Newcastle United star Christian Atsu has praised manager Rafa Benitez for restoring his confidence during his short stint in black and white thus far, report the Daily Mail.
Despite boasting a considerable amount of obvious talent, the Ghanian’s career thus far has been littered with unhappy loan spells since his joined parent club Chelsea back in 2013. Time with the likes of Everton, Bournemouth and Malaga have yielded little in the way of success, though he has been an important member of the squad at St. James’ Park.
Perhaps indicative of his stalling career, the 25-year-old has even been linked with a move away from Tyneside just five months or so after arriving during the closing stages of the summer transfer window, with clubs in Turkey previously said to have been keen.
Still, the winger was asked about life with the Championship title hopefuls and, in particular, what working under a big-name manager such as Benitez was like while away at the African Cup of Nations.
‘The best managers are the ones that try to bring out the confidence,’ he said when asked (with quotes sourced from the Mail.)
‘They try and help the player, they are friendly with him when he’s bad, or good. They try to communicate with their player.
‘And it’s very important for a player, when things are not going well and the coach is at least trying to speak with him. I think that is one of the biggest differences in top coaches.’
