This is it for Ryan Christie: he is on the brink of the most important and exciting chapter of his football career.
Tomorrow, newly promoted Bournemouth will resume life in the English Premier League with an opening game at home to Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa and for the 27-year-old Scotland international, this is the moment when dreams come true.
“This is why I came to Bournemouth in the first place – my ambition was to play in the Premier League,” said Christie.
“I was desperate to get to this level, to show that hopefully I have the skills to play on such a stage. I just want the season to start.”
Ryan Christie will be introduced to Premier League football for the first time on Saturday with Bournemouth
The Scottish international helped Cherries to Premier League promotion last season
Christie’s move from Celtic in August 2021 raised quite a few eyebrows, not least among those who claimed that, in football terms, he would move from a big club to a small one.
The added intrigue was that he could have moved straight to a Premier League club last summer, but instead chose to settle on England’s south coast at the Vitality Stadium, where he felt he had the best chance of making his mark. career forward.
“Oh, I heard some of the talk about my leaving Celtic, and some of the comments that were made,” he said.
“Honestly, I ignored it. I heard more about it from family or my friends, but I didn’t bother to read or listen to it myself.
“I knew what I wanted to do for my career. I had to leave Celtic because of change and a new football challenge.
“And when I talked to Scott Parker early about moving to Bournemouth, everything about the move felt right.
Christie admitted it has always been his dream to play in the top English league
‘There was a different interest in me then. Burnley and another club were interested in taking me straight to the Premier League and that might have been an easier path for me.
“But I wanted to join a club where I would enjoy my football and see a lot of the ball, and I really enjoyed our campaign last season in the Championship with Bournemouth.
“They have a style of football at this club that suits me.
“The plan was always to play a lot of football and enjoy my career, which I did last season, and get promoted. And we have achieved that.
“Looking back, I feel like I made the right choice to come to Bournemouth.”
The task Christie and his teammates now face is both delightful and daunting.
Surprisingly, Parker has made it clear in recent days that Bournemouth has had a bad summer in the transfer market – the club have struggled to significantly improve its roster over the past season – and August’s schedule is an eye-catcher for any Cherries fan: Aston Villa (h), Manchester City (a), Arsenal (h) and Liverpool (a).
Still, Christie looks at the playlist and is eager to get started.
“It’s definitely difficult, it’s going to be a serious challenge for us,” he said. “We know – and we emphasized this in training – how demanding the Premier League will be.
The midfielder traded Celtic for Bournemouth to pursue his Premier League ambition
“We know we have to face that challenge, mentally and physically, because that’s a big part of top football these days.
“I feel the excitement of it, absolutely. In the summer I enjoyed a holiday and some rest after being involved in Scotland but I knew what was coming.
“The whole team here feels the same. Personally, I can’t wait to get started.
“It is a difficult start, but also exciting. It might be hard to get a lot of points from those games, but then again, these kinds of games are the reason why I’m here in Bournemouth.
Fingers crossed, maybe we can surprise a few people and have a really good start to the season.
“These are the games I really wanted to play in. I now have the chance to play against the best clubs in the world, so it feels very exciting.
“This was the reason I left Celtic: to play in the Premier League, to get that chance, to show I can do it. Well, now I’m here. Now I have that chance.’
Christie praised Bournemouth manager Scott Parker ahead of the new season
It’s intriguing to see how he interacts with the environment. Christie is one of those footballers who seem to attract both admirers and critics: those who marvel at his intuitive skills on the ball, and others who argue that he can be wasteful and overambitious on the pitch.
At Celtic, Christie was a hero on so many occasions, but also drew groans from the crowd when things didn’t work out.
What he does possess, as well as his innate ability, is an ability for self-analysis that has probably helped him thus far in his career.
He added: “I’ve played a lot of games in my career so far – and big ones too, at club or international level – and that helps you build a basic level of confidence.
“At the same time, if you’re playing two or three games and you feel like you’re not playing very well, yes, you can feel doubts.
“But what I’ve noticed is that the older I am, the more I’ve been able to maintain a level of confidence, which has helped me maintain some kind of consistency in my game.
“When I was younger, I was very up and down, which may be normal for a young player, but over time you learn how to deal with it.
Bournemouth boss Parker remains frustrated with his club’s lack of summer transfer activities
“I can look back on so many great games I’ve played in – for Celtic and Scotland – and knowing that I’ve done that has given me confidence. I feel like I can compete at this level.
“Internationally I have met many of these top players, plus I have trained with many of the Scottish guys who are already in the Premier League.
“So I know what this level of football is all about. Hopefully I and the rest of this Bournemouth team can show that we are good enough to be in this league.
“I’m looking at Scottish guys who are already at this level – John McGinn and Stuart Armstrong – and I think it’s great for Scottish football to see them play in the Premier League, and not just in it, but really good at it.” to do.
“I’d like to do the same.”
Christie (left) scored three goals last season and provided eight assists in the Championship
The pre-season training was grueling: the toughest, says Christie, he’s ever known.
Over 10 days in scorching heat in Portugal, the Bournemouth squad did double sessions, all geared to deal with the increased demands of the coming season.
“The manager has reinforced the point that, in terms of tactics and formations, we cannot be naive enough to think it will be the same as last season when we went into so many games expecting to win and had so much of it. the ball.
“This season we are going to have some of these really difficult opening games and we will know that we certainly won’t be dominating possession.
“So we will have to switch tactically to limit them to as few opportunities as possible.
“In addition, we will have to be ultra-efficient when we have the ball. We’ve been working on this in the preseason and now it’s getting to the point where you want to put it all into practice.
‘Portugal was hard, hard work. Very difficult. But we’ve worked on everything. We’ve thought about everything. Now comes the challenge and you have to enjoy it.’
It helps, Christie says, that he’s playing for a manager he admires and implicitly trusts. Scott Parker was in fact the main attraction for Christie moving to Bournemouth, and the relationship the couple now have is embedded in the football club.
He admitted that training for the season in Portugal was the toughest he’s ever been through
“From the moment I started talking to Scott about Bournemouth last summer, I made a decision: I knew I wanted to play for him.
“He was brilliant with me. He was very impressive to talk to.
“And when I signed, he put into practice everything he’d talked to me about on the phone, in terms of how and where he wanted me to play.
“As a coach he brings new ideas to the table – you realize that playing under him is how smart he is.
“A lot of people think that if you have a great playing career like him, that only translates into coaching, but that’s not always the case.
“He is very passionate about training every day. He is participating, and as a player he has certainly not lost that. It was great to work under him.
“At the same time, the club’s ambitions are huge: everyone is committed to making Bournemouth as successful as possible.
“The club thinks, rightly in my opinion, that this is where it belongs, in the highest class.”