Andrew Gutman’s MLS struggles have been laid bare by FC Cincinnati’s MLS form.
Gutman joined the expansion side back in early August until the end of the 2020 season. And it’s fair to say that he’s been thrown in at the deep end.
The USA left-back has certainly had a meteoric rise over the last nine months in particular. He signed for Celtic back in January, before moving to USL side Charlotte Independence on loan. Gutman made 14 appearances and even managed three goals from left-back in the lower league of the USA. He then returned to Celtic for pre-season.
But his effective promotion to MLS football has been a challenging one.
Since Gutman arrived at the start of August, Cincinnati have played five matches and have failed to win any of them. He impressed during a 2-2 draw at Columbus. Many Cincinnati fans were quick to heap praise on the Celtic man after that debut outing.
But that’s been as good as it’s gotten for Gutman in his first month back in the States. Cincinnati have lost their last four matches. In addition to that, they’ve conceded 15 goals in their last four games alone, and have failed to score more than one goal in any of them.
FC Cincinnati’s MLS form took another hit last night
Last night’s 5-1 mauling at home to Toronto didn’t look pretty for the Celtic man either. He was reintroduced to the team after missing last week’s 3-1 loss at Dallas.
His return didn’t spark a renaissance. He was caught out for Toronto’s fourth goal last night and didn’t get any opportunity to show his attacking style either. It was another rough night in a few weeks full of them.
Of course, Cincinnati were already bottom of the Eastern Conference before Gutman arrived. Unfortunately, however, his arrival also hasn’t sparked any form of revival for the expansion side. They still sit bottom, and are a whole 13 points from second-bottom Columbus.
Celtic will simply be hoping that this is just a blip for Gutman and Cincinnati, however. With the MLS season set to end in November, Cincinnati will have their chance to rebuild the squad. It’s been a reality-check of a first campaign for them in the MLS, and Gutman is also starting to feel that too.
But even so, it’s hopefully proving to be a steep learning curve for him, even this early on. Keeping an eye on Gutman’s progress is going to be an intriguing prospect over the next year. With a bit of luck, himself and his club can turn their form around in time for next season.
As it stands, however, Gutman and Cincinnati could do with a pick-me-up.
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