Auston Trusty — who is he and what does he add to the Blades?
Riley Roberts digs into the data on the Blades' newest signing
Note from the editors: this week the Blades sold Iliman Ndiaye, and if there was one good thing to come out of it, then it was reading Riley Roberts’ piece on searching out a replacement. It was detailed. It was thorough. It was reminiscent of Jay Socik’s (BladesAnalytic) passion for SUFC and data before he went off and helped Luton into the top flight. We read it. We loved it. We signed him up, and here are the results.
Riley Roberts
As I start writing this, Sheffield United have just confirmed the signing of Auston Trusty from Arsenal. He signs on a 4-year deal for a “significant undisclosed fee” reported as being around £5m. Shall we take a look at him?
Who is he?
Auston Trusty is a 24-year-old left-footed CB, who has also played at LB. A youth international at U17, U19, U20 and U23 levels, Trusty made his full debut for the USA national team in March, and frankly this was overdue. In part, his wait for a call-up is down to two things. First, Trusty essentially lost a year of his career due to a falling out with the Philadelphia Union hierarchy over his contract status in July 2019 and found himself dropped for the rest of the 2019 MLS season. Second, the pandemic meant that it was a full calendar year before he took to the pitch again. At 21 this might’ve been a big blow to some, but Trusty found a new home at Colorado Rapids where he excelled, before signing for Arsenal in 2022. From there, he returned to the Rapids briefly before joining Birmingham City on a season-long loan. By the end of that loan, he was voted Player of the Season, and now he’s signed for Sheffield United Football Club.
Deep Dive
I want to look at what type of player Trusty is, and what his past performances can tell us about how he will work in our system.
In the league for Birmingham last season, Trusty played 21 times at LCB (in a back 3) and 13 times at LB (in a back 4). Birmingham’s points-per-game with him at LCB was an impressive 1.85. When he played at LB it was just 1.38 – a huge difference. And although his position wasn’t the only factor in their performance, it definitely shows us where he is deployed most effectively.
Now for a big caveat. Before I go any further, it’s important to note that it is very hard to judge defenders based on pure stats. A defender in a possession-heavy team will naturally play more passes than a defender in a more direct team. Flip that on its head: a defender from a team who struggles to keep the ball will likely make a higher number of interceptions and tackles than one from a team who has the ball more.
Now, the first thing you’ll probably notice looking at that chart is the low numbers in terms of Trusty’s possession-based stats. This can be, at least partly, attributed to the caveat above. Birmingham as a team made the least passes in the league last season and had the joint-second worst pass accuracy, so it wasn’t really Trusty’s role to build from the back or to be safe in possession.
Watching footage, you can tell that Trusty definitely isn’t a centre-back who is focused on ball playing. When he makes an interception in the defensive third or a ball drops to his feet it seems like his first thought is to clear the ball rather than bring it down and play on the ground. This makes him a different option to what we have at LCB at the minute, as Rhys Norrington-Davies and Jack Robinson are more comfortable with the ball at their feet. Trusty might suit the way we’ll play this season – we weren’t really a possession-based side in the Championship, and in the top flight we can expect less possession. The slightly worrying part is that his progressive pass success rate is just 61.95% (25th percentile) which puts him beneath all our current centre-backs last season. Personally, I am a bit surprised that this is the type of CB we opted to sign: I would’ve expected us to be looking for a better ball retainer. However, by playing as part of a better-quality team, Trusty might well improve in this area.
One attribute Trusty has over all our CBs, in my opinion, is his ability in the air. The above chart shows him being in the 54th percentile for aerial win % which sounds decent but not outstanding. However, when watching Trusty in action he looks extremely sound aerially. There’s no way of putting it other than to say he has a tremendous leap. In fact, Trusty’s physicality as a whole is arguably his main selling point. Not only can he jump really well but he is rapid, his recovery pace is really good, he has stamina which allows him to play at a high intensity for 90 mins, and he will very rarely get outmuscled by any forwards.
Whilst I have concerns about his passing, there’s plenty to like about his ability to carry the ball out from defence. When receiving the ball, he tends to bring it rather than pass – it has nothing to do with him being American, but Trusty knows how to help his team “gain yards”. And more than that, he can take on a defender too. He is quick and very strong on the ball, and this allows him to beat his man despite having a lengthy and clumsy-looking stride, à la Chris Basham.
Now for probably the most notable part of Trusty’s game: aggressive defending. Trusty’s preference when defending is to push up from the defensive line and go and meet an attacker. It’s something he does very often – he’s an extremely active front-foot defender and one who gives attackers no time to think. This was perfect for when Birmingham played 5 at the back last season with him at LCB, because even when he charged at an attacker in an attempt to win the ball, there was still a solid back 4 covering behind him. I’d imagine this is definitely something Hecky and his team took into consideration with this signing, as it makes him a good fit for the Blades. This aggressiveness can be both good and bad for Trusty: it enables him to make the most of his strength and his good tackling ability, but also means he can give away a lot of fouls.
Just look at this image from our game vs Birmingham last season. Trusty’s good reading of the game ensures that he knows that Iliman is going to drop in to show for the ball, and Trusty tracks this perfectly, pushing up towards Ndiaye and eventually getting a foot in. This aggressive defending allows his side to win possession back almost 10 yards into the opposition's half from a starting point inside his own half. Had he not followed Ndiaye here, the Senegalese forward would have had space to turn and drive into Birmingham territory unopposed.
Alternatively, this could also be a bad thing, as if Trusty pushes up and fails to win the ball it can leave space in behind for players to run into, so his aggression somewhat relies on covering the space he leaves. Here’s how it could look in our system. (In this scenario the opposition AM is receiving from the RCM.)
As we can see here, we have a flat back 4 which creates a 4v3 vs their wingers and CF. Trusty and Norwood are central and if Slimane and Berge were to push wider to defend the width, we could end up defending in a very solid 4–4–2. If the ball is turned over here by Trusty, he has Slimane and Norwood within close proximity for a simple pass which could set us away on a quick counter.
I could be way off the mark here. We might not be planning to utilise his aggressiveness in that way at all, and it might even be something that our coaching staff will attempt to iron out of his game, especially as this could be particularly risky in the Premier League. Hecky has, however, made a point about playing brave in the past, so who knows?
The verdict
If you had asked me a few days ago about this signing, before I thought of even writing this article, let alone researching it, my answer would have been much different to the one I’ve presented here. Looking at the chart provided at the start of this piece you might understand why. At first glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking he can’t pass, can’t defend and is average in the air, but that just goes to show that stats are only part of a much bigger picture when it comes to analysing a player. After a deeper dive into his playing style and adding context to the numbers provided, it’s clear to see what our recruitment team have seen in him, how he fits our side and how he could very well be a shrewd acquisition.
Very well thought out and presented article, look forward to seeing more
Thanks Riley - great research.
"...he could very well be a shrewd acquisition." Certainly hope so!
Sue.