Tranmere Rovers
Football League Stars of the Future: Matthew Godden
By Henry Hudson
March 13 2013
In the latest article in our series looking at potential Football League stars of the future, Henry Hudson takes a look at Scunthorpe United striker Matthew Godden who is currently on loan in the Blue Square Premier......
An eagle-eyed reader that does his research into all things League One will recognise this name, he has played against Tranmere this season and has also played quite a few times for his parent club (including a noteworthy Carling Cup tie against Manchester United). Although I know most readers will be scratching their heads as they read this name, as you may have been for previous ‘players of the future’ features.
Matthew Godden is twenty-one years old and plays for Scunthorpe United, a club he has been at for his entire career. He is a striker that has yet to really break through to the first –team as yet although he is more than good enough to. The long-suffering Scunthorpe United fans will be the first to admit that their club are not blessed with the greatest forwards in League One, their leading scorer by a considerable distance is Leon Clarke and he left the club three months ago, which begs the question why Matty has been sent out on loan so many times?
‘But what makes him better than the herd?’ I hear you ask. ‘If he were that good the manager would have put him in the first-team’ a few may argue. I cannot directly counter the second argument as I am in no position to question a professional football manager and I have no doubt that Scunny manager Brian Laws has Godden’s best interests in mind when making decisions, however the former argument is one I can answer without having to resort to sparkling wordplay or whimsical rhetoric. Matthew is a hardworking forward that will run into brick-walls for his team, if you pardon the cliché. He will chase balls forwards that he has almost chance of getting, he will charge down defenders he has little chance of catching, he will leap for crosses he has a slim chance of reaching and all for the sake of the badge on the front of the shirt.
Imagine the Mario Balotelli sort of striker, or perhaps more of a familiar thought, Dele Adebola or Enoch Showunmi. The kind of striker that may be quiet for a whole game but when in the box is a big threat, a traditional forward that may not do all the running for his team but is always ready to pounce. Have you pictured it? Well if you have wipe it completely from your mind as this lad is nothing like that, ninety minutes of non-stop running is the least you can expect from the Iron’s forward. Even if he has the ball in his own half he can cause danger. Whenever the ball is at his feet I personally get excited as you know that an attack is coming. Whether it is a simple ball out wide or a powerful run on his own the crowd knows that something will happen.
For the more bulky defenders that relish the physicality of the league he is an absolute nightmare to deal with as Godden prefers not to go shoulder-to-shoulder with defenders and favours to peel of the defender to either pull out wide or drive inside. When he does pull out wide with the ball, his marker does not know whether to stay close to him or let the fullback deal with him. The danger from a defenders perspective is that if he stays with the man he gets dragged completely out of position which leaves the penalty area extremely exposed.
Without trying to sound like the Waylon Smither’s to his Mr Burns, he is the kind of striker that can create and chance by himself, he is not completely reliant on the creative players around him, unlike some Football league one strikers (I’ll let you name and shame them). He may be out on-loan at a conference side but not long from now you will know this name. He will probably not be at the very top, I think even Matt Godden himself will!
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13/03/2013 19:26
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