Who is Matty Cash? This season in the Championship, the league saw a lot of talents doing big rounds across the globe. Some household names like Jude Bellingham, Saïd Benrahma, Ben White are making big noises in the transfer market with Bellingham already completing a move to German giants Borussia Dortmund. Among them, a new name emerged from Nottinghamshire who definitely surprised everyone with his impressive versatility.
Matthew Cash, also known as ‘Matty’ Cash, played for Nottingham Forest in the Championship last season and today he has the Premier League side Aston Villa. Matty is just 23 years old who plays as a right-winger. The question remains, how did a right-winger like Matty Cash end up playing as a right-back? Nottingham Forest’s main right-back Tendayi Dariwka dealt with long term injury. With Carl Jenkinson also facing constant injuries, manager Sabri Lamouchi looked up to Cash and shifted him to the right-back position.
The Reason Why Matty Cash Has Gained So Much Attention
Quick preview on how Lamouchi set up his team – Nottingham played in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Matty as the right back. To support him on the right side, Joe Lolley operated as a right-winger.
Credits: Sofascore
You can see how Matty keeps himself in a very wide position, almost like hugging the sideline. He covers that whole wide-area of the pitch with his exceptional dribbling skills.
Matty Cash While Defending:
Modern full-backs are unfolding with the idea of playing a more attacking role in order to overload the flanks of either side and Cash in no exception. But Matty also has brilliant defending qualities.
Here, Matty bent his upper body and his knees during this 1v1 situation. This way, Matty quickly changed the angle of his run as per the opposition. The opposition made a dribble with the ball near the cutback zone. Matty in no time started a run in the same direction. Once Matty got the idea that the opposition didn’t have an option to either move or pass, he made a sliding tackle resulting into a corner.
Matty loves to make a timed sliding tackle, this way he prevents the opposition from reaching dangerous zones.
The Best Attributes On The Pitch
The ball carrier was in Nottingham’s half, in the final third region. Matty was engaged with the player making the run inside into the box. A ball carrier who didn’t have many free teammates to make a pass. Matty read that and was still on his targeted player. Once the ball carrier released the pass, Matty positioned himself ahead of his targeted player and made an interception. This way, he cleanly averted the danger of a possible goal and had the option to make a quick counter-attack with a long pass or by dribbling.
One of the crucial aspects of his defending is delaying the opposition. Whenever he is in a 1v1 position, he maintains a few inches distance between himself and them. Instead of letting the ball carrier control the direction, Matty forms such an angle that the ball carrier is forced into the wide region. Once Matty interprets that the opposition has no option to either pass or progress, he quickly intercepts or makes a sliding tackle. In every 90 minutes, he completes 1.4 interceptions, 2.6 tackles and wins 4.5 ground duels.
Matty Cash While Attacking:
Matty received the ball near the halfway line with acres of space around him. The opposition came near him to close him down but Matty moved inward into the half-space which was the opposite of what the opposition blocker predicted and thus the latter one was taken out of the game. Matty made a dribble and found himself in between the lines of the opposition midfield and defensive line. With the number 23 moving outwards, Matty had the option to make a pass to him since he was in the blindside of the opposition full-back but he went for the glory.
He has developed a great connection with Lolley (right-winger). They understand each other pretty well and react accordingly. Usually, Matty reaches the wide-area and then provides a cross into the box.
Matty registered three goals and five assists last season. Matty Cash is second in most chances created (45 chances created) by a defender Championship in 2019/20 season.
His Talents Are Just Endless
Matty completed 1.1 dribbles per game and this was very evident from his game. Received a long ball from the opposite flank. He collected the ball in the middle third of the pitch. At that time, he was then in a 2v1 position and his body language showed that he was ready to dribble past both of them. He did exactly the same. The player dribbled past using the space on his left and was ready to face the defensive line of the opposition. He then dribbled past all of them and scored a solo goal for his team.
Matty has the tendency to usually underlap and become a threat near zone 14. What happens when he is in a wide area? Here, Matty found himself in a 1v1 situation with the opposition defender. He found himself in a good position to provide a cross into the box.
He faked the cross and moved vertically to buy himself some time and space for an accurate cross and checked the number of his players in the box. The goalkeeper punched the resulting header. The ball directly lands into the Nottingham forest player who has positioned himself just outside the 6-yard box. With correct positioning and very near to the goalpost, the player scores.
Conclusion:
Despite being a winger, Matty Cash without an inch of doubt had a brilliant season as a full-back. Now he is a part of a Premier League team, that too of a team with a great history in the league. It will be interesting to see how his future gets shaped at the club he has signed for.
