Undav: Kebabs here are terrible! And baked beans? On bread? Weird. Gross: Yeah, a full English for me is a challenge!
European qualification is within Brighton’s reach after an amazing season, so German pair DENIZ UNDAV and PASCAL GROSS have plenty on their plate… just not any British food
PASCAL GROSS is discussing breakfast and baked beans and bakeries and Wolfies fish and chip shop near Hove station when a lightbulb flickers inside the mind of team-mate and compatriot Deniz Undav.
‘If we made a German restaurant here, we’d be multi-millionaires,’ Undav says. ‘Trust me.’
The striker has found plenty to savour since arriving on the South Coast last summer from Germany, via Tony Bloom’s other club, Royale Union Saint- Gilloise in Belgium. The pursuit of ‘perfection’ under Roberto De Zerbi. The potent blend of work and play among the squad. The unlikely charge which has Brighton dreaming of Europe.
There remains, however, one key missing ingredient.
‘ German food,’ says Undav. ‘Kebabs, Turkish food, Kurdish food… we don’t have any here.’
What about those slabs of doner which spin late into the night? ‘Nah, the kebab here is terrible!’ Undav says. ‘ And the sausages. Oh. My. Days... if you have the quality of a kebab like in Germany — because people are paying for food like this — you would be a multi-millionaire in one year!’
His tour guide can sympathise. Food was Gross’s big ‘struggle’
Maybe some of our players thought ‘Ah, it’s just Everton’
when he moved here six years ago. Since then, the midfielder has married and had a son here. Teammates mock him for shedding his German heritage. And yet?
‘A full English breakfast for me is a challenge,’ Gross says with a smile. ‘I’ve never had it. I had fish and chips once before. But not for breakfast!’ It seems one fry-up staple spooks Germans above all. ‘The first time I saw beans was six years ago,’ Gross says, before Undav — who has Turkish and Kurdish roots — chips in. ‘We have it in our culture but we eat it hot, in a soup. We don’t put it on bread! It’s the weirdest thing.’
Soon their minds wander back home, down memory lane, to early morning trips to the bakery — warm bread, salami, salmon. ‘Eggs are the only thing that’s warm,’ Gross explains. And by the time this pair meet Mail Sport, egg is the only thing on Brighton faces.
It is the day after the night before, when Albion were humbled 5-1 at home by struggling Everton and their European hopes suffered a blow. De Zerbi said the display was proof this team is ‘not ready’ to take the next step.
‘ We were really poor,’ Gross concedes, his face stern now. ‘We were second best in everything all over the pitch and it shouldn’t happen.’ So why did it? And where are the holes in Brighton’s mentality that need to be filled?
‘ First, to take every game seriously,’ Undav says. ‘Because we won against Manchester United and Wolves before, maybe some players thought, “Ah, it’s just Everton”.’
Only Everton. What a sign of how power has shifted and how far Brighton have come. ‘Nobody was expecting this,’ the striker adds.
The defeat means that, with five games to go, De Zerbi’s side are seventh, eight points off the top four but with games in hand. Next? A trip to Arsenal tomorrow. But the prize of Europe — for the first time — remains in Albion’s hands.
‘The next two-and-ahalf weeks are the most important in the club’s history — that’s the reality,’ Gross (below, left) says. ‘ What I can say to our fans is we’ll try our best... and then, whatever happens, we can have no regrets.’
Brighton’s squad have, so far, resisted the temptation to think about how they might celebrate. Wrexham, for example, toasted the National League title with a trip to Sin City.
‘If we achieve something, then we will find something,’ Gross adds. His No1 choice? ‘Probably Las Vegas as well,’ he says with a smile.
It might be now or never; De Zerbi’s sensational impact has made him a wanted man, while Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool will strengthen for next season. Is this an opportunity they must take? ‘I don’t think we have to,’ Undav (left) insists. ‘Of course, it would be amazing but even next year — with this group, when we get some new players in — we can achieve something great. Because we have the qualities, we have the right gaffer and we need to just show it every day on the pitch. If we do, we can achieve maybe something bigger than this year.’
Gross agrees. ‘ We’ve been really lucky to find (De Zerbi). Everyone in the team is improving, we improve as a team and like Deniz said, I’m not worried about the future of Brighton.’ To think people feared for Albion when Graham Potter was poached and Chelsea decimated a coaching team that had become the envy of many clubs.
Instead, Potter was sacked after six months — ‘I can’t say what happened there,’ Gross says. ‘He’s a good manager, they’re good coaches. It was difficult’ — while De Zerbi’s combustible brilliance has unlocked even greater potential in this Albion squad.
‘ I never had this, that the coach wants perfection,’ Undav explains. ‘If it’s one wrong pass, he will get mad. That’s a good thing.’
The Italian’s philosophy — tempting the opposition out of their defensive shape before launching quick attacks — relies on mastering the smallest details. ‘Demands are very high,’ Gross says. Players are taught to control the ball with their studs because it is less likely to run away.
There is another benefit, too. As one of his former players — Antonio Vacca at Foggia — pointed out, using the sole of your foot ‘unconsciously’ lures the opposition into pressing, opening up
spaces to strike. But then Brighton can only attack at such devastating speed if people are thinking two or three moves ahead.
‘To play the ball to Deniz, I need to know if he wants to play with one touch or two,’ Gross adds. ‘If it’s one touch, my weight of pass has to be different. Plus, where is his next pass? If he wants to go to that side, probably on the left foot, to that side, the right, that detail makes life easier for him.’
The versatile, intelligent Gross is a favourite of De Zerbi’s. Undav explains: ‘He has his ideas but he’s good at listening to other opinions — maybe Pascal, Dunk, Lallana.’
De Zerbi’s intensity can cross a line — his first season has been littered with yellow cards. One player did not like him initially. De Zerbi was always on his case. The youngster has now grown to love working to his high standards.
Mikel Arteta’s ideas have reaped similar loyalty. Lightbulbs in his team talks, opposition anthems played during training and De Zerbi is not dissimilar, if a little bit
Now watch Pascal Gross and Deniz Undav take on Mail Sport’s “THIS or THAT” challenge on TikTok
less wacky. ‘ He sees himself, his staff, us players as sitting in one boat,’ Gross explains. ‘Sometimes he uses lessons about life and how you can compare it to the game.’
A behind-the-scenes documentary would be fascinating. Undav knows who would steal the show. ‘Me, for sure,’ he says.
Gross adds: ‘ Deniz would be funny, Billy (Gilmour) is funny. We want to achieve something together. We can only do it together — we’re not good enough that someone can do it on their own.’
After meeting Mail Sport, the pair are back on the good food hunt. ‘We’re going to eat a steak,’ Undav says. ‘ He will pay.’ The striker slaps Gross on the thigh. Here’s hoping it is more to their taste than baked beans.
De Zerbi will be praying his players have learnt from other recent mistakes, too.