This kid gets it. He has a natural feel to his game. Nothing seems forced. Nothing seems "coached". And no, I haven't formed that opinion just on those highlights. It's based on his small body of work in his young career. I remember streaming one his Altech matches last season where he just looked the part. He was confident and comfortable on and off the ball. He didn't look like a 18 yr. old just plucked out of Michigan. Using a American sports term, he could be a "5 tool" player --speed, touch, vision, attacking, and defending. Gatt just has to put all those "tools" together in matches on a consistent basis. When he does clubs in the biggest leagues will come calling.
He will need to develop, though, the subtle touches in his game. Dempsey has provided an absolute masterclass of a kid who has added, and added, and then added some more (Wenger and others say you are done at 14-15, but I don't think that applies to late-blooming Americans). Hedjuk added exactly 2 moves to his arsenal And he used those same 2 moves over and over. Gatt will need to put in a lot of work on the training ground to perfect such moves (+ learn to use outside of feet in different situations), but yes he has high potential if he can learn to do the things Dempsey can, but at a faster speed. Gotta love how he knows he can blow by a guy.
This is a good shout. He's not the dribbler that Coleman is, but his attributes - blinding pace, intelligence, etc. - are similar. And Seamus is almost American in his rawness and developmental history...he wasn't in a professional setup until he was 17 (but even then, a LoI squad) or in a true professional setup until he was 20. Coleman has improved in leaps and bounds over the past two years, and I would imagine that Gatt - under Solskjaer's supervision - would have a similar developmental trajectory.
He is still very raw. That vid of him running past some players was pretty cool until the moment where he had to decide to shoot it or pass it to someone. He decided to shoot it...horribly.
I'm interested in these somewhat late developers. Does anybody know if Gatt was a soccer only kid or a multiple sport type? There is a lot of call for kids to focus on soccer only for development, but I wonder if some kids like Gatt got their athleticism from doing multiple sports as kids.
I don't think Gatt is late developer in any sense. He is 19. He went form High school ball to Euro ball. I mean Most 19 year old are not playing and starting for a 1st division club. From some of his comments from interviews Gatt was only ever serious about soccer.
E By late bloomer, I mean the following. Elite European kids play more soccer- a lot more soccer- than US kids. Everything more structured, and the basic skills are taught, and taught better, earlier. When someone like Gatt moves overseas, he is likely learning, doing things in several ways (many?) for the first time. For these 2 reasons, I call the US players late bloomers in a lot of ways. The gap actually grows bigger if you compare a European apprentice (professional) player vs. a 18-21 year old US player who plays in college, and is getting restricted games, minutes. Gatt is not that case, but in all likelihood he played a lot less soccer in the disciplined European manner as his counterparts. For example, unless they had an active indoor facility near Gatt, his time playing in winters growing up in Michigan was restricted. In Germany, you have small fields (hardcourt) everywhere which are played on regardless of the conditions- in addition to alll the Hallenfussball, etc.
This is getting into dubious territory. No knows how much time Gatt spent playing soccer in his formative years. But I will bite. He started at a very young age. I have no Idea how important structure is. I do know hours with the ball are important. My eyes tell me he is too good to have not spent a lot of time with a soccer ball in his formative years. Tactical knowledge, yeah maybe he is behind a professional European his age. Maybe he played in his backyard a lot by himself or something . On Dempsey he just improved himself tactically. He definitely played a lot of soccer in his formative years. After that the talent was already there and when he went to Europe he just had to improve tactically. Which he did. I think just playing a lot of soccer at a young age makes the difference. If that is in a pro club all the better, but still tactics can be learned easily. I don't think Clint is a late bloomer either. I think to be a successful player in Europe you essentially can't be a late bloomer. If you could somehow compare the amount of hours that Eddie Johnson and Clint Dempsey spent playing soccer in their formative years you could probably tell who was going to be more successful. After this actual talent becomes a factor and this where the pros are weeded out form the pretenders.
