Liam Scales

https://www.bbc.com/sport/articles/c8r0lj84kppo

Is Scales Celtic's best central defender?
Image source,SNS
ByCharlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland

• Published
  1 hour ago

Since joining from Shamrock Rovers in 2021, Liam Scales has made 110 appearances for Celtic across all competitions and has firmly cemented himself as a mainstay in Brendan Rodgers' starting XI.

The Irish defender has started all seven of the Parkhead club's league games this season, while centre-back partner Cameron Carter-Vickers has started six.

Dane Murray has started once in the top flight, Auston Trusty has been missing through injury since a couple of early appearances as a substitute and Jahmai Simpson-Pusey has not featured at all since joining on loan from Manchester City.

We've taken a look at the stats behind Scales' start to the season to see if Rodgers is justified in his loyalty to the centre-back.

Defensively, Carter-Vickers and Scales measure up on almost all metrics but there are a few key areas where the latter has excelled.

In terms of tackles, both Carter-Vickers and Scales have made six so far while the American international has won five to his team-mates' four. However, the pair are joint for interceptions (10) while Scales has made more clearances (45 to 33), headed clearances (29 to 21), all while having faced six more shots than his counterpart.

Scales has won 43 duels while Carter-Vickers has won 33, giving them a duel success rate of 64.2% and 56.9% respectively. In terms of aerial duels, Scales has won 31 from 48 while his team-mate has won 22 of 36.

While the moans and groans from Celtic Park can be heard across the country every time one or other of the defenders passes back to goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, Scales has been putting in the work going forward.

Scales has made 242 forward passes in his seven games compared to Carter-Vickers' 192.

Looking at successful passes into the final third, Scales' 88 vastly outnumbers Carter-Vickers' 54. The Irishman has also made 15 passes into the opposition penalty box compared to Carter-Vickers' one.

Scales has created five chances and three big chances while his regular centre-back partner has created one of each.

Going by the numbers alone, it seems Rodgers has found his star centre-back.

 

plerrrr but he's not better than CCV let's not be silly. Can throw any stat at me you like I don't give a shiny *.

 

Then and now.

Right now he is our best defender for me. If CCV can return to his form of 2/3 years ago then it's a different discussion but I think injuries are catching up with him and he looks much shakier now - particularly in Europe.

 

No he is not our best CB. Can stick stats up your hole as far as I'm concerned

 

The fact it is even questioned and debated if he is the best CB we have, or the second best CB we have is an alarming issue concerning the quality overall of our CB options.

I mean this with as little disrespect as humanly possible, because by no stretch is he a bad CB and he has certainly earned his stint at the club and I am happy and hoping he stays for some time yet - but the level he is, we really, really should be having better.

 

It's probably even more damning with that in mind that if we currently looking at our current squad, CB is probably the area of the pitch that needs the least investment in.

 

We really need to move past this never seen someone so desperate to prove one of our own players is better than another.

We’ve got both of them and can play two CB’s, relax.

 

Don't get me wrong, Scales is a very good player, I'm happy to have him here and I actually think he's better than probably a majority of the CBs I've seen at Celtic since the MON days; but when the facts show him as being better than CCV, it's the perfect illustration of how our metrics are broken and not just in football either.

In football, as in anything else, data and statistics are great if you start out with an open mind and want to see what the data shows; if you start out with a point you want to make (as is usually the case nowadays) and look for data to support it, then the ubiquity of data and statistics in modern discourse just gives motivated reasoning yet another powerful tool to misinterpret reality.

 

I'm not desperate to prove anything. You seemed desperate to absolutely savage Scales and don't want to admit you were shown to not really know what you were talking about. You're a hypocrite, maybe just keep your head down and people won't be exposed how petty and wrong you are.

 

No, but he is this season (so far), and has improved a lot tbf.

 

The majority of people in here think you’re a * moron.

Sit down and shut up.

 

You don't speak for the majority of people.

It's patently obvious you are a halfwit with an ego the size of the Sahara desert and have a serious problem when first of people differ from your view and even bigger problem when you are proven wrong.

I didn't write the above article. It's an opinion piece by an independent BBC journalist supported by data. The fact that it happens to support a viewpoint you disagree has your very angry. It's almost like you'd be happy for Scales to go out and drop a shocker so you could be right even if it meant we lost. The most important thing in the world to you seems to be that you're right.

The best piece of advice I can give you is to shut up as you're a village idiot with too much to say.

 

This all stems from me not thinking Scales is good enough going forward. Stop talking utter *. It was also weeks ago now and I’ve given him credit since.

Bold bit is ironic.

He isn’t as good as CCV, that’s a fact. Drop it.

 

In this case, he does.

You’re a * clown.

 

Spamming up every single thread on here with paragraph after paragraph of utter pish.

Had him on ignore for well over a month and even at that he's still spamming up threads as all I see are people replying to his garbage.

I actually think I hit the ignore button bcoz he was arguing Scales was better than CCV and here he is a month later still slabbering about it.

 

You are being very dishonest. I've posted multiple examples of you in match threads slaughtering Scales when he were keeping clean sheets in games where he was probably our best player on the pitch. The issue is not that you seem CCV to be a better defender than Scales, you're entitled to hold that opinion. I don't necessarily disagree with that.

The issue is your incessant, unfair, over the top and utterly irrational savaging of Scales while simultaneously turning a complete blind eye to CCV regressing levels of form.

You don't have facts. You only have abuse and insults when you are countered with data backed opinions. You are a total hypocrite and a slabberer.

 

You speak for yourself mate, and stop slagging other fucken posters.

@Agathe17 has more support than you think.

 

During the Aberdeen game when he made mistakes and the Hun game when him and CCV could of been MOTM, but we were utterly garbage and it was during the game when mistakes were being made I was posting.

He almost cost us a goal to Miovski, that’s just a fact and you gloss over these mistakes in favour of posting his passing accuracy. In turn, you’re in the CCV thread greeting about his mistakes.

You can’t handle someone challenging you and you act the victim. You’re the one throwing insults around and throwing the toys out the pram at the first sign of a debate.

That article you posted was embarrassing. ChatGPT level of article writing. Multiple people have told you over and over again that you can’t simply rely on stats, but that’s all you do. When I challenged you on moments in the game you just go quiet, that’s why you don’t get respect from me or others in here.

Try and just watch a game of football for once.

 

Tbf there’s already rumours that you’re his burner account.

 

TBF there are some on here think you are a fucken prune.