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Leeds United: Grella eyes first-team run
Like any ambitious member of his industry, Mike Grella collected a first professional contract with the vow that his career would blossom at the fastest possible speed.
Grella's reputation scarcely went before him when he signed for Leeds United in February – he possessed one of the biggest profiles on the American college circuit yet was virtually unknown in England – but he promised himself that he would soon become a recognisable face among the club's supporters and competitors.
Though optimistic about his transition to English football, Grella's misfortune was to arrive at a club where the selection of strikers was a near formality, influenced by the fact that United's favoured forwards had become impossible to drop.
In the two-and-a-half months that Grella was contracted to Leeds last season, Jermaine Beckford and Luciano Becchio scored a total of 20 goals.
He quickly accepted his place as one of Simon Grayson's substitutes, taking the appearances on offer as readily as they came along.
Though it required an element of patience, he can now look back on his early months at Elland Road as a necessary stage of his professional growth.
"In an ideal world, you wouldn't come in and sit on the bench game after game like I did last season," he said.
"But I understood why the manager did that and in the end I realised quite quickly that it was a good decision – the sensible decision.
"It let me adapt to the surroundings and it gave me the chance to see what English football's like, how things work here and the standard I need to reach. I guess it was all new to me.
"The result is that I'm 100 per cent confident I've got my head around everything and I'm very comfortable with the way things are here."
The 22-year-old realised soon enough that concentrating on his own progress would be of more benefit than worrying about the immovable objects that were Becchio and Beckford. So much so that he admits that it would give him no satisfaction if the sale of Beckford this summer thrust him into Grayson's starting line-up next season.
United's manager encouraged the American to trust in his potential by signing him on a free transfer in February when Malcolm Christie – a striker who once merited a seven-figure transfer fee from a Premier League club – was also available but struggling to convince Leeds to hand him a permanent deal.
Grayson followed up the offer of an 18-month contract to Grella by fielding him 12 times as a substitute towards the end of last season.
Flashes of ability were evident in Grella's performances, though he was rarely fielded for long enough to give a clear indication of his talent, but he shone in Tuesday night's 2-2 draw against Shelbourne on his first pre-season appearance, lasting for 65 minutes.
The partnership of Grella and Beckford clicked immediately and drew specific praise from Grayson, suggesting to him that his American forward is rising to the challenge of providing competition for United's established strikers.
Grella himself is in no doubt that the confines of United's squad are beginning to feel like home.
"I'm a lot more comfortable with the other guys here than I was when I first joined, which I think is only natural," he said. "It's not easy to walk into a new environment or a new club and feel settled straight away.
"The players are the people who've made it really easy for me. I was a new face to them but they've all been really supportive and I'm happy in England and in Leeds.
"The city's got good culture and good people, and I've settled in pretty well now that the first three or four months are out of the way.
"A bunch of clubs were looking at me before I signed and I had the chance to play in MLS (Major League Soccer) where I knew I'd be getting first-team football constantly.
"But although that's not been the case at Leeds yet, I'd say I made the right decision by coming here.
"My situation is more than okay because I've had the time I needed to settle in and I'm ready to get going.
"I'd love to do well here, and this isn't an adventure for me. Being away from your family can be pretty tough and you wouldn't do that for no good reason. I want it to be for a very good reason – to be a success personally and to be successful with this club, hopefully for many years."
Grella's projected involvement next season is undeniably linked to Beckford, who is a mere three weeks away from the start of the League One campaign, but could be tied to a different club by the time it begins.
Grayson would move to sign another proven striker if Beckford's appearance on the transfer list encourages a bid high enough to take him from Elland Road, but the vacancy up front would be an invitation to Grella to shake off his status as a regular substitute.
"Without question I want to be in the starting side," Grella said.
"When I say I'm aiming to be part of things, I don't mean as someone who sits on the bench and plays 10 minutes here or there. That wouldn't be very ambitious on my part and I don't think the manager is looking for players who are happy doing what I did last season.
"You can't come into professional football – especially at my age – and decide that being a substitute is good enough for you. I wouldn't have come all this way for that.
"To be quite honest, my ambition for the season is to be a proper part of the team – to be a big player for Leeds and to play a big part at important stages.
"We're looking for promotion, as everyone knows, and if that happens then I want to be able to look back on it and say that my role counted for something.
"At the moment, I'm telling myself that I have to make sure I'm third choice at least – at the very least. But I definitely don't want Jermaine to leave the club.
"That's a bad way for any footballer to think. He's a great guy and he's actually one of the players whose done the most to help me feel at home.
"He's been a fantastic team-mate so if he goes, good luck to him. But if he doesn't then we'll all be very happy, myself included."
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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