From what I've read about Gatt, he played soccer from a young age and loved it, but never watched the game. His father is a former football player at some level or other and a big football fan, so Josh was a football fan even as he played soccer. He probably has learned a lot tactically in the last year, but there's still some distance to go. As leppercut pointed out, his decision-making on that long run was poor.
Gatt was a very talented track star in high school as well. Very accomplished in short distance sprints
Gatt facts. I am a Michigan resident and have been following/watching him during his years with the Michigan Wolves (produced Soony Saad, Sean Cunningham, Colin Rolfe [Herman finalist last year]). Based on various local articles, he was put in soccer by his mom (to burn off energy) as a very young kid. He also played baseball for many years, football, basketball and ran track. But according to him, soccer was always "the sport he loved the best." So, he was exposed to many sports and as a result, enhanced his overall athletic ability. This is the US way - expose the kids to everything and hold off as long as you can on specializing. Consequently, he did not develop as much technically nor tactically like young soccer players in Europe. So, as many have said, there is definitely room for improvement, but in my opinion, what he has been able to accomplish and the improvements already after only one year in Europe are very impressive. Like I said, have been a big fan long before anyone knew his name. And based on my observations, he has done nothing to dampen my belief that he has a bright future in the "other football."
Thanks RonaldD, that is interesting, I have had a hypothesis that we don't have to be exactly like Europe, that our multi-sport culture can be an advantage if the kids get the right soccer coaching as well. Bocanegra was a multi-sport star , I am not sure who else. But if Gatt makes it to a top league, then that is more evidence that the DA system should make room for kids who play multiple sports as long as they are serious about soccer.
There was famous example in Germany of Hans- Peter Briegel, who was a decathlete who didn't start taking soccer seriously until 13-14 years old age. He wound up on German national team and successful in Italy when Italy was top league in world. He was not huge, but incredibly strong and athetic, tough in 1v1, but always dribbled the ball a bit like a guy who came from another sport- a bit stiff, with his arm/elbow sticking out when he ran with the ball. Sounds like Gatt will be a late bloomer- playing all those sports, he has much less repetition than his European counterparts- even in the basic skills I do think it is a disadvantage not to specialize young, but if one is a great athlete, you likely won't lose too much. The key is if Gatt can continue to learn at the same pace as the last year. He will need to spend a lot of extra time on the pitch to improve his touch, and tricks with ball. That crucial work needs to happen now. Great he is from Michigan- he should be right at home playing on the frozen tundra of Norway.
Right, "die Walz aus der Pfalz" (the steamroller from Palatinate). Former German youth champ in long jump and triple jump; rather a force of nature than a soccer player.
Some of Gatt's track times. Not world class but pretty damn fast. http://mi.milesplit.com/athletes/1396144-josh-gatt/stats
50 seconds in the 400 is not fast. I was a middle-distance runner in high school/college and ran a 51 in high school and a 48.5 in college. I promise you no one would ever confuse me with a sprinter. In Louisiana a 50.something won't even get you to the state meet unless you're in a very small division. I have no idea about the 60 time though.
I'm not sure the 60 m is officially contested at high school level. At the college level, Gatt is well off the elite times, which are in the 6.5-6.6 range. Still I suspect the time listed on the website, 7.37, is not the best he is capable of.
Thanks. Gatt was well off the times I saw on a Michigan indoor track website, in which the top runners were sub 7 seconds. ESPN rise or a website affiliated with it lists the top national time in the 60 m for the class of 2011 as a 6.7 belonging to Damiere Byrd (a University of South Carolina football signee). I don't know how seriously Gatt took track, but he doesn't have world class speed or anything close, at least based on the numbers Sandon provided. His 60 m time looks just as uncompetitive as his 400 m time.
It is- it's all explosion and starting technique (perhaps the most technical of all running event other than hurdles, you don't have the space to make up for a bad start). 50s is not fast for a 400m time- no Div I school would find that interesting at all (unless it was your first split for the 800). Then again, Gatt is a soccer player and not a track athlete.
Thank you! Who cares whether it is D1 time or not, OBVIOUSLY he ran track just to run track and he has tremendous pace on the soccer field with a ball. Last I checked this is BIG SOCCER, not BIG TRACK.