Tillman, Aaronson, Robinson, Pepi: A Season of Opportunity
Malik Tillman walked out of the World Cup as one of the big American winners. Not just because he played well, but because Mauricio Pochettino tore up his scouting report and built a new one from scratch.
At PSV and earlier stops, Tillman was the classic No.10: silky touches, cute angles, a highlight reel built on flair. Pochettino pushed him deeper, turned him into a No.8 who hunted the ball, pressed like a demon and drove play forward. The pretty bits stayed – especially those two outrageous free kicks that are already lodged in USMNT folklore – but they became the garnish, not the meal.
Now he goes back to a club that barely resembles the one he joined.
Twelve months ago, Bayer Leverkusen were the swaggering Bundesliga champions, fresh off snapping Bayern Munich’s stranglehold and living in the Champions League glow. That version is gone. Last season hit hard: a flat, joyless campaign, Champions League gone, Europa League the consolation prize. Tillman never quite found his place in the mess, finishing with just six goals and one assist across all competitions.
This year has to be different.
Carles Martínez Novell arrives with a reputation for doing smart work on a tight budget at Toulouse. He is an upwardly mobile coach, the kind of appointment that fits a club trying to reset without tearing everything down. He wants the ball, wants to move it quickly, wants his midfielders to play forward rather than sideways.
That should suit Tillman. Whether Martínez Novell sees him as Pochettino did – an all-action No.8 – or restores him as an old-school No.10 between the lines, the American has a clear pathway into this side. Leverkusen need someone who can carry the ball, break lines and still offer end product.
And the schedule hands him a gentle opening. Elversberg, new to the Bundesliga and still blinking in the top-flight lights, arrive as the kind of opponent that can make a season’s tone. For Tillman, it’s a chance to turn a promising summer into a statement autumn.
Aaronson’s endless engine, lingering question
Brenden Aaronson is the kind of player coaches trust. They see the work-rate first. Then the running. Then the little improvements that stack up year on year.
He’s high-energy, high-effort, and clearly developing as a playmaker. Yet the numbers tell a harsher story: 33 goals and 31 assists in 268 league matches. For someone with his talent and usage, it feels light. There’s always that nagging sense he should be more dangerous.
Still, he’s survived the churn. At Leeds, he’s come through the awkward spells, the uncertain weeks, and convinced Daniel Farke he’s worth building around. This season, he looks less like a rotation option and more like a nailed-on starter in this system.
His first league outing of the campaign underlined the paradox. On paper, a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest, Aaronson starting on the left wing, reads quietly. No chances created. No decisive final pass. But watch the game, and he’s everywhere: seven defensive contributions, 14 sprints, six ball recoveries. Constant motion, constant nuisance.
That’s the version of Aaronson Leeds know they’ll get. The question, again, is whether he can add the extra layer.
Harry Wilson’s arrival on the right wing should help. Wilson brings a cleaner final ball, a sharper goal threat, and takes some creative weight off Aaronson’s shoulders. Leeds still lack a bit of electricity in the final third, though, especially against the kind of compact, disciplined Brentford side they face on Sunday.
Aaronson will run. He will press. He will help Leeds control games without the ball. What they really need now is for those numbers on his career ledger to start climbing.
Robinson and Fulham’s controlled chaos
Alvaro Arbeloa’s first Premier League game in charge of Fulham was wild. A 3-2 defeat to Chelsea, but not the kind that leaves a manager hiding. The Cottagers attacked, took risks, and looked like a team built to entertain as much as compete.
Arbeloa has landed in a dressing room full of attacking talent and young, expressive players. After his struggles managing big egos and big expectations at Real Madrid, this might be the perfect stage for him: a club that wants identity, energy and a bit of edge.
Antonee Robinson fits that brief almost too well.
Arbeloa wants chaos up front, but chaos he can control. He wants his full-backs to be aggressive, to step into midfield, to join attacks early and often. Robinson’s game has always leaned that way. His biggest asset is his ability to surge forward, overlap relentlessly and punch passes into dangerous spaces.
Against Chelsea, he did exactly that. Robinson ended the night having played more line-breaking passes than Fulham’s left winger, Cesar Palacios. For long spells, he was one of the main outlets in possession, a genuine creative presence from deep.
The problem? Fulham lost, and his direct opponent produced a clinic.
Cole Palmer toyed with him at times, drifting inside, dropping off, driving at him. Robinson struggled to contain him, and Palmer turned in the sort of performance that makes any full-back look bad on the highlights reel.
So the remit is clear now: keep the attacking ambition, tighten the defensive screws.
Sunderland arrive in an odd moment of their own. Against the odds, they qualified for Europe last season and now have to juggle domestic games with a Europa League campaign that will stretch their squad and their legs. On paper, they look like the kind of side Fulham – and Robinson – can get at, especially down the flanks.
If Arbeloa really wants his full-backs to define this new Fulham, Robinson’s response to that Chelsea test will say plenty.
Pepi stuck in place, still carrying PSV’s hopes
Ricardo Pepi went into the World Cup thinking he was on the brink of something. A straight fight with Folarin Balogun for the starting No.9 spot, a global stage, a chance to announce himself.
It never happened. No goals, no assists, around 200 minutes that drifted by without the breakout moment he and many others expected. For a striker on the cusp, it stung.
The months since haven’t exactly offered clarity. In January, he was reportedly close to a Premier League move. Then came the broken arm. Instead of a big transfer, he stayed put and kept scoring for PSV, still hunting that next step up. The summer window came and went without the move materialising.
On the pitch, he’s doing his part. He has scored in his last two games, and in the league he sits on two goals from three outings. Productive, reliable, but still feeling like he’s running on the same treadmill.
For PSV, that’s not a problem. It’s the plan.
Pepi is their reference point up front, the man expected to turn their possession and pressure into goals. They have a title to defend and a Champions League campaign to navigate. They can’t afford a striker wondering where he fits; they need the one who keeps finding the net.
Next up is Utrecht at home. It’s not glamorous, but it’s exactly the kind of fixture that builds a season. Keep this scoring rhythm, keep PSV rolling in the Eredivisie, and the questions about his ceiling will come back soon enough.
Only this time, Pepi will hope the answers arrive with a bigger move – and a bigger stage – to match his ambitions.
