Expert Opinion
Nobody embodies Newcastle’s qualities quite like Gutiérrez
Jonás Gutiérrez looks like a pirate, wears a Spider-Man mask, and could give Road Runner a run for his money. He’s the perfect role model for Newcastle United, a club that likes its folk heroes to obey the conventions of the comic book.
Demba Ba and his Senegalese strike partner Papiss Cissé are flavour of the month on Tyneside, but Gutiérrez embodies the qualities that define Newcastle’s season: application, industry, consistency and resilience. He gets the most out of himself, and those around him.
The Argentine winger is the sort of player who turns a manager into a lovesick puppy: a seven-out-of-10 superstar. It was no coincidence that Alex McLeish was misty-eyed, and unusually forthright, in his praise for him on Sunday, when Newcastle maintained the most unlikely of challenges for a Champions League place.
Gutiérrez’s strengths highlighted the weaknesses of McLeish’s Aston Villa team. His work rate is phenomenal. He is a Hummer of a footballer – armour-plated and driven by a seven-litre engine. He works back, protects and defends his full back, and still finds the energy to drive forwards at any opportunity.
To be honest, I expected him to be an early victim of Newcastle’s flirtation with relegation, and Alan Shearer. He was coveted in Serie A, in which he has long-term ambitions to play. His initial impact in La Liga, with Real Mallorca, ensures there are plenty of Spanish clubs who would welcome him with open arms, and cheque book.
Yet his blue collar style suits Newcastle. This is no longer a club which falls at the feet of one man, although Ba will test that theory to destruction if he goes on to score 30 goals this season. The Toon Army don’t mind a bit of grey, to go with the black and white stripes. They’re beginning to love understudies, like Danny Guthrie.
Gutiérrez feels at home, despite the distraction of rising tensions, prompted by the 30th anniversary of the Falklands war. Football’s status in Argentina is such that the First Division has just been renamed in honour of the Belgrano, the sunken warship.
That will not, of course, prevent his fellow countrymen tuning in on Saturday, when Newcastle face another significant test at Tottenham. His talent makes him a global citizen, and an adopted son of the north east. There’s a moral there, somewhere.
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