academy than almost every other team in MLS, knew him, believed in his ability and remained committed to him through some of his tougher moments.

“He had battles at a young age when he was 10 years old and 11 years old and training with kids his own age. And then in the academy, when he was finally playing up age groups, playing U-17 when he was 15, it was hard for him and he got pushed around,” said Curtin, who spent time coaching Aaronson when he was in that Union feeder program as a preteen. “But part of it is, man, you’ve got to let them try things, you’ve got to let them make mistakes. And Brenden is an example of that.”

Eventually, Aaronson found his footing in the academy. He grew physically, he got more comfortable and excelled to the point that the Union began calling him up to the Bethlehem Steel, their former reserve team that played in the USL Championship. Still, his progression was far from linear. 

“It wasn’t like we just threw him out there for Bethlehem Steel and he was scoring three, four goals and it was easy for him,” Curtin said. “He had some struggles, man. As a staff, I can remember discussions where we were like, ‘This is hard for him right now. We’ve got to be patient with him, but I think if we continue to invest in this kid and believe in him, it’s gonna pay off.’ And eventually, obviously, it did.” 

Things began to click in Aaronson’s first match in MLS. He scored a goal in his debut, giving the Union a shock lead in front of a crowd of more than 40,000 at Atlanta in March 2019. That game ended in a 1-1 draw, but it set the table for Aaronson’s solid debut season playing as both a No. 10 and on the left side of the Union’s midfield diamond.

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Then came 2020 — the year Aaronson made the leap. Fresh off those training sessions with his brother, he starred at the MLS is Back tournament, with one play in the Union’s quarterfinal match against Sporting Kansas City standing out. With Philadelphia already up 2-0 in the 39th minute, Aaronson received a simple square ball in the right channel. It looked like a pair of SKC players had him boxed in, but Aaronson let the ball roll for an extra beat, a simple move that allowed him to turn out of pressure. Defenders left in the dust, Aaronson picked up his head, took a touch toward goal and delivered a devastating through ball that cut out three SKC defenders and set up forward Sergio Santos for a first-time finish. Almost a year-and-a-half later, it remains one the most indelible moments of the entire MLS is Back tournament.

As ESPN commentator Jon Champion said seconds after the ball hit the back of the net, the play was “a glimpse of what the future might hold” for Aaronson. 

Are you kidding us with that ABSOLUTE DIME from Brenden Aaronson? 🎯

Sergio Santos gives @PhilaUnion a 3-0 lead! #PHIvSKC

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 31, 2020

The transfer offers from Europe came in not long afterward. Curtin said that clubs in the German Bundesliga, Belgium top-flight and one of the teams with “real money” in Scotland lodged bids. Some of them were more lucrative than the $6 million offer made by Salzburg, though that figure could rise by an additional $3 million if Aaronson hits certain performance benchmarks.

The ties between the Union and Red Bull Salzburg — Curtin and Marsch, who has since moved on to RB Leipzig, are close friends; Union sporting director Ernst Tanner spent years at Salzburg before he was hired by Philadelphia — helped grease the wheels for the deal. So did the club’s style of play; they use a pressing system similar to the one employed by Philadelphia. The fact that it’s easier to break into a squad in Austria than one trying to compete in Germany also played a role, as did Salzburg’s regular participation in European competition. 

“There were bigger deals on the table financially for Brenden that would’ve made the club a couple extra million dollars,” Curtin said. “But it was done in a way that wasn’t greedy, it had the player’s interest in mind and I think it was the best fit for his long-term development. And it’s played out even better than I thought it would.”

As for Aaronson himself, it’s hard for a youngster not to notice when one club develops and moves players of the caliber of Erling Haaland, Sadio Mane, Naby Keita and Dayot Upamecano, among others.

“When Salzburg comes around, you’re already thinking about what a really good spot that would be to go to as a young player,” said Aaronson, who was in fact initially scouted at Salzburg not by Marsch, but by club sporting director Cristoph Freund and his staff. “You see all these guys going out of there, it’s a winning mentality there, a winning culture, that’s really important to me. The club teaches young players the winning mentality, it gives them the platform to go to big, big things. There’s just so many big-time players in today’s game that came through Salzburg. It’s a place that I couldn’t really turn down.” 

