Does Guti Have A Point?

By: Corey | November 12th, 2009

The popular opinion these days is that Real Madrid midfielder Guti is past it, and his pre-madonna attitude is affecting not only his form, but the morale of the whole team. His controversial flare up with Manuel Pellegrini a few weeks back during the disaster at Alcorcon, which was subsequently denied as having ever happened by both player and coach. Yet Guti has not been in the match day squad since then, and a curious incident where Pellegrini told the press Guti was injured and would not feature immediately after the Alcorcon game. Problem was a half hour later Guti declared himself fit in a subsequent press conference after training. The intrigue began…

I for one thought of the incident as a fabrication of the dailies in Spain. Marca in particular has always had it out for the mercurial if often troubled Guti, and I dismissed the blow up flat out. I mean, Guti and Pellegrini had a good working relationship, with Guti stating that he stayed in Madrid this offseason because of Pellegrini’s confidence in his abilities. The two were seen conversing during almost every training session, so to me that meant that Pellegrini, like Schuster, had a handle on Guti’s difficult personality and that his trust in the player would inspire him to a great season. The first few games this year, that was the case, with Guti in inspirational form, with several assists and a couple of goals as well. All was well in the Real Madrid camp.

The defeat to Sevilla right before an international break was a turning point this season though. The press, without another jornada to discuss, laid in to Pellegrini, the players and the club for actually loosing a game to a Sevilla team that will be a title contender this season. No one seemed to take the game in to perspective and remember the team was still in flux, and the over reaction to the defeat was compounded by Cristiano Ronaldo’s ankle injury at Marseille which was further injured when he appeared for Portugal during that international break. That he still has not returned has thrown the balance of the squad off since.

Shortly after the Sevilla defeat, a seemingly easy cup tie with third division neighbors Alcorcon would be come a nightmare, with several players who had little playing time this season, either because of injury or coaching decision, yielding a 4-0 victory to the modest outfit. Guti, captain for the night with Raul and Casillas not playing in the match (Raul entered the match later on), was unimpressed by the lack of spirit and effort that were on display by many of his teammates. Although Guti himself was not having a good game either, he was still imploring his teammates to pick themselves up and win the match. But when Guti does not have a good match, he is one tackle away from a red card, and that is exactly where he found himself after the first half of the match. He was withdrawn by Pellegrini to save him from getting ejected, which was a smart move by Pellegrini given Guti’s prior history.

Guti took offense to this substitution and had some choice words for Pellegrini. He also made lewd gestures to the home fans after he was whistled and ridiculed as he sat away from his teammates on a separate bench. Having watch the game, I saw that Guti was trying to instill some Morbo and Madrisimo in the second string Real team that was being played off the park by a third division team. The fact that it got much worse when Guti was withdrawn just went to show that Guti was right. Despite the huge outlay of money for new players this summer, many of the left overs from the Calderon era were still foreign players that did not have the right class for Real Madrid. Guti hinted at this very point in a recent interview with Intereconomia TV, which will be broadcast in Spain this Sunday night.

“It’s a difficult situation for both of us,” he said off his relationship with Pellegrini before adding that “things are not going well” at the club under the guidance of Florentino Perez.

“Some foreign players do not understand the values of Real Madrid,”

“I’m a guy who never stops, day and night. I like to enjoy the night with my friends. When I am 60-years-old I won’t be going to a discotheque until six in the morning. I am now, [incomplete]“

To get some clips of the interview, go to AS.

Just those three clips would be enough to land him in hot water with the club. And maybe it should, but what would that do? Would it stop Guti from expressing his opinion to the media? Probably not. There are a whole bunch of negative consequence associated with these excerpts from his interview, but I take issue with the discotheque (club) comment. Guti is married, has a child, and is 33. He has been a professional football for 15 years now. Yet he still feels the need to go out to clubs til the wee hours of the morning? As Cesar said “Nothing wrong with going out, but the way he said it it’s just inexcusable. He doesn’t give a crap about the club, it’s all about him.”

Id agree partially with Cesar in that his clubbing habits contradict his status as a captain and his complaints on the pitch at Alcorcon about his teammates lack of commitment to the cause. But then again, does he have a point about the lack of commitment and fight in the international players?

Id like to hear your opinions on this question. This is not a question of xenophobia of course, Real Madrid has a rich tradition of incorporating foreign players. What I think Guti is hinting at is the foreign players that were on the field against Alcorcon, namely Metzelder, Drenthe, Van der Vaart and Benzema do not have the kind of passion for the crest that they need to. Having watched those four play, I would have to agree with him there. But that just my speculation. What is your take on Guti? Im sure we will have a wide array of opinion on our ‘33 year old prospect’.