Germany U21 goal-scorer Brajan Gruda speaks on adjustments at Brighton | OneFootball

The first of the two Germany U21 friendlies scheduled during the current international break didn’t exactly furnish very entertaining football. Antinio di Salvo’s Juniors eked out a 0-1 victory over Slovakia at the Anton-Malatinsky-Stadion in Trnava. Apart from the lone goal, chances in front of both goals were scarcely to be found.

That isn’t to suggest that the match-winning tally, scored by high-priced Brighton & Hove Albion acquisition Brajan Gruda and assisted by VfB Stuttgart’s Nick Woltemade, wasn’t worth seeing. Di Salvo opted to give Gruda the starting nod even though the 20-year-old has had a tough time transitioning to his EPL side.

After making a €31.5m move to Brighton from Mainz 05 over the summer, the 11-times-capped Germany U21 international is still trying to get his name on the scoresheet. In 13 league appearances (five starts), Gruda has registered neither a goal nor an assist.

Gruda spoke to Kicker this weekend about the challenges associated with his new station. Despite the fact that he’s playing under German head coach Fabian Hürzeler, it’s been difficult to gain traction. The Speyer-native has never come close to going the full 90 minutes. Twice, he’s been yanked at the half.

“It’s quite different from the Mainz style-of-play,” Gruda told Kicker. “He [Hürzeler] wants us to be aggressive and run hard off the ball. If you do that, he likes it. The coach is very clever when it comes to playing football.

“I found training [with Brighton] to be very fast at the beginning,” Gruda continued. “You’ve got to adjust slowly. When a team is playing well and collecting points, you just have keep at it, train well, and hope you get a few minutes.”

“[In Mainz], I was always with my family,” Gruda concluded. ”Going to England, a country where the language is not my mother tongue, and living alone was difficult at the beginning. You just have phases where you don’t play that much. You just have to get through it. I went there for a new start. Let’s see how the next few games go.”

In his post match interview with Germany’s ProSieben Maxx on Friday night, Gruda declared himself very pleased to have scored his second goal at the U21 level. Di Salvo also commented on Gruda’s form in general.

“He has to use this time with us because he’s currently playing less in Brighton,” Di Salvo said. “Maybe this game and the goal will even help him. And then there’s still the game against Spain to draw attention to himself in Brighton. I’m happy with his performance. He had some good actions. Brajan can definitely be a difference maker.”

GGFN | Peter Weis