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Federico Gatti: From Bricklayer To Erling Haaland Destroyer As Juventus Stun Man City (Clip Ep. 479)
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Reaction to Juventus 2-0 Man City in the Champions League as Federico Gatti put on a defensive masterclass to shut out Erling Haaland.
A former bricklayer, Gatti has had an incredible journey to the top of the game.
This is a clip from the weekly Thursday episode of the Italian Football Podcast.
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Transcript
Introduction to Italian Football Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast.
Praise for Defensive Performance
00:00:05
Speaker
I thought that the the defending was was was was wonderful. I thought all the back four were were were really, really good. um I thought that ah Danilo playing as a left back, you know, really, really good. Savona was good. Kalulu was excellent. And then Federico Gatti was just was just absolutely
Gatti's Dominance Against Haaland
00:00:29
Speaker
outstanding. and And I want to talk about Gatti because he was He was a monster. he He completely dominated Harland in this game. Harland didn't get a kick, except for that chance. and he was you know he was He was like his idol, Giorgio Chilini. A lot of comparisons to Giorgio Chilini. This was a Giorgio Chilini-like performance. the the the The grit, the determination, the the bravery, throwing his body on the line, so many blocks, ah winning everything in the air, ah defending his box brilliantly.
00:01:00
Speaker
ah playing like a leader.
Gatti's Journey from Bricklayer to Juventus Player
00:01:03
Speaker
um you know the the the goal the set the The first goal came from Gatti charging up the pitch. you know he was the that He was the man that was dragging Juventus in this game. It's such an incredible story, Gatti. i mean This is someone who who, at the age of 17, left school at the age of 17,
00:01:23
Speaker
to to to work and and went to work as a bricklayer because his father had been made unemployed he had made it i mean been made unemployed and they needed the money. His family needed the money. He worked as a bricklayer, as a window manufacturer. He repaired roofs. He worked at markets. He worked for 9 to 10 hours a day. This was up until the age of 20.
00:01:44
Speaker
um He would train in the evenings. He would have dinner at 11 in the evening. He would get up between three and four in the morning. um This was all while he was playing amateur football in like, you know, said a d the fourth division, fifth division, sixth division in Italy. um Until 2020, when he was the age of 22, he then joined seti at cheeseside proraria in the summer in that summer of 2020.
00:02:09
Speaker
um Then a year later in 2021 he got a move to Frosinone in Sedia B and then six months after six months in Sedia B, Juventus signed him in January 2022. They left him on loan at Frosinone for the rest of that season. So in the space of 18 months, he went from being a ah bricklayer to Juventus.
Reflecting on Gatti's Inspiring Journey
00:02:30
Speaker
And when he joined Juventus in 2022, I'm going to read out what he posted on social media because this is so beautiful. He goes, two years ago I was a bricklayer and I installed window frames. In the evening I trained in the mud, on frozen fields and in the cold. I've been through a lot, positive and negative experiences. Everything helped me grow and become the person I am today. Today I'm signing my first professional contract, or my professional contract,
00:02:56
Speaker
and because i because I've been willing to do anything to get there, to give up anything, to fight against everything and and and everyone. It's an incredible story, it's inspiring um to to see someone go from a bricklayer to Juventus and now make it all up to the top and stop like you know maybe the best striker in the world and put in this kind of performance and he has been, as he was in this game, he's been brilliant this season. It's a beautiful story and And um you know you've got you've just got ah you can't, but but anybody, don't care who you support, you you know what you think of Gaddy, you can't help but be inspired by by his story.
00:03:35
Speaker
No, listen' there's not there's really not much more to to add to that, to be honest. It's it's very inspiring and it's very it's impressive. and it kind of it's it's It's also a demonstration of the kind of player
Gatti's Defensive Style
00:03:47
Speaker
he is, isn't it? He's a very, you know, Sven Goranerexin used to call these kinds of players honest players, in the sense that they're very hardworking. they It's always, you know,
00:03:57
Speaker
discipline and hard work goes first. And that game against City I think suited him really well. It's a match where you are compact and deep. And I think those are games that really suit Gatti. He's a great box defender. Yeah, he is. He's a great box defender. And Marker, yeah. And then you saw that again. We've been looking for those kinds of defenders. He's old school, isn't he? He's an old school interpreter.
00:04:25
Speaker
who also dominated Harlan. Yeah, he did. No, no, exactly. And and and I think
Juventus' Defensive Strategy
00:04:29
Speaker
you have to do that. But it's the reason why they can do that is when they when you defend deep and you shrink the space so that he can't you he's not allowed to turn around and hit you with pace and power, which he has abundance of.
00:04:41
Speaker
um So yeah, um the thing is with the thing is with Gattie is that this season, obviously, in most games, Juventus have played a high line, you know, or or a much higher line. It's not as high as a high line of, say, cities it is, but or deserby or something, but it's still a high line. What's his line? And, you know, he's and he's and he's flourished
Gatti's Performance Under Coach Motta
00:04:59
Speaker
in. I mean, I don't think many people you know, if you when when we knew that Motta was coming to Juventus, I don't think many people gave ah would it would have would have predicted that Gatti would be one of the most impressive performers under Motta. I mean, this has been he's been consistently excellent this season. He was actually bad against Bologna. That was one of the few games that he he played bad. But generally, he's been he's been absolutely outstanding this season. and um And, you know, I think maybe now people need to start giving him more credit for his actual ability because he's somebody that
00:05:29
Speaker
has been you know written off as being someone who you know lacks the technical qualities, lacks the maybe the ah natural ability. um He's just somebody that's just a kind of a rugged a rugged physical you know six foot two, six foot three defender who's good in the air, ah but you know probably lacks the actual quality to to to play for a team like Juventus. And obviously the the mistake he made against Sasualo, I remember, which was comical, um you know that that you know that was probably when everybody was like, well, this guy, he's just not Juventus quality.
