Aaron Long's rise in MLS is truly a great story. He played his college ball at UC Riverside from 2010-2013, before being drafted No. 36 overall by the Portland Timbers in 2014. Long actually spent time with both American Cascadian rivals. The Timbers released Long, leading him to join the Seattle Sounders. During his Timbers days, he was loaned to USL on two occasions. For Seattle, he never played for the first team, only appearing for Sounders 2. Aaron Long played in the midfield then, but it was his time with the Sounders' reserve squad that saw his position change to center back. Long joined New York Red Bulls as a pre-season trialist in 2016, earning a spot with RBNY II. Long anchored New York's second team, earning USL All-League First Team, USL Defender of the Year, and winning the USL Cup. On August 16th, 2016, Long made his first-team debut in a CONCACAF Champions League match versus Alianza FC. He started the match, as well as the return leg. Though, it took until March 5th, 2017 for Aaron Long to step on the pitch in an MLS match. In a wild turn of events for his career, Long started almost every game during the 2017 season.
In 2017, Long started 30 out of 34 matches for the New York Red Bulls, despite spending the previous three years searching for his first MLS appearance. Long had a multitude of defensive partners during the season, including Aurelin Collin, Sal Zizzo, Damien Perinelle, and Michael Murillo (current Marseille RB). He helped secure 8 clean sheets during the season. In a September 2nd match against FC Dallas, Aaron Long nodded home his first MLS goal via the Sacha Kljestan free kick. By the end of the season, Long had appeared in 41 total matches across all competitions. He played all 90 minutes in all five US Open Cup matches, and all three MLS Cup Playoff matches. The Red Bulls went out in the Eastern Conference Semis against Toronto FC, on away goals.
A year later, Aaron Long put together his most complete defensive season to this point. In 2018, he played a massive role in the New York Red Bulls' Supporters Shield winning campaign. His role was so important that Long was named the 2018 MLS Defender of the Year. The Red Bulls set the points record with 71, becoming the first team to ever crack the 70 point mark in an MLS regular season. The record has since been broken twice, in 2019 by LAFC, and in 2021 by New England. RBNY finished with a record of 22-7-5. Long played in all 34 matches, the team only conceded 33 goals. This means they conceded less than one goal per game, an incredible defensive feat. Long was a part of a career-high 12 clean sheets.
He also provided 5 goal contributions, with 3 goals and 2 assists, the most G+A of his career. In a wild March 31st match, Long equalized 3-3 with a late header, but Orlando won 4-3. On June 6th, it was once again a header goal, this time to help beat NYCFC 4-0 in a US Open Cup edition of the Hudson River Derby. A few weeks later, Long scored his first goal with his feet, though it was still on a set piece of course. The corner was whipped into the box, forcing Long to lunge for and volley a contested cross. The first-time effort took a mean bounce and hit the back of the net, marking his second goal against FC Dallas despite only having three in his MLS career. Long scored his final goal of the season in early October, powering and placing a header off the underside of the crossbar and in against San Jose. Long was also named a 2018 MLS All-Star for his impressive season. The Red Bulls defeated Columbus in the playoffs, but lost 3-1 on aggregate to the eventual champions in Atlanta United during the ECF.
New York did not play at the same level in 2019, but still earned a playoff spot. Long started and played in 24 matches, earning six clean sheets. On May 8th, Rzatkowski whipped in a free kick onto the head of Aaron Long for another one of his signature aerial goals. This marks a good time to mention Long's US Men's National Team contributions. Long has made 35 caps for the USMNT, scoring three goals. Two of those came in one Gold Cup match on June 22nd against Trinidad and Tobago. After 41 minutes, Long scored a diving header at the back post. In the final moments of the match, he also crashed a Weston McKennie rebound and chested home his second of the night. Back in MLS play, Long scored a revenge goal against Seattle in mid-September, though the Red Bulls lost the game, losing some of the revenge significance. The team ended up being a first-round exit in a 4-3 loss to Philadelphia. On November 15th, Long scored his most recent USMNT goal, a header against Canada.
In the shortened 2020 season, RBNY finished in 6th place in the East for the second straight season. Long still had a solid season, scoring twice and keeping four clean sheets in defense. Both of his goals in 2020 were game-winners, late in the season. Long scampered into the box on a Kaku free kick to power a header home at the near post against DC United in September. In late October, Long scored a rare foot goal to defeat New England in the 89th minute. The Red Bulls lost in the first round again, to the Columbus Crew. In 2021, Long suffered likely the biggest setback of his career. In a 1-0 loss against the Philadelphia Union on May 15th, Long suffered a ruptured achilles in a match he played the full 90. Long missed 49 matches after surgery. In January of that same year, ESPN reported that Liverpool was monitoring Aaron Long amid their own injury concerns.
Come 2022, Long returned from his injury and played another solid season. He scored a career-high 4 goals, with 6 clean sheets. RBNY finished fourth in the Eastern Conference table. He became the captain for the club in the very first game of the season. Now to go through his four goals: On March 5th, another set piece header. On May 7th, a cool finish off a corner kick. On July 3rd, yet another set piece header. On August 2nd, yep you guessed it, another set piece header. Colorado actually won that game 5-4 at Red Bull Arena, one of the crazier games in recent memory. The Red Bulls lost 2-1 to FC Cincinnati in the first round of the playoffs.
On January 4th, 2023, Aaron Long signed with LAFC. He had many other reported offers and interest, including Seattle, Miami, LA, Liga MX teams, and unnamed English sides. Thus far, Long has made 13 starts and 16 appearances for LAFC this season. He has registered one assist and four clean sheets. LAFC currently sit in third place in the Western Conference, with eyes for at least the second slot. Long did not start the season as a regular starter, but he is currently on an eight-game start streak for Los Angeles. He will look to help LAFC get back into winning form in the final stretch of the season. Long earns the #89 spot on the list thanks to his rock-solid years with the New York Red Bulls, most notably 2018.
YEAR | CLUB | MINUTES | GOALS | ASSISTS | CS |
2023 | LAFC | 1,175* | 0* | 1* | 4* |
2022 | RBNY | 2,370 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
2021 | RBNY | 450 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
2020 | RBNY | 1,330 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
2019 | RBNY | 2,108 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
2018 | RBNY | 2,806 | 3 | 2 | 12 |
2017 | RBNY | 2,659 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
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