"When Matty Young plays, Salford win" — How is Sunderland's goalkeeping prodigy getting on?
Today at 01:03 PM
How is our England U20 international 'keeper Matty Young getting on at Salford? We spoke to Podcaster Danny Shepherd to get his expert views...
Matty Young is a goalkeeper who is on track to be yet another success story from Sunderland's Academy of Light. After a successful loan at Darlington last season, Young was handed his first taste of league football at Salford City.
He had to be patient to wait for his first league start, playing in cup games at first, but he has taken his chance now with both hands. Young has eight clean sheets in his last nine games, a run that has seen Salford surge up the League Two table into third place, level on points with second-placed Crewe.
To see just how well he's been doing in Greater Manchester, I heard from Danny Shepherd. Danny is the founder and host of Salford City podcast One Up Front and the Editor of The Old Dead Tree Fanzine. The praise was gushing for Matty Young, and they are hoping to keep hold of our young keeper until the end of the season with hopes he will help them on a promotion push.
Matty Young didn't get too much game time at first, did you see him as a back up initially?
To give a bit of context, our first-choice goalkeeper for the last two years, Alex Cairns, was sold to Leeds United in July before our first pre-season game of 2024-25. This left us with a vacant spot to fill, which we did by signing Matty and the more experienced Jamie Jones to fight it out for the number 1 shirt.
Although at first, Jones seemed the likely starter in the League Campaign, I had a feeling we would only have been able to attract a prospect like Young if he had a serious chance of playing regularly in the first team. Very few teams would have been in a position to be able to offer a chance for a 17-year-old goalkeeper to win a starting role in League Two, but due to Salford City's circumstances that's exactly what happened.
When was he given his chance to impress in goal for Salford?
Despite featuring in roughly half the preseason friendlies, his first real opportunity in the first team was in the first round of the EFL Cup against Doncaster on August 13th. His debut in the League was on Dec 3rd against Harrogate Town. I can honestly say that Jamie Jones did very little wrong in the first few months of the season when he was between the posts.
As a result, it was an interesting switch for Karl Robinson to make to bring in such a young player in the most pressurised position on the pitch. I imagine Matty's work ethic and performance in training likely swung things in his favour, and to be fair he hasn't looked back since. There was also a strong rumour in the lead-up to Young's debut that Sunderland may recall him in January.
As Matty is now the clear number 1 at Salford we're all hoping that his parent club let him remain here for the rest of the season as it looks to be a win-win situation for all concerned.
It's Man City away this weekend- are you happy going to the Etihad with Young in goal?
I'm 100% happy with Young playing in goal against Manchester City. With 8 clean sheets in his last 9 appearances, I believe we have a great chance to win any match we play with him in our team. There was a recent rumour that Man City were interested in signing Matty, but he appears to have a clear pathway to first-team football at Sunderland.
So, if I were him, I'd keep right on his current track as his future looks assured as one of the best English goalkeepers for a generation if he continues to develop at his current rate.
What are Young's strengths and weaknesses?
I think his biggest strength is his calmness in all match situations. He never looks panicked or nervous, which is incredible considering his age. I would add he has a dominant presence on the pitch which sees him able to command his penalty area, and claim crosses with consummate ease. Another aspect of his game that stands out is his distribution.
His ability to hit precise areas of the pitch time after time is pretty remarkable to watch. I've also really appreciated the fact he's always looking to get his team on a fast break, and is very alert to runs being made all over the field.
He's done so little wrong it's hard for me to pick out a weakness. If I have to pick one I'd say, at times he's struggled to control rebounds off his body. As an example, in an FA cup game against Shrewsbury, a shot appeared to deflect off his chest straight into the path of an opposition striker. Despite the ball ending up in the back of Salford's net, it was ruled offside and I think Matty can count himself lucky on that occasion.
Salford have enjoyed a great run since Young has been given the number one spot - how much would you say he's had to do with this?
The simple answer is that Young's performances have been a major factor in our recent run of excellent form. I think our whole squad has had a massive boost since we were drawn away to Man City in the FA Cup. The prospect of playing on such a big stage I'm sure has been a huge motivation to try and get in the starting lineup for such a standout game in the club's history.
I feel the team in front of Matt is giving even more confidence because he's shown that when he's on the pitch the clean sheets naturally follow. Even as a fan, I turn up to games now and just expect to keep t
he opposition scoreless, as it's now become so routine that when Young plays, we win.
Although it's unlikely we'll be able to maintain this run of not conceding too much longer, Young's addition has provided the team a much-needed boost to make us serious contenders for promotion at season's end.
