In Matthew Doyle's latest Armchair Analyst on MLSSoccer.com, the senior writer wrote about each team's best 22 Under 22 contender. While it was a coin flip between Philadelphia Union homegrowns Mark McKenzie and Brenden Aaronson, Doyle in the end picked Aaronson for the column.
Doyle's 2019 analysis made note that "he's great at checking his shoulder and finding space to be an outlet for his teammates in build-up play, and he's very good at receiving the ball" but just wasn't deadly enough like one expects in the No. 10 role. "All that great work he did to find killer spots didn't matter much if he was unwilling to make the killer pass after getting on the ball," Doyle wrote.