Sunderland U21s played Gateshead in the National League Cup on Tuesday evening
The Black Cats drew 1-1 with their non-league hosts in regular time, before narrowly losing a penalty shootout. Having fallen behind during the first half, it was Ba who swept home an equaliser after the break, while Pembele started at right-back, and Matete featured in an advanced midfield role.
Their outing on Tyneside was the first football that all three have managed this season, having been soundly left out of Regis Le Bris’ senior plans so far this term. Ba and Pembele both spent the 2024/25 campaign out on loan in France, while Matete enjoyed a temporary stint with Bolton Wanderers.
What did Sunderland U21s coach Graeme Murty say about Abdoullah Ba, Timothee Pembele, and Jay Matete?
Speaking about Ba, Pembele, and Matete after the final whistle at the Gateshead International Stadium, U21s coach Murty said: “It's a good competition to bring them in. So, they're playing against mature athletes, which they like, and they come into our team so our players have to adjust to different styles and different personality types.
“For us, it's a brilliant platform for us to go and get really good experience against senior players, players who have played a lot of games in either this league or higher leagues and we've got 16, 17, and 18-year-olds on the pitch that are really wide-eyed in terms of managing that physical confrontation firstly, but also dealing with some of the more arcane elements, the cleverer elements of the game, which for us are really, really invaluable because they don't get against their peer group. Their peer group tend to be really good footballers and they tend to be quite naive and fresh-faced, whereas we can play against some players who've seen everything and they know how to manage situations, they know how to manage opponents and they know how to be really, really effective in the game.
The Echo has launched a new WhatsApp SAFC Channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates direct to your phone. Simply click this link to join ourSAFC WhatsApp channel.
“So, for us, it's a brilliant learning experience to blend all of those elements together. But we have to make sure we come to the end and we circle into it and we consolidate the learning from it in the rest of the week, and we really emphasise that the players have some key takeaways from it so that they can improve and they can grow.”
When asked why it was Ba, Pembele, and Matete in particular who featured for his side against Gateshead, rather than other players on the periphery of the senior setup, Murty replied: “There's people who are available for selection and people who are unfortunately not fit at the moment. So, from that group, we have a maximum of three players that have been put into the team and it was those three this evening.”
Continue Reading