‘All those little things – make sure you do them’: The striker’s path from rehabilitation to goals with the Basque club
Whenhe debut appearance Gorka Guruzeta played in English soil, an young playing for the reserve team against German opponents at the English ground in September 2015, he found the net. During his subsequent match he played in England, against Sunderland two months later, he converted. The third time, against Pep Guardiola’s team six weeks after that, indeed, he scored again. When he returned to the city to take on Manchester United at the sports complex in that year, he scored again. It was a superb volley, too. “In fact,” he states, “it ranks among my finest I’ve ever scored.” Thus the club did their duty: they took him off.
“I got well angry,” the attacker reveals, and then he starts laughing. “I’m sure there’s footage. We traveled to face United and I performed well. They kept me out of the final 45 minutes: I was without a signed deal, I was scoring goals, many stories circulated, as you’d expect. I’m unsure regarding interest from Newcastle, but I came across reports about the Red Devils, the usual talk. I have no idea how true it was, but even if they had called, my desire was to remain at the club. I feel lucky to be here.”
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At the facility, Bilbao, the morning session is set to begin; post-session, the brief trip to the airport and another flight to the UK, on this occasion to take on the Magpies in the Champions League on Wednesday. Mentioning that phrase makes Guruzeta smile. It’s turning out to be a tough year for the team, partly because of the pressures of competing at this level. Defeated late on in the derby on Saturday, they have secured just a single victory of their last eight matches and fallen to the Gunners and the German side in Europe. But, look at the overall situation, the major occasions he’s experienced and those that lie ahead, and he feels a calm gratitude within him.
In the three years since he had come back to Athletic, Guruzeta has been a final four contender in Europe, denied at the last hurdle a domestic final by United, and has ridden an historic vessel through the waterway accompanied by a million fans after winning the Copa del Rey, the team’s initial silverware in a long wait. Now he is Athletic’s top scorer in the European competition, where they are countercultural and debuting in a decade. “This was beyond my dreams,” he says.
He considered it challenging enough just to earn a spot and he was right. As the child of the one-time rival player Xabi Guruzeta and a dedicated fan at the club that are now his rivals, Guruzeta is a graduate of Antiguoko, the local academy that nurtured Mikel Arteta, the former star and Andoni Iraola. He signed for Athletic at his teens but after his first-team bow in the 2018 season, he went through a torn cruciate, being released, a relegation and a call back before he could earn his place, returning at 26 to experience the peak of his career.
“You go into the academy doubting you’ll make the senior squad but each step you go through you’re remaining and you can observe the approach. You make it and … departure is necessary.” He featured briefly in six matches in a handful of matches between his debut and early 2019. “Subsequently I returned to the filial [Bilbao Athletic, the Under-23s]. Five, six games at that level and I tear my cruciate.
“A severe disappointment but I look back on it as a turning point because it shifted the outlook. The rehabilitation process is difficult, but it aids growth. You adopt practices you didn’t have. It’s not about neglect, but I attended practice and then return home, as a youngster does. In the facility, facilities are comprehensive, so utilize it all. Work, precaution. Get in the gym. Should your hips be uneven, address that. Assuming ankle mobility is good, improve it more. All those ‘silly things’: perform them.
“At the top level you’re going to collide with opponents who have been in battles 200,000 times. Highly robust. I look at photos of me before: I had slender legs. So what happens, happens. Present-day images and it’s totally different. Injury made me see that. Sessions end, but there’s more to do. Everyone else is ready, really ready; the same applies.”
Game time is essential. He left in tears in 2020, aged 23, joining the second tier. With Sabadell in the 20-21 campaign, he netted three goals in numerous matches. With Amorebieta in the latter part of the season, the goals started to flow. “Many experience this: temporary moves, ended deals. If you turn it round, dedication, confidence, and when eventually a vacancy arises for your role, they might come back for you. Preparation is key. When they decided to call again, it was a dream come true. The trophy success, play in Europe, and qualify for Europe’s top tier … pfff.”
Understandably he remarks savor the moment. Particularly after the prior campaign which, at times, was focused on persistence. Previously the main threat with a high tally, last season he got seven in {15 games more|additional matches|
