‘Every minor detail – execute them’: Guruzeta’s road from injury table to success with the Basque club
Thehe first time Gorka Guruzeta played in English soil, an young representing the youth squad against Borussia Mönchengladbach Under-23s at the English ground in the 2015 season, he scored. During his subsequent match he took the field in the country, against the Black Cats following that, he netted. Another occasion, against the Citizens six weeks after that, well, he repeated the feat. When he returned to the northwest to take on Manchester United at Leigh’s ground in the 2017 season, he did it once more. An excellent finish, as well. “In fact,” he states, “it ranks among my finest I’ve netted.” So Athletic did their duty: he was replaced.
“I got well angry,” the attacker reveals, then chuckling. “Probably there’s a recording. Our match against United and I was pretty good. I wasn’t allowed to feature the second half: I hadn’t yet signed deal, I kept finding the net, speculation was rife, as you’d expect. No confirmation on interest from Newcastle, but I remember reading about Manchester United, the typical thing. I have no idea the validity, but had they contacted me, I would have wanted to stay at Bilbao. It’s a privilege.”
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At the facility, Bilbao, the early training is ready to commence; after it, the brief trip to the airport and a further journey to Britain, this time to face Newcastle in the European elite competition on the upcoming match. Mentioning that phrase lights him up. This is proving a tough year for the team, partially owing to the pressures of their participation. Beaten in added time in the local rivalry, they have secured just a single victory of their past eight league games and lost against Arsenal and the German side in European competition. However, look at the overall situation, the big nights he has lived and those that lie ahead, and a sense of thankful reflection from him.
In the the period since he had rejoined the team, Gorka has been a Europa League semi-finalist, stopped at the gates a final at home by the English giants, and has traveled on a traditional boat along the Nervión river accompanied by a million fans after lifting the trophy, the club’s first trophy in a long wait. Now he is the top goal-getter in the European competition, where they are distinctive and making their first appearance in ten years. “I never imagined this,” he states.
Guruzeta thought it hard enough just to break into the senior squad and that proved true. As the child of the one-time rival player Xabi Guruzeta and a season ticket holder at the club that are now his rivals, Guruzeta is a graduate of Antiguoko, the local academy that nurtured the Arsenal manager, the legendary midfielder and Andoni Iraola. He joined Athletic at 17 but after his top-level debut in that summer, he suffered a ACL injury, dropped, a demotion and a return before he could finally secure an opportunity, coming back aged 26 to experience the peak of his career.
“You go into the academy not expecting to reach the first team but every phase you advance through you’re persisting and you can see it getting closer. You arrive and then … you’re sent away.” He featured briefly in six matches in half a dozen appearances between his debut and that period. “Then I was sent to the filial [Bilbao Athletic, the Under-23s]. Five, six games with them and I suffered the ACL injury.
“A severe disappointment but I reflect on it as something positive because it made me change the perspective. Recovering from a long-term injury is hard, but it’s beneficial. You develop habits new to you. Previously I was casual, but I did the sessions and then head home, like when you’re a kid. At the complex, facilities are comprehensive, so do everything. Practice, prevention. Hit the weights. Should your hips be uneven, address that. With decent ankle function, improve it more. All those ‘silly things’: do them.
“At the top level you’re going to crash into players who have crashed into players 200,000 times. Extremely powerful. Reviewing old images: my legs are chicken legs. Thus incidents occur. Look at pictures of me now and the improvement is clear. Injury made me see that. Sessions end, but additional work remains. Teammates are set, really ready; the same applies.”
Game time is essential. The striker moved emotionally in that year, aged 23, dropping into the second division. At Sabadell in the 20-21 campaign, he scored three times in numerous matches. During his Amorebieta stint in the second half of 2021-22, the he found his form. “It’s a common path: transfers, releases. Should you reverse it, work, believe, and if one day a vacancy arises in your position, they might come back for you. You have to be ready. When they decided to call again, a fantasy realized. To then win the Copa del Rey, European football, and qualify for Europe’s top tier … pfff.”
No wonder he says this is to be enjoyed. All the more so after the prior campaign which, at times, was focused on persistence. From top scorer with a high tally, last season he got seven in {15 games more|additional matches|
