sport news EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Brighton's Deniz Undav and Pascal Gross have plenty on ... trends now
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 seen spinning 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 biggest ‘struggle’ when he moved here six years ago. Since then, the midfielder has married and had a boy here. Some team-mates mock him for shedding his German heritage. And yet?
Deniz Undav (left) and Pascal Gross (right) are relishing pushing for Europe with Brighton
‘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 took a blow. De Zerbi said the display was proof this team is ‘not ready’ to take the next step.
Gross admits that Brighton were 'really poor' as they suffered a 5-1 defeat against Everton
‘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.
Although Undav and Gross are enjoying playing in England, they do not enjoy English food
The defeat means that, with five games to go, De Zerbi’s side sit seventh, eight points off the top four but with games in hand. Next? A trip to title-chasing Arsenal tomorrow. But the prize of Europe — for the first time — remains in Albion’s hands.
‘The next two-and-a-half weeks are the most important in the club’s history — that’s the reality,’ Gross says. ‘What I can say to our fans is: we’ll try our best... and then, whatever happens, we can have no regrets.’
Undav believes Brighton can 'achieve something great' next season with further signings
Brighton’s squad have, so far, resisted the
