‘Every minor detail – execute them’: The striker’s road from rehabilitation to success with Athletic
The initial occasion Gorka Guruzeta played in English soil, an young representing Athletic Bilbao B against Bundesliga youth at Adams Park in the 2015 season, he hit the target. The second time he took the field in the country, against Sunderland two months later, he netted. His third outing, against Pep Guardiola’s team soon after, indeed, he did it once more. Upon his comeback to the northwest to face United at the sports complex in 2017, he found the back of the net. A spectacular strike, also. “In fact,” he states, “it’s one of the best goals I’ve ever scored.” Therefore the team did their duty: they took him off.
“I became very upset,” the Athletic striker reveals, and then he starts laughing. “Probably there’s a recording. We went to play United and I was in fine form. They didn’t let me play the latter period: my contract wasn’t finalized my contract, I was scoring goals, there were lots of rumours, you know how it is. I don’t know about Newcastle being interested, but I recall seeing about the Red Devils, standard transfer gossip. It’s unclear how true it was, but supposing an offer came, I’d have chosen to stay at Athletic. I’m fortunate to be here.”
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At the training ground, the Basque Country, the day’s first practice is ready to commence; after it, the short journey to the airport and another trip to Britain, on this occasion to take on the Magpies in the UCL on the upcoming match. Mentioning that phrase makes Guruzeta smile. This is proving a challenging campaign for Athletic, partly because of the pressures of competing at this level. Beaten in added time in the derby on Saturday, they have won only one of their recent league fixtures and fallen to the Gunners and Borussia Dortmund in the continental stage. But, take in the big picture, the big nights he has lived and future challenges, and there’s a kind of quiet appreciation about him.
In the the period since he had returned to the club, Gorka has been a Europa League semi-finalist, prevented from reaching a domestic final by United, and has boarded a decades-old barge through the waterway surrounded by a huge crowd after securing the Spanish cup, the team’s initial silverware in 40 years. Now he is the top goal-getter in the UCL, where they are unique and debuting in a decade. “I never imagined this,” he says.
The player believed it difficult enough just to earn a spot and that proved true. As the child of the one-time rival player the former professional and a regular attendee at the team he now opposes, the forward is a graduate of Antiguoko, the Donostiarra team that developed the coach, the former star and the Bournemouth manager. He signed for Athletic at 17 but after his top-level debut in that summer, he experienced a ACL injury, the cut, a drop in category and a return before he could truly get a chance, making his comeback to experience the peak of his career.
“Joining the setup thinking you won’t reach the first team but every phase you progress through you’re persisting and you can see it getting closer. You make it and … departure is necessary.” He had limited game time in six games between his first game and early 2019. “Then I was sent to the filial [Bilbao Athletic, the Under-23s]. A few matches with them and I suffered the ACL injury.
“A severe disappointment but I look back on it as a beneficial experience because it made me change the perspective. The rehabilitation process is hard, but it aids growth. You adopt practices you didn’t have. It’s not that you don’t look after yourself, but I attended practice and then go home, as a youngster does. At the complex, you have everything, so take full advantage. Practice, prevention. Hit the weights. With hip imbalance, correct it. Assuming ankle mobility is good, enhance it further. All those ‘silly things’: perform them.
“At the top level you’re going to crash into players who have experienced contact countless occasions. Highly robust. Seeing previous pictures: my legs are chicken legs. Thus incidents occur. Present-day images and it’s totally different. Recovery revealed that. Training finishes, but additional work remains. Everyone else is ready, really ready; no exceptions.”
Game time is essential. The striker moved emotionally in the pandemic season, in his early twenties, dropping into the second division. During his Sabadell spell in 2020-21, he netted three goals in 40 games. With Amorebieta in the second half of 2021-22, the he found his form. “Players go through it: loans, terminated contracts. Should you reverse it, effort, faith, and should the time come a vacancy arises where you play, recall is possible. You have to be ready. Upon the recall, it was a dream come true. To then win the Copa del Rey, compete continentally, and make the UCL … pfff.”
No wonder he says this is to be enjoyed. Especially after the prior campaign which, on occasions, was focused on persistence. After being leading scorer with a high tally, his output dropped to seven in {15 games more|additional matches|
