Improving every day, Gauci relishing the 'rookie' feeling at Villa.
Making the leap from Adelaide United and the A-League Men to Premier League powers Aston Villa, Joe Gauci felt like was starting his professional career all over again. And he loved it.
When Joe Gauci first arrived at Aston Villa, he did so with a pretty decent resume. Fresh off being a part of the Socceroos’ Asian Cup squad, his move from Adelaide to Birmingham broke the outbound Australian transfer record and, as Mark Bosnich had done just over three decades prior, he’d landed in the Midlands having established himself as the premiere young keeper in Australia.
Yet as he walked into a goalkeeping union at Bodymoor Heath, one headlined by the world’s best keeper in Emiliano Martínez, all that pedigree didn’t stop him from feeling like he was starting his career all over again. In his eyes, though, this wasn’t a bad thing. Welcome to the world’s biggest league, son, no pressure.
Far from retreating from the disquietude that came with going from the relatively friendly confines of Adelaide United and the A-League Men to the bright lights of the Premier League, Gauci revelled in the incommodious of it all.
It was in these uncomfortable moments, he recognised, where some of the greatest lessons and opportunities for development could lie. He also knew that with the sheer level of talent he was faced with every single day in his new home, the world-class standard he would face in every single training session, this was a chance to take his goalkeeping to a new level.
“It's been refreshing in a way, it feels like I've started as a pro again,” Gauci reflected. “It feels quite similar to when I transitioned from the NPL to the A-League; it took me a few months to find my feet and adapt to the environment. I've been there before, that sort of uncomfortable feeling and I really enjoy it.
“I'm not sure if there's a bigger jump you could make in the football world from Australia than to go to the Premier League. The A-League is a thriving competition and each season is getting more and more competitive but no one can doubt the quality of the Premier League and the players at this level, players that have been there for numerous seasons.
“Straightaway it was quite a shock to me. And the development that I had to make as well as the goalkeeper coach adapting my technique and changing some of my styles to ultimately make me more effective at the higher level.
“It's taken a few months of adaptation. It probably wasn't until the last two months of the season that I started to find my feet because the first sort three or so was a lot of adaptation, not only on the field but as well as often adapting to life in the UK.”
Indeed, it was quite the whirlwind transition for the 23-year-old.
In his last game before jetting off for the Asian Cup he’d kept goal in a 2-0 defeat against Melbourne Victory. But the next time he dressed for his club, he was on the bench for Villa’s 2-1 win over Fulham, a result that maintained a top-four position that, when the end of the season came around, resulted in qualification for next season’s UEFA Champions League.
“In my first warm-up that I did with the team… it was quite a surprise,” Guaci recalled. “In the warm-up, the boys are raring to go and ready to step on the field for a match. So that's when they're at their peak in terms of sharpness and quality.
“It's been great using the warm-up and the shooting that I get week to week, it's been great to see my adaptation through that as I've progressed and got better. I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable when these guys are raring to go and closest to match the quality that you're going to face.
“I loved every minute. I've loved the challenge.”
Gauci would go on to make around a dozen more so appearances on the bench for Villa in both league and European fixtures as the season wore on as, given the relatively limited fixture crunch the club had to face after being eliminated from domestic cup competitions, Martínez monopolised starts.
When the World Cup winner was suspended for the first leg of their UEFA Conference League semifinal against Olympiacos, Swedish international Robin Olsen stepped in to start, with Gauci elevated to a primary back-up role as Villa lost 4-2 to the eventual champions.
Of course, this means that the aforementioned game against Victory remains the last time that he saw a shot on target in a competitive fixture – Bangladesh failing to make him work last week when, with Mat Ryan rested, he earned a rare start with the Socceroos.
Gauci, though, recognises the bigger picture at play. He’s already had to wait and learn before getting his chance, biding his time at three different A-League Men clubs — the Reds, Melbourne City, and Central Coast — as well as spend time in the NPL with Adelaide City before his breakout. He knows how the game is played.
“I understand the importance of games, the developments that I made in Australia, the vast majority of that came from playing games,” he said. “But people will also forget or just be unaware that I spent two and a half, nearly three seasons purely training in the A-League before I even made my debut.
“When you're number three or number two, you're not a household name, you're not talked about but you are developing massively. You're not playing games but you're making massive developments and it's the same again now at Villa.
“I'm not getting the game time but because of the level and the quality of these players as well as the coaching staff that are investing in me to take my game to another level. I'm feeling the improvement even without getting that game time. It is a sacrifice but the development that I'm making, even in the last five months, I feel, has been monumental.”
Of course, having said that Gauci also wants to play. Duh. Not just for the developmental side of things but because he’s an elite athlete — that competitive drive to compete is somewhat hardwired into their psyche.
Having arrived midseason, he was placed a but behind the eight ball when it came to pressing his case for minutes in the mind of Unai Emery and goalkeeping coach Javi García but with a full preseason looming – and a full slate of commitments on his manager’s plate – he’s eager to prove his worth in the months ahead.
“Consistency is the biggest thing,” he said. “Consistently showing my level, that I'm at the Premier League level, at the Champions League level, through the preseason.
“I'm looking forward to experiencing a European preseason where there's a lot of games and is a bit shorter than four months of preseason like we have in Australia.
“A few more games will be nice and to get that experience of travelling with the team, playing teams from all around the globe like we are. There's a trip to America that's planned.
“So consistency is the biggest thing, to show that day in and day out I'm performing at that level.
“At the end of the day, it's up to the staff to judge my level and where I'm at in my development. If they believe that I'm ready, and at the end of the day if they do then I'll be grateful for the opportunity.