Club Brugge currently have two centre-forwards in their squad, Igor Thiago and Ferran Jutgla, but at the moment neither has really proven themselves as a real goalscorer.
Blauw-Zwart hopes that Jutgla will soon regain his top form, allowing Ronny Deila to once again rely on his self-proclaimed “top striker in Belgium.”
Club Brugge is longing for a real goalscorer
Ronny Deila could be seen rubbing his hands last summer when he took the job as head coach of Club Brugge, with an impressive central attacking line consisting of Roman Yaremchuk, Roméo Vermant, Ferran Jutgla, Victor Barbera and Igor Thiago.
But various circumstances drastically changed the team’s offensive landscape, with Yaremchuk being loaned to Valencia, Vermant and Barbera playing at Club NXT, and Jutgla out for five months with pubalgia.
Despite this, Club Brugge managed to find their way to goal almost blindly at the beginning of the season, but currently the team is in a goalscoring crisis and Club Brugge is longing for a real goalscorer.
Igor Thiago isn’t really shining in the goal-getter role he should be, leaving the focus on players like Andreas Skov Olsen and Hans Vanaken to provide the goals.
Walter Meeuws even names the lack of goals as Club Brugge’s biggest problem The newspapaer. “If Skov Olsen or Vanaken doesn’t score, nothing happens.” Jan Ceulemans, on the other hand, wonders where Ferran Jutlga is. “He didn’t do too badly at Club Brugge last season at the beginning. But he also seems to have lost it.”
The search for a scoring striker remains a major challenge for Club Brugge, increasing the pressure on Skov Olsen and Vanaken, along with question marks surrounding Jutgla and Thiago.
Club Brugge is still waiting for the best Jutgla
After a successful debut season, in which he impressed with fifteen goals, the Spanish striker suffered from pubalgia, a difficult injury that kept him off the field for five months and required a long rehabilitation, indicating how serious and complex this injury was.
His long-awaited return to the field has been followed with great interest this season, and although he is still working on his best form, he is determined to be of value to Club Brugge again.
Ferran Jutgla had to miss the entire preparation, which means he still lacks some rhythm and still has to build up his fitness. Nevertheless, Jutgla offers, albeit not yet consistently, a welcome boost for Club Brugge.
His return adds a new dynamic, more grinta and energy to the team. In some matches, Jutgla was even preferred to Igor Thiago and he also managed to score several times.
Amid the goal deficit among the strikers, there was even a glimmer of hope through Jutgla’s feat against Antwerp FC. René Vandereycken elevated this goal to a “rare bright spot” in an otherwise disappointing match.
But like any artist, Jutgla continues to strive for perfect form and consistency on the field, although that is still far away at the moment. His contribution is sometimes far too little, as René Vandereycken noted after the match against Standard. “In the beginning I even had to check whether Jutgla was still in the match.”
Deila thinks Jutgla is a top striker in Belgium
The fact that Ferran Jutgla was preferred to Igor Thiago on several occasions clearly indicates that, despite the fact that Jutgla is still looking for his best form, the coach believes in his potential.
The conscious decision by both player and club to give him time to fully recover from his pubalgia, in order to prevent a relapse, emphasizes the importance attached to his physical condition.
Ronny Deila seems to be well aware of the potential and qualities of Jutgla. The Norwegian coach took the time to speak personally with the Spanish striker and emphasized that he sees him as a potential key player.
The reference to his good performances under former coach Rik De Mil, who gave Jutgla a lot of confidence, emphasizes that the relationship between a trainer and the Spanish striker can be crucial for his performance on the field.
The coach described Jutgla earlier this season as a “top striker in Belgium” and emphasized that his presence could be a valuable addition to Club Brugge’s attack. Jutgla is a different type of player than Thiago, meaning his style and qualities allow for different tactics at Club Brugge.
Last season, Jutgla was a European-class striker
Club Brugge hopes to soon see the return of Ferran Jutgla from last season, when he proved himself as a European-class striker in Belgium and in the Champions League. He was even close to being selected for the Spanish national team for the World Cup in Qatar.
Jutgla therefore has an interesting profile. Trond Sollied described him as a Sergio Agüero type: a small, agile pocket striker who positions himself excellently in the penalty area. According to Carl Hoefkens, he is a ‘natural goalscorer’.
Marca even wrote last season that FC Barcelona committed a blunder by letting Jutgla go to Club Brugge so easily. “Or even worse, sell him for five million. In every appearance for Bruges he shows that he is a striker of the highest caliber.”
On the other hand, the striker suffered a significant drop in his performance last season. He often tried to decide the match on his own, albeit with good intentions, but this striking selfishness caused irritation in the stands of the Jan Breydel Stadium for weeks and months.
Jutgla was no longer the decisive (team) player he was a few months earlier. The Spaniard seemed frustrated, just like many other Club Brugge players at the time, and that obviously affected his game.
He was not a regular starter under Scott Parker, but then recovered under Rik De Mil. The challenge now for Club Brugge is to return Jutgla to his best form and let him shine as the top striker he was before.
