I had been waiting to write this piece for the day Pascal Gross announced his departure from Brighton. Written through tears and inspired by several bottles of Rothaus, it would proclaim him the greatest Albion player ever.
Well, scheiss drauf as they say in the Fatherland. Gross joining the club of two-time Brighton & Hove Albion Player of the Season winners seems as good as time as any to lay out an argument for Der Kaiser having the crown.
He is the Albion’s record Premier League goal scorer. Record Premier League assister. The first ever man to be Player of the Season in two top flight campaigns.
His longevity is summed up that those awards came six years apart. In the intervening period, he was written off by some fans and spent three months out of the team under Glow Up Graham Potter.
The rise of Gross is such that Brighton are likely to have a representative in a German squad who could win a home European Championship this summer.
Gross is now one of the most popular players at the Amex and rightly so. Here is why he should be considered the greatest.
Der Kaiser aus Ingolstadt
Nobody had heard of Pascal Gross when he was announced as the first Brighton signing following promotion to the Premier League, costing only £3 million from Ingolstadt.
Bizarrely, I had seen him play just a month earlier at Audi Sportpark. Ingolstadt defeated Darmstadt 3-2 in a crazy, chaotic Bundesliga game in which both Gross and Markus Suttner scored for Die Schanzer.
Gros did not particularly standout that day. This though was probably due the game containing five goals, two red cards and too much Bavarian lager.
Throw in meeting a member of the Ingolstadt board who looked like Nigel Farage’s long lost brother and maybe you can understand how Gross was overlooked.
Taking the Premier League by storm
Proclaiming Pascal Gross the greatest Brighton player of all time might be controversial. Less debatable is his role as the most important in terms of first establishing the Albion as a top flight club and then turning them into regular top 10 material.
Gross scored seven and assisted eight goals in his first season at the Amex. Brighton only scored 34 times in that 2017-18 campaign, meaning Gross was involved in nearly half of the Seagulls’ total. No wonder he was a convincing Player of the Season winner.
The Albion’s form fell off a cliff in the second half of the 2018-19 season. Chris Hughton switching to a 4-3-3 formation from his tried-and-tested 4-4-1-1 was part of the reason. The absence of Gross for over seven weeks with injury did not help either.
Set piece merchant
Pascal Gross endured the toughest period of his Brighton career at the start of the 2020-21 campaign. Some Albion fans said he was too slow and others labelled him a sEt pIeCE meRChaNt. As if being able to take a pinpoint corner or free kick is a bad thing.
Most incredible was Potter seeming to agree. Gross did not start a Premier League game in 2020-21 until the 2-1 defeat at Spurs, where he of course claimed an assist.
Gross started the next six games, assisting once more and scoring twice before being dropped again. He next returned in January with Potter having set a new club-record for worst ever start to a top flight season of just two wins in 18 matches.
With Gross back in the side, Brighton beat The Leeds United 1-0 at Elland Road. He maintained his place for the remainder of the campaign as Brighton secured seven victories from 20 outings once Der Kaiser had been restored to prominence.
The Albion went from setting an unwanted club record to finishing 13 points clear of relegation. Call it the Gross Effect.
What happens when you drop Gross
A dismal first half of the 2020-21 season is not the only example of what happens when Brighton drop Pascal Gross. Potter also took him out of the team in Spring of the 2021-22 campaign, resulting in a six game winless streak in which only one goal was scored.
Gross was recalled for April’s 0-0 home draw with Norwich City. A peak Potter performance as the Albion created 31 chances without scoring.
Der Kaiser was central to the impressive run of form which followed the stalemate against the Canaries. Brighton lost just two of their next 13, spanning the end of 2021-22 and the start of the 2022-23 season.
Gross scored five times and assisted three across that period, helping to earn Potter a big-money move to Chelsea. Lol.
Gross and De Zerbi
All of that is impressive enough but it is since Roberto De Zerbi arrived that Gross has really laid claim to the title of greatest Brighton player ever.
10 goals and 10 assists made 2022-23 the most prolific of Gross’ career. Making those numbers more impressive was the different roles Gross fulfilled under De Zerbi.
Number 10. Holding midfielder. Right back. Left back. It takes a special and intelligent player to switch so seamlessly and frequently between positions. Which is exactly what Gross is. Just ask De Zerbi.
“To explain the importance of Pascal, I can tell you he is one of the best players I have had in my career,” the Albion head coach told The Argus in March 2023.
“He is a fantastic player, can play everywhere on the pitch, is fantastic in terms of attitude and passion. He is very clever to understand difficult situations and I am lucky to have him in my team.”
“The secret of Brighton is not the coach or style of play. The secret of Brighton is the part of the squad like Pascal.”
Gross the history maker
Those 20 goal involves from Gross through 2022-23 helped the Albion to an FA Cup semi final and Wembley, the highest finish in Brighton history and brought European football to the Amex for the first time.
Gross has continued to set both club and individual records through 2023-24. His 13 assists is the most he has managed in a single campaign.
Four goals meanwhile saw him overtake Glenn Murray to become Brighton’s leading Premier League goal scorer on 30. Gross needs eight more to overhaul the top flight record of Michael Robinson, which has stood at 37 for over 40 years now.
Nobody deserves to break it more than Gross, whose 45 Premier League assists leave him as the player with most top flight goal involvements in Brighton history.
Is Pascal Gross the greatest Brighton player ever?
The numbers speak for themselves – but Gross is about more than just pure statistics. He is a beautiful footballer to watch. From he way he arches his foot around a ball to whip in a cross with pace and curl to his party trick of a Gross Turn.
Here we are, seven seasons into his Brighton career and still opposition players are bamboozled by the Gross Turn. A piece of skill which quite rightly draws cheers from all corners of the Amex whenever it comes out.
Gross also happens to be the ultimate professional. He does a job for the team wherever asked and stuck things out when dropped by Potter.
Other players with as much talent as Gross would have thrown their toys out the pram and hankered for a move. Not Gross. He waited patiently and seized his opportunity when it came.
Brighton have since gone from relegation candidates to top six, beating giants of European football like Ajax, Marseille, AEK Athens and Roma in the process.
Gross has made no secret of his desire to finish his career back in Germany. His current Albion contract expires in 2025, by which point he will be 34-years-old.
That would appear to be the natural ending point to his time with Brighton, enabling him to play out a couple more years back home after leaving the Amex.
Which means we probably have just one more full season to enjoy Gross in an Albion shirt. Greatest Ever debates will no doubt intensify between now and then, but my colours are firmly fixed to the mast.
Pascal Gross is the greatest Brighton player ever.
