Auston Trusty: The next big star out of America?

Auston Trusty is a 20-year-old left-footed central defender playing for the Philadelphia Union in MLS. Having started his footballing career in the USL on an amateur deal with Bethlehem Steel, Trusty was signed on a Homegrown Player contract for the Philadelphia Union in August 2016. Since then, Trusty has become a mainstay in the Union defence. He made 34 regular season appearances in the 2018 season. In the process, he became the youngest player ever to play every minute of every regular season game in MLS history.

Trusty has made 16 appearances across the USA under-19s and under-20s and received his first call up to the full national team in December 2018. Despite not making an appearance thus far for the USMNT, this call up was a clear indication of the high esteem in which Trusty is held. Fans of the Philadelphia Union and MLS see a great future ahead of Trusty.

I will look at the young Americans strengths and weaknesses, what he brings to the Philadelphia Union and what he still has to work on. In addition to this, as Trusty is seen as a long-term prospect for the USMNT, I will compare Trustys statistics to the central defenders currently playing for the national team.

Aggressive style of play

Trusty is a defender who loves to defend on the front foot. He very often pushes out of the defensive line to challenge an opposition attacker who has dropped slightly deeper and is looking to turn and attack the Union backline. This is reflected in Trustys statistics across his Philadelphia career.

Trusty makes 6.23 interceptions per 90mins. The current central defenders in the USMNT are Matt Miazga, Tim Ream, John Brooks and Omar Gonzalez. Trusty makes more interceptions per 90 than Miazga, Ream and Gonzalez and is only marginally beaten out by John Brooks who makes 6.64 interceptions per 90. Below we can see an example of Trustys awareness and aggression in defence.

A loose bouncing ball is dropping between Trusty and a Columbus Crew player. Trusty attacks the ball, moving out of the defensive line. He gets to the ball easily before the Crew player and lays the ball off simply to a midfielder.

Below is an image fr