"Every session is like a game" - Gauci bringing Villa's keeper intensity to national team camp
Joe Gauci has spent six months training with some of the world's elite shot-stoppers and says he wants to bring that experience to the Subway Socceroos camp this June.
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The 23-year-old started the 2023/24 season at Adelaide United, where he continued his excellent goalkeeping form from the previous season.
His performances earned him a call-up to the Australian national team for the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™, by the end of the tournament, he had signed for English Premier League side Aston Villa.
Gauci said his accession to one of the highest-ranked leagues in the world has happened very quickly, requiring a big process of adaptation for him.
“I think everything happened really fast for me through January, being in the Asian Cup, coming out of that, belonging to a different club, and having to transition and move to the other side of the world,” he said.
“Then to go straight into a team that was seriously competing in the Premier League. And also, playing in the conference league as well, and fighting for a trophy there."
It was amazing to be involved and to learn off the players and the staff as well, and the style of play.
Gauci's move has also seen him go from being the undisputed starting goalkeeper at Adelaide to jostling for positions with established international goalkeepers.
Aston Villa’s number one is World Cup winner Emiliano Martinez who has been lauded as one of the best around, while Robert Olsen is Sweden’s starter between the sticks.
Gauci explained how the pair have been helping him transition to the Premier League.
“These guys are world-class goalkeepers, but at the end of the day, we're just all human beings,” Gauci said.
We're just all regular people who like to enjoy goalkeeping, we're a little bit crazy in that regard, and we enjoy having balls smashed at us every day.
“We enjoy having a bit of banter, having a laugh, but also they've both been very good with their time since I've been at the club offering advice throughout the training sessions."
“When you might be finding things a little bit difficult or certain players, or all the players are very good with their finishing, so offering little tips on how we can make it more difficult for them.”
Gauci said training with them as the third-choice goalkeeper is a role he can make the most of as he looks to get to grips with the higher standard of football.
“I've been in this similar position before, it probably takes me back to when I first started my career, and I was at the Central Coast Mariners and then I spent a year in Melbourne City,” he said.
“I was a number three, I was working on my craft, I was trying to get better every week.
Instead of having one game, at the end of the week to aim on, like I did at Adelaide, every training session is like a game for me, because it's an opportunity to perform at a high level and to try and get better.
“There's probably not a bigger jump you can make in the football world, from Australia to the Premier League, but I'd never really expected the jump to be that big."
“They've made that quite clear to me that it's going to take me some time to settle in."
“Definitely, as my time has progressed, in the last sort of few weeks, probably six to eight weeks of the season, I felt much more settled and felt like I was able to really be myself and express myself on the field.”
Gauci is not the only Adelaide goalkeeper to make the move to the Premier League, with 19-year-old Steven Hall signing with Brighton and Hove Albion during the 2023/24 season.
Gauci said he is pleased to see the success of the Adelaide goalkeepers as more continue to come through the ranks at the South Australia club.
“They've all really pushed me hard because I actually joined Adelaide United as a number three the season I started, and I wasn't in the squad and there were boys in front of me that forced me to work really hard to get climb up the pecking order like James Delianov."
"But I made my way onto the bench and then through injury [to the other goalkeepers], I was playing."
“There was a little battle with me and James and every week we were working extremely hard to push one another, and it's all in good spirits like it always is with that goalkeeper union that everyone speaks of."
"I think the role that they all played and pushing my level and then when I was playing they were chasing me and I to maintain my level of my standards and continually improve because they were always pushing me.”
Gauci now prepares for a battle with A-Leagues duo Paul Izzo and Laurence Thomas for a starting spot in the Socceroos' two qualifiers this window. Regular starter and captain Maty Ryan is not in the squad for this window as he recovers from injury leaving the goalkeeper position up for grabs.
But Gauci said rather than solely focusing on playing, he is also using the camp generally as an opportunity to impress.
“I'm ready to play if called upon, but every camp is another opportunity,” he said.
“It doesn't change with Maty in or out of camp. Every time I step into camp, it's an opportunity to show the progressions that I’m making and the development that I'm making in my game.
“I'm in camp with two other experienced goalkeepers who are probably eager to play minutes for the Socceroos as well, not probably, I know they definitely are.”
Australia play their penultimate first-round World Cup 2026 qualifier on Thursday night against Bangladesh, victory for Graham Arnold’s team will confirm their spot in the next round of qualifying.
Match Details
Bangladesh v Subway Socceroos
Thursday, 6 June
Bashundhara Kings Arena, Dhaka
Kick-off: 4.45pm local / 8.45pm AEST
Broadcast: Paramount+
Subway Socceroos v Palestine
Tuesday, 11 June 2024
HBF Park, Perth
Kick-off: 8.05pm AWST / 10.05pm AEST
Tickets: Start from $15 Child, $20 Concession, $25 Adult, and $50 Family. Tickets from Ticketmaster.
Broadcast: 10, 10 Play, Paramount+