Things have mostly been smooth for Aaronson since he moved to Austria. He played in all 20 league matches from his arrival in January through the end of the 2020-21 season, recording five goals and five assists and tacking on two more goals in three appearances in the Austrian cup. He earned his place in the team again after Marsch was replaced by German manager Matthias Jaissle this summer, tallying a goal and four assists in 12 league appearances, recording two goals and one assist in Salzburg’s successful Champions League qualifying series against Danish club Brondby and playing every minute of the club’s four Champions League group stage contests.

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Things seem to be going just as well off the field. Aaronson, who lived with his parents until he transferred to Salzburg, said he’s adjusting fairly well to life on his own in Austria. Marsch told The Athletic earlier this year that he took incredibly quickly to his teammates and the locker room. Curtin added to those comments last week with some intel of his own. 

“He looks like he should be in a boy band rather than a Champions League game,” Curtin said. “But when he steps on the field and the whistle blows, he’s ruthless, man. He is a killer and he’s relentless. It’s important too, his teammates freaking love him. I can’t stress that enough. There’s so many great young talents that know they’re great, and maybe don’t fit in in the locker room. But the kid is a sweetheart. Instantly, Jesse was like, ‘The whole team has fallen in love with Brenden. They root for him like he’s a mascot, almost.’ And now he’s like one of their best players. He just has such a good way about him.” 

For all of his athleticism, all of his speed and agility, Aaronson is still capable of a clumsy moment or two off the field. In fact, one came to him a few minutes after the final whistle blew on the USMNT’s 2-0 win against Jamaica in Austin, Texas on Oct. 7. 

Aaronson put in a great effort against the Reggae Boyz, recording an assist, consistently creating danger in the final third and pressing with seemingly endless endurance before coming off in the 68th minute. It was a podium game, the type of performance that demands a player give a postgame news conference.

If only the podium hadn’t gotten in the way.

Aaronson was so physically shattered from his effort against Jamaica, which came just four days after he played a full 90 in Salzburg, that he stumbled and nearly ate it while attempting to take a seat on the dais.

“I’m still tired from the game, of course. The traveling and the play, it’s so tough on your body, it is,” he said. “Your legs are shaking after the game and you’re also super hyped, you’re kind of shaking because it’s a World Cup qualifier, you won, you had an assist, so I was just nervous, man. And I came in and almost tripped and fell in front of everyone.” 

He’s able to joke about it, but the little misstep was a good illustration of the kind of effort Aaronson has been putting in with the U.S. during qualifying. He’s one of just two players along with Tyler Adams to appear in all six matches for the U.S. thus far in the CONCACAF Octagonal. He started four of those games and came off the bench at half in the other two. He’s run himself ragged in each and every appearance. 

That’s typical of Aaronson, but it’s been especially important for this U.S. team. With Pulisic only having played in two qualifiers and Gio Reyna only featuring in one, Aaronson has been the focal point on the wing for the Americans for most matches in the Ocho. He’s been tasked with harrying opposing defenders when they’re on the ball, stretching the opposing backline with runs in behind, finding space in the channel and combining when the U.S. is in possession and, most importantly, delivering in front of goal.

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Aaronson’s best overall performance may have been against Jamaica, but the top moment of his young USMNT career may have come in an otherwise disappointing result; the 1-1 draw against Canada in Nashville. With the game still scoreless in the 55th minute, Aaronson closed down and stripped Canada defender Scott Kennedy after he received the ball from a throw-in. He took a touch forward and quickly found striker Jordan Pefok, who laid the ball off for Pulisic. Despite being taken down, Pulisic managed to find Adams, who played it back to Pefok. The ball eventually made its way to left back Antonee Robinson, who hit a low cross into the middle that Aaronson, who had continued his run all the way into the six-yard box, tapped home from close-range.

