Guti: The Final Verdict on a Talented Player

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Guti has made it back into the squad after what seems like a never ending injury problem. The coach and many others are delighted but is Real Madrid better with him? Many people have had mixed feelings about him due to his endless talent but poor behavior. Guti has the ability to deliver playmaking that can rival many of the best passers in history yet he never became a legend like Zidane, Rivera, Pirlo, or Xavi because of his biggest weakness. Himself…

The Good Guti

Guti has an undoubted ability to pass with great vision in the game that can rival Xavi’s. All in all you might even say that when he is on a good day he would be easily able to match that of a legend. His breathtaking passing ability is second to none, while he also has a great balance of all abilities on the pitch. He takes well placed corners and free kicks and he is very versatile.

Many Players have a unique form of passing and Guti has a very unique kind. Xavi who is a great passer of the ball specializes in short accurate passing, while Xabi specializes in long passes. Pirlo has great through balls and Guti’s style is like no other. Guti’s passes are unpredictable and he could wreck havoc amongst many of the tightest defences. He has a unique style of through ball we pierces any exploited space, into a players path. To explain his passing is hard because he looks one way and his body faces the other but he passes in a third direction. Guti’s style of passing is full of flair and elegance that many players would envy.

He played as a striker for a season when Fernando Morientes was mostly out injured and he scored 14 goals (for that season). He can create goal chances out of literally nothing. No matter how many defenders are blocking any space Guti somehow is able to exploit it with his vision. Guti abilities have made him into a Madrid great but due to many off field problems and a great amount of controversy Guti never truly become among the one of legends of the Merengues.

Problems and Setbacks

When Real Madrid lost 4-0 to Alcorcon everybody was ranting at the coach and Guti didn’t seem to help Pellegrini either. During the game the Madrid based paper Marca reported a fallout between the two at halftime.

Guti: “Come on, come on, you have to do some work!”

Pellegrini: “You can also do more. If you don’t have the will to play, say so.”

Guti: “If I’m the problem, take me off.”

Pellegrini: “Then get dressed.”

Guti: “**** right off, you ****.”

Obviously the two declared that this never happened but if it did happen I wouldn’t surprise me at all. At the beginning of last season Guti had a fallout with coach Bernd Schuster and also had a reported fallout with Juande Ramos during the second half of the season. The second part of last season saw Guti play no more that a small handful of games. 

Injuries are also one of the main problems of Guti. He has been injured for long periods of many seasons. Some of his injuries take a long, long time to recover which could prove a huge setback to his career. In some seasons his fallouts with coaches and injuries made him play a very little amount of games. Injuries are part of every athletes career but his injuries have prove to be a huge setback to his industrious and controversial career.

Guti has had many reported fallouts with coaches and he was never able to explode onto the national team unlike his teammate and club captain Raul. Raul has made 104 official appearances for La Fura Roja while Guti has made less that 20. Many might wonder why would a player of such quality only play 15 games for Spain. There might be many different answers but I believe the most logical explanation would be his fallout with the coach. He has always had an on and off relationship with coaches like Pellegrini but the media makes it worst. 

Guti was scrutinized for more than just fallouts with coaches. He was once hated for his dating of a transsexual and his unhealthy personal life (constant partying and other things.) Things have cooled down for now due to his marriage and kids despite his divorce his off field antics seem to have cooled down. From personal life controversies to managerial fallouts and injuries, Guti has never been anybodies cup of tea but sometimes it’s a pity that his great talent was wasted because Guti can easily add a new dimension of play to any team. 

Why Madrid Need Him?

Guti can add a brilliant new dimension of attractive and flair like football to Madrid. He can Kaka, Ronaldo, Higuain, Van der Vaart, Xabi, and the others to play the football the many Madridistas have been yearning since the last era of Galacticos. His playmaking is like no other, his vision can split even the toughest of defences.  If a team need a style of playmaking which could increase width, and exploit many parts of the pitch then Guti would be a great addition.

He is a very special player that doesn’t come a lot in football. The players that have the closest attributes to Guti would be both Ex-Castilla and current Madridismos Esteban Granero and Ruben de la Red. Granero like Guti can add a new dimension of play but since no two players are the same. Granero lack Guti’s completeness and playmaking but has his versatility and his ability to add a new dimension. Ruben de la Red was most like Guti with he’s all round ability and great vision but since he’s been out with a unknown heart problem many people think he might never comeback to prevent him from being a Danny Jarque or Antonio Puerta.  

Guti is unique and will be a great asset that is hard to replace. He has always been a gem of Real Madrid and has great natural abilities that few could reproduce. With his abilities he could have been crowned world player of the year if he didn’t have so many problems and setbacks.

One of the main reason’s we should keep him is because he is from Real Madrid’s youth ranks. Guti has played from Real Madrid C all the way to becoming a vice captain of Real Madrid’s senior squad. He’s been here for a long time and can prove to be a mentor to youngsters. Other teams have insulted Madrid because of their lack of Castilla players in the first team squad and insulted the quality of their youngsters so Madrid could use Guti, Raul, and Iker as a way to show other teams. Guti has been at Real for his whole career and deserves to retire here but…

Why Madrid shouldn’t keep him?

Guti is world class and there isn’t much doubt about that but is he actually that good for Real Madrid? He’s disruptive, and has always had problems with coaches. He is fairly injury prone and has the ego that could easily beat Cristiano’s. He changes minds from “I don’t want to be here!” to “I want to retire here.” He’s inconsistent and can stir up problems.

He has never been a cup of tea for managers and Guti’s bad behaviour doesn’t help him.  He has been speculated to be one of the main problems and some fans have lost faith in him. He has disappointed time and time again and lately he has given more disappointment than joy.

The Final Verdict

Guti has everything a player wants in terms of ability. He has versatility, vision, balance, and technique but he is too disruptive and has caused problems. Guti will prove to be a player that will add attractiveness and vision to our football but he might also add dressing room problems. It’s a very hard decision to make because his good side is balanced with his bad side.

In my own opinion, I think Guti shulod be kept till the end of the season because we never know when Real need him and his style of playmaking but at the end of the season it’s going to be different. His contract will end and he’ll probably leave Madrid or retire but if he does impress in the second half of the season like he did in the beginning of the first half this season then Madrid might think of renewing, but I think it’s best to let him go. We might not have the exact replacements but Van der Vaart deserves to be kept and used while Granero is a growing prospect that should be cherished like Guti once was. All in all, it’s best to say goodbye to Guti at the end of the season but we should still be appreciateative to him for what he has done for Real Madrid.