Pochettino explains Aaronson snub on USMNT Nations League roster

 U.S. men's national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino said Brenden Aaronson was the victim of a numbers game on his Concacaf Nations League Finals roster.

Aaronson (as well as his younger brother Paxten) was a notable omission from the 23-player squad, which is set to face Panama in the Nations League semifinal and then Mexico or Canada in the final or third-place game.



The 24-year-old has been a standout for Leeds this season, scoring a career-high eight goals for a team currently first place in the Championship. Aaronson was initially left off the Nations League roster one year ago, but was at a much different place in his club career and was subsequently brought back for the rest of the team's 2024 rosters.

Speaking to reporters after releasing his roster, Pochettino said Aaronson was crowded out by other attacking options.

"I know Brenden Aaronson very well, but we decided to bring other players in his place," the Argentine said. "We have players in that position like Gio Reyna, [Christian] Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Diego Luna. I think too many players for only one position.

"When you have the possibility of only 23 players to call in a competition that is only two games in a very short space of time, I think we need a good balance."



Aaronson has earned 47 caps with the USMNT, but the emergence of Luna at the January camp appears to have been costly for the Leeds playmaker.

In contrast to previous seasons in which Aaronson struggled for club form, Pochettino said this time the attacker is doing just about all he could on the club level.

'Sometimes it's not about improving or not improving [club form]," Pochettino added. "Sometimes it's about numbers when you can only call 23. On the preliminary list, I think we were 60 players, and it's really painful, because sometime it's not only the performance but the balance, and then how you connect the characters of the players."

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