To say that Racing forward Teófilo Gutiérrez is controversial is an understatement of astronomical proportions. To say that he’s talented is obvious.
The polarizing Colombian international has been problematic throughout his career. So much so, that even his father admitted in an interview once that his son “does whatever he wants”.
Let’s be honest, he did not pick up those bad habits in Argentina. Teófilo came with this type of baggage from Colombia and, even from Turkey. His time at Trabzonspor was nightmarish. At Junior, Gutiérrez was just as mischievous, yet his environment was more permissive. He was the hometown kid that had the people around him turn their heads whenever he committed some type of indiscipline at Junior. The native of the neighborhood of La Chinita found in football a way to express himself, more importantly, a way out of a life that was adverse to say the least. Yet in the end the way he expresses the game is right now the reason why his career is in limbo right now.
Many would say that his behavior abroad was much worse compared to Colombia, and that is the absolute truth. His assault of Beskitas defender Ibrahim Toraman back in 2010. For his club, that was the final straw to a brief career that saw him miss practices and see himself unable to adapt to his surroundings on the Silk Road.
In hindsight we could say that the club siding with Teo after Diego Simeone didn’t want any part of him. For Racing to essentially strip a coach of the authority he had over the team in favor of a mercurial player that is a step away from tearing it up or tearing it all down says a great deal about the administrations old and new on the northeast end of the Almirante Cordero. I think we can conclude that he was one of the main reasons why “El Cholo” is now in Europe.
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