https://theathletic.com/2703992/2021/07/14/christian-atsu-disagreeing-with-bruce-being-shoved-by-benitez-howes-tough-training-and-nearly-joining-liverpool/
Initially, he hoped to return to Spain but, as well as interest from France, recently-relegated Newcastle called in August 2016. “With this fanbase, the stadium and Benitez, I knew Newcastle wouldn’t be in the Championship long,” Atsu says. “I wanted to play in the Premier League and I knew I needed to make it work at Newcastle. After Everton and Bournemouth, this was my last chance in England.”
After completing his medical at Benton, Atsu met Benitez for the first time. “I was talking to him and, all of a sudden, he pushed me!” Atsu says. “I realised straightaway he was testing me. He thought I was small and wanted to see my physicality, how I’d react to being pushed, because of how physical the Championship is. Immediately, I learned how Benitez thinks, how he’s always looking to improve.”
For Atsu, Benitez is “the best manager I’ve worked with, my number one”. Not only did he love training — “where everything is with the ball; he believes the more you play, the more you improve and get fit, rather than only running” — but the winger shared the infectious desire to get better.
“When we’re playing, he knows what everyone is doing at every moment,” Atsu says. “If you are not doing something right, what he has told you, he knows straightaway. It’s about small details. Every time I looked at him on the touchline, every time I chatted to him, it was small details.” With Atsu, one of the “small details” was shooting. “Over and over again he’d tell me: ‘Christian, when you are one on one, always go along the ground. It’s difficult for a goalkeeper, so on the ground, on the ground, on the ground’.”
To Atsu, Benitez was more than just a coach; he became a “father figure”. “I’ve been with a lot of managers, but Benitez is different,” the winger says. “Some managers, when you’re not in the match-day squad, they don’t even look at your face. They don’t count you as part of the team or care about you. Benitez is different. He interacts with everyone and always makes you feel part of the team. He treats us all like we’re his children.”
It is partly why, after a nomadic Chelsea existence, he was keen to join Newcastle permanently. “The Championship season was special for me,” says Atsu, who made 32 league appearances, scoring five goals, but was never an automatic starter. “I wanted to repay the faith Benitez had shown in me. We had a goal to achieve promotion and we achieved it by working together, the club in harmony. It felt like we were building something special for the future. Just as the fans felt we had real momentum, the players felt it, too. We were a ‘family’ and I wanted to stay and fight.”
The feeling of optimism generated by the Championship campaign soon dissipated as Benitez grew exasperated and Newcastle battled to survive. A 10th-placed finish in 2017-18 was an excellent achievement, but masked underlying issues. “We had a siege mentality,” Atsu says. “When we lost games, pundits said, ‘They’re Championship players, they’re not good enough’. But we were a strong group, mentally. We were behind Benitez. I saw what he wanted to give. He loved the fans, the city, and he wanted to build a long-term project at Newcastle and have them fighting to be in Europe.”
When Benitez confirmed he was leaving in June 2019, Atsu was “heartbroken”. The Spaniard told him in person, as he cleared his desk at the training ground. “I’d done some gym work, speaking to him normally, I didn’t know anything was up,” Atsu says. “Then, all of a sudden, he said he was going to be leaving. It was like a shot to our hearts as players.”