Gatti's Mentality and Team Attributes
00:06:03
Speaker
And you know I'll be lying if I say that I didn't.
00:06:05
Speaker
asked the same question as well, but there's something about him. He has he has a winning mentality. he so he's he he he He's a fighter ah and he he's a team player and you know he's showing himself now. that His levels this season have been absolutely top-class. his the is ah is defensively and well when When he's playing well and in and and he's man-marking, so to speak, when he can mark box defender, as you call him, that that he's really good at.
Comparison Between Gatti and Chiellini
00:06:37
Speaker
I'm not like I look at him a little bit like I look at Denzel Dumfries. I think they're very limited players technically, um but they have unbelievable mental strength. um And they are like, so like I said, Sven calls them honest players in the sense that they're very hard working. It's about the the work rate. It's about the team. It's about working in a system um together.
00:07:03
Speaker
as a team elevating the level. um And I think he, you know, similarly... I think he has attributes though. But I think he, you know, but I mean, they're not, they're never going to be the most beautiful, technically gifted. But I know it was his idol Keilini, was he? I mean, Keilini was far from... Keilini, Keilini was a player. I mean, he was, you know, he was, he had technique. like let's Well, I don't know. I wouldn't say he had to i wouldn't say you had great technique. I mean, he said it himself. Fellini said himself, I had no technique. I mean, yeah be being modest. But you know, you can't say that Kehlini was a Baluchi or Bastani. Do you know what I mean? Of course not. He's not that kind of a defender, but he was also not. you I'm not comparing. i Listen, I'm not saying that Getty's ever going to be Kehlini, but what I'm saying. No, no, I know what you're saying, but I'm saying that Kehlini is a completely different kettle of fish. I mean, if you
00:07:55
Speaker
comparing to Bazzali and Bonucci, yes, he wasn't as good, but he would be if he played today, he would be he would be one of the best, i mean like not just defensively, but also moving forward, because he was actually he had a very very he was a very intelligent player also. He wasn't just this gritty, man-marking player. Whilst I think with Gatti, we can say that he is more of that kind of a player than than he is.
Gatti's Contribution to Team Defense
00:08:19
Speaker
I think he's good position you think he's excellent positionally, I think he's very good. when when you when in ah In a unit, yes.
00:08:25
Speaker
He's very good positionally, he's very good in a unit, that which is important. you know we we we we we We go on about Milan and they're individual defenders. He's a team defender, he's brought in a great partnership with Calulu. I mean, Bremen, of course Bremen's been missed massively, of course he is, because he's he's he's an absolute he's he's another level, but they haven't really missed him that much as a unit, I mean. you know like No, no, no, because the structure that Motto's put in place, I mean, that that's what you want from your coach, isn't it? yeah like You want them to to get the best, to create a structure with the best he's got at his disposal.
Gatti's Role in the Italian National Team
00:08:57
Speaker
to What I would say though about Gattie is I think he's better in a four than a back three. Absolutely. Because I think that you can be more of a unit and also I think if there is one weakness with Gattie, and this is why I kind of, you know, because there are going to be now, there's going to be questions like the way he's playing, he's got a, you know, he he should be playing for Italy, people will be saying. The question is, the issue is with playing in a back three,
00:09:18
Speaker
Maybe he could play as a centre centre back, I do think that, but then there's Callifiori and Bastoni who are who are better than him. But as a right centre back, which is a position that Italy could do with someone, you have to cover the space to out wide. ah And that is that's my only one question about whether he could come and play for for Italy, like for Spoletti, feel that right centre back role. When you play it as a side centre back, you do have to cover those spaces. And not just that, you also have... when you also have to do the overlaps on the wings when when moving forward and you have to be able to cross the ball and you have to be like well you don't have to if the guy on the other side does it but i know what you mean you have to be more complete you know so like that that's why the Lorenzo plays at the right centre back like that that's what that's why he works in that system and that's why you know i i don't know i i think Gatti should definitely be in the squad if he plays like this yeah
00:10:10
Speaker
If it was about four I would I would say absolutely but you know, im I mean I mean would even say, you know Maybe even playing games as well. Not maybe the first not maybe you regular but in the in the back book That's the question really that's something else. I want to see how I want to see how we develop because he's proven so many people wrong already. Yeah but who know i know I don't I think as a center-center back then if if Italy are defending deep. Yeah, sure Okay, maybe but I mean in the squad. Yes, he definitely if he continues to play like this II he has to be in the squad do remember Whether or not he starts, look when you have Calafiori Bastoni and Buongiorno, you have to make it work with those three because they are just better defenders than they are.
Highlighting Gatti's Technical Abilities
00:10:52
Speaker
Listen, i think he's um I think he's been fantastic and and you know people forget you know he's actually better on the ball than people give credit for and the the goal
00:11:02
Speaker
The first goal he went to scored is proof of that. It was Gatti's run up the pitch, charging, kind of Keolini like buccaneering run, took crazy horse, you know, kind of run up the pitch. And then that Bali that he did, it was fantastic, kind of side bicycle kick, you know, so that anybody that kind of makes mocks his technique, I mean, it's it's not that bad. and So, but yeah, it was, listen, I think Gatti was the the star of the show.