The League begins a break this week that could not be more inopportune for people like Guruzeta. Athletic has been looking for a ‘nine’ since Aduriz hung up his boots and hasn’t quite found it. The one who has best adjusted to that position is Williams, although he is not an old-fashioned striker, he is more of a winger displaced to the center of attack. Kodro, Raúl García and Villalibre have been testing there, and none have stabilized as starters. Now is the time for Guruzeta in San Mamés.
The striker from San Sebastian ended the qualifiers on Tuesday against Valladolid. He scored the second double of the year after the one he achieved in Cádiz, something that no one has achieved at Athletic in the last three seasons. The first goal was a pure ‘nine’ after a rebound from Masip and the second was a cross shot after an action in which space was gained to pick up a good pass from Vesga. He had had a couple of chances before, such as a shot at the start of the match and a header to the center by De Marcos. He was seen throughout the attack front, with good associations with his teammates. He fulfilled many dreams with that performance: at last he enjoyed a starting role in the First Division, they were the first goals in San Mamés and he became the team’s top scorer, tied with Iñaki Williams.
Until Tuesday, the man from San Sebastian had only played for a short time, 131 minutes spread over six games. He scored two goals against Cádiz on matchday three and one against Girona on the day before the current one. Against Valladolid he played 67 minutes, his record as a lion. Therefore, he has a total of 198 and five goals, which gives a goal every 39.6 minutes, leader in Europe in that efficiency. Haaland has 29 goals in 1,795 with City, that is, one every 61.8. Martial with United has 3 goals in 5 games and 158 minutes, one every 52.6. And Gio Simeone (Naples) has scored six goals in 13 games, with 385 minutes in total, a goal every 64.1. Guruzeta scores 2.27 goals in a total of 90 minutes, while Haaland is at 1.45.
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Valverde surprised with an eleven full of rotations. Guruzeta made the leap to the first team with Berizzo in 2018, after being recruited from Antiguoko and having a good career with Basconia and Bilbao Athletic. In the 2017-18 season he scored 18 goals in 39 games with the subsidiary, which gave him that jump to the First Division. For two years he alternated between the first and second teams. With Berizzo he logged 43 minutes in six league games, before returning to Bilbao Athletic in the winter. Currently he has 5 goals with only 12 shots in his 7 games. He has committed 6 fouls and has seen a yellow.
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Unfortunately, the break for the Qatar World Cup comes at a bad time for a player who found his way back to the rojiblanco team after thrashing at Amorebieta in Second Division (13 goals in 37 games). Gorka downplays beating Haaland in goals-minutes: “It’s data, Haaland has scored many more goals than me, it’s not relevant and all the goals he can score are welcome. The truth is that I am very happy to help the team and score three points to go into the break with a victory”, he said at the conclusion of the match. Until an hour and a half before, I didn’t know that he was going to play. He loves the nickname of ‘Gurugol’. “As forwards we live from goals, everything that can help there, I’m going to be there to do my best. The goals belong to the team. There are no individualities here, we are Athletic”.
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Olocip has established some interesting numbers that show Artificial Intelligence. He has almost scored 3 more goals than expected and is the most effective offensively. In addition, he is Athletic’s fittest player in the last month, taking into account in this section that he has played very few minutes. That is why he is so high up, because when he has played he has done very well, he takes advantage of the opportunities they give him. Despite the few minutes in the green, he is the fourth most effective player with the completions of the entire League.