Newcastle fans tear into Matt Ritchie’s performance
Newcastle huffed and puffed but they couldn’t blow the Burnley defence down.
The Magpies racked up 21 total shots on goal on Saturday afternoon, but only four of them were on target. In the end, Steve Bruce’s side had to settle for just the point at St James’ Park, and Newcastle fans weren’t entirely happy with one man in particular: Matt Ritchie.
As per Sofascore, the 30-year-old had just a 69% pass accuracy and lost possession 20 times, whilst none of his whopping seven shots on goal were on target.
Watch Newcastle United Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below
After seeing his display, fans of the Tyneside club took to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the Scotland international.
Lee ryder will still give him an 8
— Matthaus (@GeordieDubravka) February 29, 2020
I was the first to hate Matt Ritchie and a don’t want anyone to forget that
— Jordan Stone (@Jordanstone_15) February 29, 2020
Matt Ritchie should not be anywhere near our starting 11. Woeful #nufc #BruceOut
— Ross Burdon (@burdonross93) February 29, 2020
Bruce leaving a sub till the 70th+ minute is absurd. Matt Ritchie was gawd awful as well.
— Monster Sheep (@Evil_us_s) February 29, 2020
A couple of Newcastle fans simply suggested that Ritchie isn’t good enough, with one supporter in particular saying that he’s “finished” at this level.
Sorry but Matt Ritchie just isn’t good enough
He should have been replaced for ASM
— Winnaldinho (@Winaldinho) February 29, 2020
Got a bit passion and slaps people on the head so he’s adored, he’s finished now in the prem imo he’s not up to scratch
— Dazza (@NUFC_DazzaD) February 29, 2020
Another supporter meanwhile claimed that Ritchie’s display proved exactly why former manager Rafa Benitez reportedly wanted to let him go.
Matt Ritchie has shown why Rafa Benitez wanted to sell him. Championship midfielder who likes to shout. Can we improve instead of living under water? What an awful, awful football team. #NUFC
— Randeep Singh Sangha (@DrRandeepSangha) February 29, 2020
To Ritchie’s credit however, he was one of the few Newcastle players who appeared to at least be giving it a go – even if his lack of end product did let him down.
He made a team-high six tackles (double that of any other Newcastle player), provided two key passes and won ten of his 16 duels.
A football legend: Can you get over 80% on this Gazza quiz? Find out now…
The one thing Newcastle fans can’t really question his commitment and work-rate, although whether he still has the technical ability to be a top-level Premier League player remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, Newcastle’s chances of survival have been discussed by this journalist.
Article title: Newcastle fans tear into Matt Ritchie’s performance
Please leave feedback to help us improve the site:
