Salomon Rondon's presence in the Newcastle United side helped the Magpies transform the way they played during the second half of the 2018/19 campaign, believes Matt Ritchie.
The 29-year-old forward excelled during his time on loan at Newcastle from West Bromwich Albion, scoring 11 goals and providing seven assists in 30 Premier League starts.
But, further than that, Rondon also handed the Magpies a focal point up front; not only is the Venezuelan astute at holding up the ball, he can also expertly bring his team-mates into play.
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Once Miguel Almiron arrived on Tyneside in January, and United switched to playing with a front three of the Paraguayan, Ayoze Perez and Rondon, the Magpies were far more of a threat in attack.
That is one of the key reasons why Ritchie believes Newcastle performed brilliantly during the second half of the campaign, pulling away from the bottom three, securing safety with three games to spare, and then ultimately finishing 13th.
Given that United also started the season with a 10-game winless run, Ritchie feels the Newcastle squad deserve immense credit for the fashion in which they ended the campaign.
“I think the second half of the season we’ve been brilliant - as we were last season," Ritchie told the club's official website.
"Obviously there were a few additions to the team in January, and I think Rondon has made a huge difference to us - not just his goals, but the way we can get up the pitch with him.
"The second half of the season has been really good. I think to compete with the top six is difficult, so that’s unrealistic.
"As I’ve said before, the teams below the top eight are in a league of their own. To finish 13th is fantastic, and hopefully we can keep building.”
Newcastle ended the season in spectacular fashion, hammering already-relegated Fulham 4-0 at Craven Cottage, in front of thousands of United fans who had travelled down to west London to enjoy the final away game of the campaign.
Ritchie was impressed by the mentality the Magpies squad showed; despite having little material to play for, United were ruthlessly efficient in the capital and recorded the biggest away victory of Rafa Benitez's Premier League tenure at Newcastle.
“To score twice so early I thought was nice - we were two up in 12 minutes, I think it was, and we never really looked back," Ritchie reflected upon the final-day victory over Fulham.
“They had some spells in the first half where they were dangerous, with a couple of crosses coming into the box, but we defended them well.
“The third goal was so important. It was brilliant - it killed the game. [At] 3-0 it made it really difficult, and we managed to see it out really well from there.”
The pick of the goal at Craven Cottage was Jonjo Shelvey's opener, which came via a routine which had been practised on the training ground.
Ritchie floated a corner kick to the right-hand edge of the area, where Shelvey calmly controlled the ball, before allowing it to bounce and unleashing an unstoppable dipping shot which nestled into the top left-hand corner of the net.
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“We worked on it on [the] Saturday in training," Ritchie said of the corner-kick routine which led to Shelvey's spectacular opener at Craven Cottage.
"There was a lot of space on the edge of the box and we managed to exploit it. Everyone knows the quality Jonjo’s got, so it was good to see it come off.
“We work on set-pieces a lot, and we haven’t really had that much success this season. But we had [at Craven Cottage] so we’re happy with that.”
