Great Expectations – Matt Ritchie

After a dazzling campaign for Championship winners Bournemouth, Matt Ritchie is very much at the forefront of Fantasy managers’ minds ahead of the 2015-16 season. The winger was the driving force behind the Cherries’ title triumph last year, picking up 15 goals and 17 assists in the league alone, and with a price of 6.0 in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, there is every suggestion that he will justify selection in our squads.

It’s been a meteoric rise for the Gosport-born Scottish international. His role in Swindon’s 2012 promotion from the fourth tier earned him the League Two Player of the Season award and, after impressing from the off the following season, he was snapped up by Bournemouth in January 2013 before going on to pick up the League One Player of the Season award for 2012/13.

Ritchie hasn’t stopped impressing since and his sterling performances during the previous campaign earned him a Scotland call up, whilst he was also named in the Championship Team of the Year. Now it is time for the winger to prove himself at the top level…

KEY FACTORS

• Fantasy managers love a trigger-happy midfielder and Ritchie certainly falls into that category. No midfielder managed more attempts on goal than the Cherries’ man (151) last season and the winger also fired in a goal attempt more frequently than any of his team-mates, registering 3.3 efforts per appearance. Impressively, an average of 24.7 minutes per shot would have placed him third amongst midfielders with a minimum of ten appearances last term – just ahead of Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez (25.4), albeit at a lower level. Having climbed from League Two to Premier League level in three years, there is no doubting that Ritchie has the ability to adapt to a new division – since the 2011-12 League One campaign, he has averaged 11.5 goals and 10.5 league goals per season.

• Ritchie’s ability from long range could be a key factor. The Scotland international produced 100 of his 151 efforts from outside the area and is renowned for the power of his shooting and long-distance accuracy. Indeed, six of his 15 goals last year came from outside the box – a tally matched by only Christian Eriksen amongst Premier League midfielders from 2014/15. Although Bournemouth enjoyed the most possession of all Championship clubs in their promotion campaign, they will not expect to work the ball into the box quite so easily this term and Ritchie’s ability from distance could prove vital.

• No Championship player managed more than Ritchie’s 17 assists last season. The club’s number one for dead-ball duties is by far the Cherries’ most creative player and will be vital in forging opportunities if Eddie Howe’s side are to avoid the drop. Ritchie provided 98 goal scoring opportunities for his team-mates in 2014/15, which equates to an average of 38.07 minutes per chance created. Compared to Premier League midfielders with a minimum of 20 appearances in the season gone by, this would have placed him tenth, just ahead of illustrious company such as Gylfi Sigurdsson (38.1 minutes) and Alexis Sanchez (39 minutes).

• Although many promoted clubs tend to start cautiously in a bid to contain opponents, Eddie Howe is adamant that Bournemouth will continue with the same approach that saw the Cherries register an average 58.6% possession last year – more than any other side in the Championship. Discussing his approach over the summer, Howe’s determination to go on the attack can only be good news for Ritchie’s prospects:
  

  “We always felt that, by implementing a football philosophy that could be transferable from League One to the Championship, and the Championship to the Premier League, it would give us more of a chance. If you rip it all up and start again just because you’re in the top division, it’s too difficult. I don’t think we’d forsake our principles just because we’ve gone up. Sure, if you could guarantee me success playing a different way, being more direct and crossing balls in earlier, then we’d look at it. But in the Premier League the best way to win is to dominate the ball. That’s what we seek to do.”

• One look at the early schedule suggests potential suitors may want to get Ritchie on board in their initial squads. Although the Cherries face two away clashes in the first three rounds of fixtures, they are rated top of our season ticker for the first eight Gameweeks, with home clashes against Aston Villa, Leicester, Sunderland and Watford, in addition to trips to Norwich and Stoke, heightening their Fantasy potential from the outset.