Number One Champion American Bhoy: Auston Trusty at Celtic FC

Absolutely. Scouts will have gone to watch his and Scales' midweek performance and the one against surprise package Aberdeen and seen that he can perform against strong opponents, which will get them to keep monitoring him

Bringing the same against the likes of Motherwell, week in and week out, gets them to open their chequebooks.

 

Four games tightly spaced before the break, the next three at home:

Oct 30 v Dundee (T-8th in League)

Nov 2 v Aberdeen (Scottish League Cup - semifinal)

Nov 5 v RB Leipzig (CL Matchday 4 of 8)

Nov 10 @ Kilmarnock (T-8th in League)

 

Another match, another start for Trusty, at home v the other Dundee, Dundee FC.

 

League Cup semi-final this weekend, against Aberdeen.
With the CL tie against Leipzig on Tuesday, today's starting CB partnership will start midweek.

CCV is recovered but the Scales-Trusty standout performance against Atalanta will be hard to overlook.

If I was a betting man in the mood for a contrarian bet, I'd say CCV is on the bench today and midweek, with Trusty being benched next weekend

 

Well, it seems I've lost my bet. Trusty starts on the left of CCV, with Scales relegated to the bench

Celtic XI: Schmeichel, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Valle, McGregor, Hatate, Engels, Maeda, Kyogo, Kuhn

 

Trusty gets the start versus Leipzig. He rolled his ankle quite badly after just 7 minutes, and was in a lot of discomfort.

He's playing on after treatment, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's taken off early.


Edit:
Celtic are 1-0 down after a goal off a corner. Trusty wasn't at fault on the goal, but the entire Celtic defence is cracking wide open on corners and he's clearly one of their (many) weaknesses

 

I'm reading rave reviews from Celtic FC fans about Trustys performance.

Promising. Seems like he has really bedded in at Celtic nicely and getting plaudits in the CL against Atalanta and now RBL is fantastic.

 

Yes, he played really well, especially when you consider he rolled his ankle before the 10th minute.

Not long after he made a poor giveaway that indirectly led to the only goal against. But a lot had to happen after to get to that pt: unnecessary parry by Schmeichel on a non-threatening shot, header out to touch instead of cleared on the corner, & CCV then heads the ball to the far post.

Other than that he was getting the ball to the next station, winning 1 v. 1 duals, & recovering for teammates.

Most notable events:

- races over from the other side to cut off the near post with an attacker in on goal, forces an errant shot at near post

- his man does a nice job to try and turn him but he goes to ground quickly & precisely to cut it out

This is a good move for his development, so far (still early).

 

He wasn't as good as he was against Atalanata but, first half corners apart, he was very solid and linked seamlessly with CCV to form a stable partnership that kept the BL's number two team pretty quiet.

The result is immense for Celtic. Opta simulations project 15 points will get a team into the top 8 and a place in the Round of 16 while 10 points gets a place in the playoff round.

One more win and they're playing CL football after January and with Brugge (H), Dinamo Zagreb (A) and Young Boys (H) to come, with Villa (A) on the last day, I don't think there's any doubt about them making it now. It's a remarkable achievement

 

A week or so ago I called a friend who is a Scottish Celtic fan and his girlfriend. They both talked about how much they loved CCV, and how Trusty had been disappointing. But I was talking to him yesterday and apparently they’re really happy with his last few appearances.

I watched the replay of their last game against RB, and I thought he was pretty stellar.

 

Celtic are still quite a BFD in Ireland and their support is dedicated, often to the point of being one-eyed. Trusty unseating Liam Scales could have generated some hostility here due to Scales being one of our own and the unfairness of dropping him after such a stellar performance in Italy.

The general consensus instead is that CCV is an automatic starter and that Trusty's arrival gives the squad the quality depth it's long needed at CB and that Scales will get plenty of PT due to injuries, tactical rotation, etc. "Disappointing, but plenty to look forward to" you could say

Some are going so far as to say that the three of them form the kind of unit where if one is unavailable, the guy stepping up offers the nearest thing to a seamless transition you can find in football..

 

It may cost Celtic to start CCV in UCL because he's a flat track bully in the domestic league. His UCL performances have been underwhelming & Trusty's last 2 may be better than I've ever seen from him CCV. CCV was a bigger culprit on the goal & struggled in the air. He's poor in space. Conversely Scales made some hero challenges after he came on.

I think the ideal way to play it may be CCV & rotation of Scales/Trusty in league. Then in UCL, play Trusty w/ Scales. But egos and affinity from league play may get in the way.

 

Are Trusty and Scales both lefties? If so CCV is probably better on the right even if overall the other two are better.

 

@m vann Trusty is starting today at Kilmarnock but (after starting and playing 73’ v RB Leipzig this week) CCV is not in today’s squad.

Please explain …

Edit: Found this, might be precautionary …

“So that’s two changes from the side that started against RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Tuesday night with Cameron Carter-Vickers not in the squad today – no doubt a precaution given the plastic surface – and Kyogo dropping to the bench.“

Plastic surface? Please explain …

 

CCV missed time with a toe injury. I’m assuming “plastic surface” means Kilmarnock play on an artificial grass pitch. Those are notoriously harder and not as springy/forgiving as natural grass, so I assume the speculation is that CCV is being held out from playing on a surface that could potentially aggravate an injury he is just returning from.

tldr; if you had an injured toe would you rather run barefoot on grass or pavement?

 

Started:



0-0 in the 2nd half.

 

He and CCV went the distance in a routine SPL win. With the CL on Wednesday, we can expect him to start that one as well.

That makes him the first-choice LCB now

 

Starts in Champions League:

 

1-1 is a good result for both sides and it leaves Celtic on 8 points, just 2 points off guaranteed participation in Round II. Zagreb away are next and they're no mugs, but rock bottom Young Boys (0 points, -15 GD) come after that - at Celtic Park. Villa away is the final game.

Two points gets them to 10 points and the playoff round and you'd expect them to achieve that but 15 points isn't impossible. Opta's simulations give a team with that tally a 73% chance of making the Top 8 and a direct route to the last 16.

First-choice LCB at Celtic makes this move a success. At a CL elimination round side upgrades that to excellent.

 

Missed a chance to move in?