Matt Macey pre Blackpool H 2
GOALKEEPER Matt Macey is more than happy to step outside his comfort zone to help the Pilgrims and and progress his own career.
The 24 year-old is at Home Park on a season-long loan from Arsenal and knows the Gunners will be checking up on his Pilgrims’ progress. However, he thinks it is just as important for him to be able to “survive” without his usual support network in place.
Matt said: “They [Arsenal] let me get on with it.
“There will be someone watching every game, whether that be a coach or a scout, just to monitor my progress. They want to know how I’m getting on and that’s important for them.
“Ultimately, being on loan is a lot of being off the pitch and adapting to your surroundings, and just being at another club. So they want to let me go and grow up and learn to survive on my own without all their help.”
Matt’s main objective has been to have a settled run at first-team level and he was even prepared to seek foreign shores in search of the opportunity. The keeper from Bath insists there is a significant jump between youth football and senior football, but he is more than capable of facing that challenge.
He said: “The way football is now, you have to travel and commit to it if you want to develop your career. I was prepared to go anywhere to play football this season, even if that meant going abroad. I’m quite lucky that Plymouth is not too far from home.
“I want to be playing every game. I’ve said before that I’m not coming here as a young ’keeper to learn or develop – I’m coming here to prove myself at this level and get results.”
“It’s completely different when you’re in reserve or youth football; it’s one game a week; and when you go to Under-23s football, you play once every three weeks.
“So that toll on your body to recover and that need to be switched on every two days is completely different, especially for a goalkeeper. Mentally, you get tired if you play eight games in four weeks so the challenge for me is staying focussed throughout all those games.”
Looking forward to Saturday’s Sky Bet League One clash with Blackpool with Argyle still seeking a first league win, Matt insists there is no lack of confidence within the Green ranks after a 0-0 draw at Bristol Rovers last time out, and that the unwavering support of the Green Army will help see them through to better days.
He said: “Three points is a massive thing for us, even at this early stage. So we’ll go into it being positive. We were solid at Bristol Rovers on Saturday; we have something to build on; there’s confidence around the place that we can go and get a good result on Saturday.
“The crowds have been phenomenal, especially away crowds – obviously we sold out a few times. When they’re down the far end and I’m at the top end when you see a goal, there’s nothing like it.
“Even though it’s been a tough start, some of the boys have said they have been amazed that the fans have stuck with us.
“Even going back to the Peterborough game [when Argyle lost 5-1], they didn’t get on our backs or anything. They just kept with us. I’ve never come across that in football. It’s unbelievable really, so we’re very lucky."