The play was Aaronson encapsulated. The pressure, the tackle, the run, the finish — it was everything Berhalter is asking him to bring to the USMNT in a quick, 12-second package. In the stands at Nissan Stadium, Rusty and Brenden’s mom Janell had something approaching an out of body experience.

“I was so excited about the press and him winning the ball that I blanked on the score,” Rusty said. “That’s what he does. That press where he won the ball and played it fast, I lost sight of him. So when he scored, my wife’s jumping around and, normally, I’m the cool cat. I don’t jump up and down. I’m like, ‘OK, he’s supposed to do that.’ Well, when I realized Brendan did what he did, no flags went up, he scored, my wife’s jumping around, I’m actually jumping around like a little schoolboy. I’m hugging my wife, then I got composed again really quickly. But you gotta enjoy it. It was almost like it didn’t happen. It didn’t even register that he got in the box to put the ball in the back of the net because I was so high on that press and the first quick ball that he delivered through. To be honest, I thought it was another guy scoring. It was probably the best thing we’ve seen of him in person.” 

At the moment, that kind of pressing is probably Aaronson’s best quality. Whether he’s playing at the tip of the diamond for Salzburg or on the wing for the U.S., Aaronson consistently makes a huge impact without the ball. 

“He is clearly off the charts, running wise,” Curtin said. “It’s not just compared to MLS players, this is compared to the best players in the world. Even in their last Champions League match at Salzburg, you watch the game and he’s doing full 80-yard sprints with two minutes left in the game. In a way, and I’m not comparing him to Landon (Donovan), but as the game goes later and later, he stays at the same fitness level. Landon would actually coast at the beginning of games, then kill you in the 90th. But Brenden just is relentless the entire time.”

Of course, Aaronson has the thinking part of the game down, too. He’s an intelligent player, crafty with his runs in the attack, knowledgeable about when to put the clamps on opponents and blessed with a real understanding of how to find and exploit open space. He’s not too shabby on the ball, either, though there’s still room for him to grow in that area. 

In the short-term, he seems likely to remain a starter for the USMNT. It’s uncertain if Pulisic, who is only just returning from an injury he suffered at Honduras on Sept. 8, will be able to start on Friday. Even if he does, Aaronson has a stronger case than Arriola or winger Tim Weah to get the nod for the XI. 

Reyna is still out with a hamstring injury he suffered at El Salvador on Sept. 2, but his eventual return will complicate Aaronson’s position in the team in the long-run. When both are healthy, Berhalter has used Pulisic and Reyna as his first-choice wingers. Considering they’re the two most talented U.S. attackers, they’re both likely to continue to have a place in the XI when available. They don’t necessarily both have to play on the wing, however. Reyna plays in a more central role for Borussia Dortmund. Considering how Berhalter likes his wingers to play, Reyna may be more suited for a central role with the U.S. in the future. That would leave open a spot on the flank for Aaronson, who, though he started the qualifier at El Salvador in midfield and plays centrally for Salzburg, seems to fit the mold of Berhalter’s prototypical winger.

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“I’ve been really impressed with his development over the last year,” Berhalter said in the days leading up to the first qualifying match in September. “He’s really worked on his defensive pressure, but, most importantly, I think he’s shown now that he’s much calmer in front of goal and is able to make goals and assists, and that was something that was an area of improvement for him that he’s really worked on. For us, I see him as a key member of the group.”

Regardless of whether he ends up as a regular starter or a key contributor off the bench, Aaronson has carved out a key role for himself with the USMNT. Considering his rise over the last 18 months, it’d be foolish to think that will change anytime soon. 

“He’s infectious with the group. He’s willing to adapt and get better. He takes information well, he wants to learn,” Curtin said. “But when he walks into a room, you’re not going to be wowed. Just physically, you’re going to be like, ‘This can’t be the kid,’ you know what I mean? Like this is the kid that’s going to dominate for our national team? But you can tell now with Gregg, and when you hear Gregg’s comments about Brenden, it gets to a point where he just can’t take him off the field.” 

(Top photo: Christopher Hanewinckel / USA TODAY Sports)