Newcastle winger Matt Ritchie’s interview with the Evening Chronicle has given us fresh insights into the player’s career and especially how the managers he has worked under have been integral to the player’s development.
Under Paulo Di Canio at Swindon he changed his diet and established his best position as a inverted winger on the right hand side of midfield. Under Eddie Howe at Bournemouth he learned how to play as part of a an attractive attacking style, but now with Magpies boss Rafa Benitez, he says he is learning an entirely new tactical style of play:
“I have learned already that you need to be aware of what’s going on in a game, how it develops and that tactically we are going to change match by match. I’ve been used to playing a similar way for a team throughout my career but under this manager we’re developing different gameplans and you have to understand tactically how that works. It’s a different style of coaching to anything I’ve experienced before but it’s one that’s very successful and makes you want to learn even more.”
Ritchie has had a good start to his time at St James’ Park with two goals and three assist since his £12million move in the summer. His goal and assist against Wolves in the EFL Cup on Tuesday night means he will go into the match against Aston Villa at the weekend in good form, and Newcastle will no doubt need him to perform well again at Villa Park on Saturday.
