Jacob Murphy has credited Garry Monk for his turnaround in form at Sheffield Wednesday, revealing the 41-year-old brought aggression and a ruthless streak back to his game while restoring his confidence.
Murphy joined the Owls on a season-long loan from Newcastle United in August and has gone on to make 35 appearances in all competitions, contributing seven goals before the campaign was postponed due to Covid-19.
Should the football season be cut short now or delayed for weeks/months due to COVID-19?
End the season now
Delay for weeks/months
He didn’t get off to the best start at Hillsborough, scoring just one goal in his first 10 league outings, but his form has dramatically improved since the turn of the year. Murphy has had a hand in four goals from his last 11 games and says Monk is to thank.
He told the Yorkshire Post: “I have been working on aggression, getting my confidence back, these are things I have really been working on this season. Credit to Garry Monk, he has changed my mentality, he has helped me a lot.
“When we have meetings, he sends powerful messages, and they have sunk in. He gets me to see things from a different perspective. From him being here it has given me more of a hunger and fire in the belly. Every day I just want to work, work, work, I am starving to succeed.”
As per WhoScored, Murphy has racked up 1682 minutes of Championship football, created 26 chances, completed 68.5% of his 403 passes, won 15 aerial duels (31%), made 50 successful dribbles (61%), had 51 shots with 29% accuracy, blocked 19 shots/passes/crosses, made 14 clearances and made 18 tackles.
Monk has worked hard on bringing an intensity to Murphy’s game so he’s effective at both ends of the pitch, telling Yorkshire Live: “From what I knew of him before, he was probably not aggressive enough offensively and defensively.
“We spoke about how he could get to those levels when I came in a) from knowing his role in terms of the football and b) mentally how you can put yourself in that heightened sense of aggressiveness that we need from him.
“It is putting your body on the line and being able to take contact and probably relish that contact rather than what he was before. He has definitely improved on that side and I have been very pleased with how he has improved. He is definitely moving in the right direction.”
Murphy has been one of Wednesday’s best players in 2020 and has improved considerably since the start of the season. The Owls may be struggling, but Murphy has been a bright spark.
