If you’ve paid attention to any of the latest Doop By the River podcasts, you’ve heard our new segment Doop across the pond, where we go into detail about the Union’s homegrown’s Brenden Aaronson and Mark McKenzie. As a way to amplify this, we are introducing this new weekly edition style of article titled: Doop’in around the world. In this first edition, we will take a look at three players who are currently thriving in Europe.
Doop’in around the world
Since this is the first edition of this new series of articles, we are going to start with a few fan favorites, and also one player you may not expect to see doing so well!
Brenden Aaronson
Brenden Aaronson has made five appearances for his new club RB Salzburg in the four in the Austrian Bundesliga and one in the Austrian. In those four games, he has looked at his normal explosive self. His new head coach Jesse Marsch has Brenden playing as one of their attacking midfielders in a 4-2-2-2 formation. Aaronson has been looked really good in Salzburg’s transition moments. Whether it’s been to close opponents down or create attacks Brenden’s never-ending motor has been on display.
In his five matches, Aaronson already has a goal and an assist. He is looking very sharp right now as a rotation player, if he keeps this up, it may be hard to keep him off the pitch. RB Salzburg is in a title race in the Austrian Bundesliga, are in the semi-finals of the Austrian cup, and the Round of 32 in the Europa League. There are plenty of minutes out there for Aaronson in these competitions!
You can catch all of Brenden’s Austrian Bundesliga games on For the Fans HQ for free, so make sure to tune in there! RB Salzburg’s next match is tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 13 at 11:00 am ET.
Mark McKenzie
Mark McKenzie has transitioned to his new team KRC Genk in Belgium and has shown well! He’s played in four games starting and going 90 minutes in three of them. Mark has been a key player for Genk in the matches he’s played. As a center back, usually not having the spotlight on you means you’re doing a good job. For McKenzie, this isn’t always the case.
Mark showed in his time with the Union that he is a very good possession center back. He can start attacks with his vision and passing. Couple that with his ability to shut down players one-on-one, and speed to close down attackers and he has the making of a great modern-day center back. For Genk, McKenzie has shown some of these tendencies, and the outcomes of the matches he’s been in have been for the most part successful.
Genk has won or drawn in three of the four matches, McKenzie has featured in. The club is in a struggle for a top-two finish; Belgian league leaders Club Brugge are 17 points clear of Genk who sit in third place three points off Royal Antwerp FC. McKenzie’s addition to the squad may help sure things up to secure that second-place finish.
As of today, you can catch all of McKenzie’s league games on ESPN+! His next match is tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 13 at 2:45 pm ET.
Andrew Wooten
Did you know Andrew Wooten is in the Austrian Bundesliga now? He’s playing for FC Admira and has already featured in four matches. It seems as though he is finding his striking boots with his new club.
After two substitute appearances and one full 90-minute performance, Wooten scored a brace in his most recent league game. That’s one more goal than he scored for the Union in a season-and-a-half in Philadelphia, and honestly it’s hard not to root for the guy.
It was obvious Wooten was not the right fit for the Union. Even if he had one of the most crucial plays to secure the 2020 supporter shield as he cleared a ball off his own goal line to secure a win for Philly. Union fans should be happy that he is in a club now where he can have a real influence. Wooten’s new club is currently in danger of the relegation round in Austria and are nine points from safety. Maybe his presence will be what they need to move up the table?
Wooten’s next match for FC Admira is Sunday, Feb. 14 at 8:30 am. It should be available on For the Fans HQ!
Who do you want to see featured in the future?
That will do it for this edition of Doop’in around the world! As we progress with this edition style of articles forward, I’d love to hear who you the fans would like to feature in this! Have a favorite Union player that left the club, and want to share his progress? Let us know in the comments below and they will feature in future editions of Doop’in around the world!
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