‘Every minor detail – execute them’: The striker’s road from gurney to success with Athletic Bilbao
The debut appearance the Athletic striker played in England, an 18-year-old playing for the reserve team against German opponents at Adams Park in September 2015, he scored. The second time he appeared in England, against Sunderland weeks after, he converted. Another occasion, against Pep Guardiola’s team six weeks after that, sure enough, he repeated the feat. As he revisited to the northwest to face United at Leigh Sports Village in 2017, he found the back of the net. An excellent finish, also. “Truly,” he says, “it’s a top-class goal I’ve netted.” Therefore the team did what was necessary: they substituted him.
“I got well angry,” the Athletic striker reveals, then chuckling. “I’m sure there’s footage. Our match against United and I performed well. They didn’t let me play the latter period: I hadn’t yet signed my contract, I kept finding the net, many stories circulated, as you’d expect. No confirmation on interest from Newcastle, but I recall seeing about the Red Devils, the typical thing. It’s unclear how true it was, but even if they had called, I’d have chosen to stay at Bilbao. I’m fortunate to be here.”
Real Sociedad release pressure with surreal victory in Basque derby like no other
At the training ground, Bilbao, the early training is set to begin; post-session, the short journey to the airport and another trip to Britain, now to play Newcastle in the European elite competition on midweek. Just saying those two words lights him up. It has become a tough year for the team, partially owing to the pressures of being here. Losing in stoppage time in the weekend clash, they have secured just a single victory of their past eight league games and been defeated by Arsenal and the German side in the continental stage. But, consider the broader view, the memorable evenings and those that lie ahead, and there’s a kind of quiet appreciation from him.
In the three years since he had rejoined the team, Gorka has been a final four contender in Europe, stopped at the gates the showpiece event by United, and has boarded a decades-old barge along the Nervión river accompanied by a million fans after winning the Copa del Rey, the team’s initial silverware in 40 years. Now he is the top goal-getter in the UCL, where they are distinctive and returning after absence in a decade. “I couldn’t have pictured this,” he admits.
Guruzeta thought it difficult enough just to break into the senior squad and that proved true. The son of the one-time rival player his father and a regular attendee at the club that are now his rivals, Gorka is a graduate of Antiguoko, the Donostiarra team that developed Mikel Arteta, Xabi Alonso and the tactician. He joined Athletic at seventeen but after his top-level debut in August 2018, he suffered a ACL injury, being released, a relegation and a call back before he could earn his place, making his comeback to enjoy the highlights of the club’s history.
“Joining the setup doubting you’ll make the first team but with every stage you go through you’re remaining and you can observe the approach. You arrive and then … you’re sent away.” He played six, nine, five, one, four and 20 minutes in a handful of matches 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.
“It was a huge blow but I look back on it as a turning point because it made me change the way I saw things. The rehabilitation process is difficult, but it helps. You adopt practices you didn’t have. It’s not that you don’t look after yourself, but I would go to training and then go home, like when you’re a kid. In the facility, you have everything, so take full advantage. Work, precaution. Strength training. If your hips aren’t balanced, correct it. If your ankles are a 10, make it a 12 or a 14. All those ‘silly things’: perform them.
“In the first team you’re going to face physical challenges who have been in battles 200,000 times. They’re so strong. I look at photos of me before: my legs are chicken legs. Thus incidents occur. Current photos and the improvement is clear. The setback taught me. Practice concludes, but further effort is needed. Everyone else is ready, really ready; the same applies.”
Minutes are crucial. He left upset in that year, in his early twenties, dropping into the second division. During his Sabadell spell in that season, he netted three goals in numerous matches. With Amorebieta in the latter part of the season, the he found his form. “Many experience this: transfers, releases. With a turnaround, dedication, confidence, and if one day the requirement appears in your position, recall is possible. You have to be ready. When they decided to call again, it was a dream come true. To then win the Copa del Rey, compete continentally, and qualify for Europe’s top tier … pfff.”
Understandably he remarks appreciate the experience. Particularly after the prior campaign which, on occasions, was involved suffering. Previously the main threat with sixteen goals, last season he got seven in {15 games more|additional matches|