‘Every minor detail – execute them’: Guruzeta’s path from gurney to goals with Athletic
Whenhe debut appearance the Athletic striker played in English soil, an teenage playing for the reserve team against Borussia Mönchengladbach Under-23s at Adams Park in the 2015 season, he found the net. During his subsequent match he played in the country, against the Black Cats two months later, he converted. His third outing, against Manchester City soon after, indeed, he scored again. As he revisited to the city to face United at Leigh’s ground in the 2017 season, he did it once more. It was a superb volley, as well. “Truly,” he states, “it’s one of the best goals in my career.” So Athletic did what was necessary: they took him off.
“I got well angry,” the forward reveals, and then he starts laughing. “Probably there’s a recording. Our match against United and I performed well. I wasn’t allowed to feature the second half: I hadn’t yet signed my contract, goals were flowing, many stories circulated, it’s typical. No confirmation on Newcastle being interested, but I came across reports about the Red Devils, the typical thing. I’m not certain if it was accurate, but even if they had called, I’d have chosen to stay at the club. I’m fortunate to be here.”
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At Lezama, the Basque Country, the early training is ready to commence; after it, the brief trip to Loiu airport and another trip to the UK, now to take on the Magpies in the Champions League on midweek. Just saying those two words makes Guruzeta smile. It’s turning out to be a challenging campaign for the club, partially owing to the demands of being here. Defeated late on in the local rivalry, they have managed just one win of their past eight league games and fallen to the Gunners and Dortmund in the continental stage. Yet, take in the big picture, the memorable evenings and future challenges, and there’s a kind of quiet appreciation from him.
In the 36 months since he had returned to the club, Guruzeta has been a semi-final participant, prevented from reaching the showpiece event by Manchester United, and has boarded a decades-old barge through the waterway surrounded by a million fans after winning the Copa del Rey, the club’s first trophy in 40 years. He’s now Athletic’s top scorer in the Champions League, where they are countercultural and making their first appearance in ten years. “This was beyond my dreams,” he says.
Guruzeta thought it challenging enough just to earn a spot and that proved true. Born to the one-time rival player the former professional and a season ticket holder at the team he now opposes, Guruzeta is a product of Antiguoko, the Donostiarra team that nurtured the Arsenal manager, Xabi Alonso and Andoni Iraola. He signed for Athletic at seventeen but after his top-level debut in that summer, he went through a serious knee problem, the cut, a relegation and a recall before he could finally secure an opportunity, coming back aged 26 to experience the peak of their lives.
“Joining the setup doubting you’ll make the top level but with every stage you advance through you’re remaining and you can see it getting closer. You make it and … you’re sent away.” He played six, nine, five, one, four and 20 minutes in six games between his bow and February 2019. “Subsequently I returned to the filial [Bilbao Athletic, the Under-23s]. A few matches with them and my knee gave way.
“A severe disappointment but I look back on it as something positive because it forced me to alter the perspective. The rehabilitation process is hard, but it’s beneficial. You adopt practices previously lacking. It’s not that you don’t look after yourself, but I attended practice and then go home, as a youngster does. At Lezama, all resources are available, so utilize it all. Practice, prevention. Hit the weights. If your hips aren’t balanced, work on that. Assuming ankle mobility is good, improve it more. All the minor details: execute them.
“At the top level you’re going to collide with opponents who have crashed into players 200,000 times. Extremely powerful. Seeing previous pictures: I had slender 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; the same applies.”
Game time is essential. He left in tears in the pandemic season, in his early twenties, joining the second tier. At Sabadell in the 20-21 campaign, he scored three times in forty appearances. With Amorebieta in the latter part of the season, the scoring picked up. “Many experience this: loans, terminated contracts. With a turnaround, work, believe, and if one day a vacancy arises for your role, recall is possible. You have to be ready. Upon the recall, a fantasy realized. The trophy success, play in Europe, and reach the Champions League … pfff.”
No wonder he says appreciate the experience. All the more so after the previous season which, sometimes, was focused on persistence. After being leading scorer with sixteen goals, his output dropped to seven in {15 games more|additional matches|
