One thing I didn’t realise until recently was that Jordan Pickford had 6 loan different spells out on loan before making his first team debut for Sunderland.
This season at Salford was only Matt’s second loan move.
The reason I mention Pickford is that I’ve heard so many times from various sources that Young is the next on the Sunderland conveyor belt that produced Pickford.
I can only speak about what I’ve seen from Matt, but before even talking about his goalkeeping related talent of shot stopping and distribution I think highlighting his incredibly composure and calmness is definitely worth starting with.
There have been some, what I would call lazy narratives around Matt being dropped for a period two games after the heavy defeat against Man City in the FA Cup. Some fans said he was taken out of the firing line for his own good as being a young goalkeeper, conceding eight in a game could deeply affect his confidence. Personally, I saw no evidence that his performance levels dropped in the two games he played after that, but our head coach, Karl Robinson, saw it differently.
Young is a player who always makes his team mates, and the fans in the stands relaxed when he’s in the pitch. His unflappable nature is real, it’s not an act. And the part I struggled to get my head around is that he is able to do this as an eighteen year old. It’s just not normal to see at this age, but I feel it definitely speaks to how far he can progress, as confidence, talent and hard work will get him as far as he wants to go in the game.