New signing Gruda a starting eleven candidate for RB Leipzig

New signing Brajan Gruda could make his starting eleven debut for struggling Bundesliga club RB Leipzig at 1 FC Cologne on Sunday (15.30/Dazn). Coach Ole Werner is raving about the 21-year-old. "Brajan is fit, is fully fit and is therefore an option for all plans," said Werner.

Gruda impresses with his wit and slyness

Gruda, who is on a six-month loan from English Premier League side Brighton, is a player who can add quality to the team. "He has wit, good aggression and brings a certain slyness to the pitch. He fits exactly what we were looking for," emphasized the RB coach. Whether he will start from the beginning is a tactical consideration, said Werner, who sees him primarily in the number eight or ten position. "But he can also play on the wings," emphasized the coach.

The Cologne game is very important after the recent unsatisfactory results. "It's a task for us as a team to do many things better than in previous games. We have to find a different clarity in the team's processes, reduce the error rate with the ball and thus pose problems for the opponent and not bring them back into the game," said Werner.

Werner admits to performance fluctuations in young players

A system change is always questioned in the event of negative experiences, but is not necessarily expedient. "You have to be convinced that you will really improve as a result, that you can make better use of your players' strengths. That can make sense for one game. But basically you put a team together according to certain positional profiles and try to develop them in a certain style of play," said Werner. He emphasized that there can be fluctuations in performance with such young players, some of whom are playing their first season at a top 5 league level.