Tom Krauß would usually be sitting on his sofa in Germany watching Christmas Championship football, but he’d much rather be playing for Luton, even if that means spending the festive period away from his family.
The midfielder is on loan from Mainz, and his team-mates from his parent club will now be enjoying a two-week winter break from Bundesliga action.
But Krauß will have only today (Christmas Eve) off, like the rest of the Town squad, but on Christmas Day will train and then travel down to Bristol for tje Boxing Day clash against the Robins at Ashton Gate.
The 23-year-old said: “That’s difficult, because in Germany, you have a Christmas break for two weeks, and now I play on Christmas. My family is not here, so only my girlfriend. It’s not the easiest time, but I like that, to play games. I like to play every third day. I like it here.
“Normally I watch Premier League or Championship when I was in Germany, so I think it’s the same. I think in the last years I was on the sofa or something and I watched the games and now I play this game. So it’s not so different.
“I don’t like Christmas breaks. I would say it’s better that I play on the Boxing Day.”
The Championship is a relentless league and Krauß has featured in 17 of the Hatters’ 22 league games already this season, whereas in the Bundesliga, Mainz have played just 15 games so far this season.
“It’s crazy,” he said, adding: “The first five weeks (in England) I was injured and now I have 17, appearances.
“I said to my agent before I had the (Luton) offer, I want to play a lot of games and now I have this and I like that.
“I now have 17 games and, to move forward, to have a lot of games in the next weeks, I like that. I want to be on the pitch and that’s the important thing for me.
“When I had this injury, it was a tough five weeks for me. I was here, I was not in my country, I was alone. This was a tough time. But now I play every third day. So, yeah, I like that. I’m happy to be on the pitch with the staff, with the team.”
As well as the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 in France, La Liga in Spain and Serie A in Italy all have winter breaks. Asked if the view from the continent is that England is a bit mad for having such a busy schedule of Christmas, Krauß said: “I think in Germany, we say, ‘yes’, because you’re with family, you celebrate Christmas. I think this year I can’t celebrate Christmas so much because this year I’m alone with my girlfriend, with my two dogs.
“My family is in Germany. I think in Germany, they said, ‘yeah, it’s good that we have a Christmas break because you can recover a little bit’.
“Here, you play every third day, but that’s why I’m here. I want to be on the pitch and not in my country, in Germany. For me, it’s a good one. But other Germans say it good that we have about Christmas break.”
He added: “I think in Germany they said a lot, ‘You play long balls’. But, for me, the quality is really good in this league. For me, the best second league in the world.
“The quality is really good because in Germany, normally you say ‘only long balls’. This was also a great experience when you play against a lot of teams, there’s so much quality with the ball.
“It’s also it’s a new experience for me. Also, the weather is OK. In Germany they said, ‘the weather is not so good’, but the weather was OK. In Germany it’s colder now.”
Only four of Krauß’s 17 appearances have seen him play the full 90 minutes, with the youngster admitting that he’s needed a period of time to adjust to the English football.
“With my game style, the first week was a little bit tough,” he said, adding: “After the games, (I had) a little bit (of a) problem with my hamstrings or after the second game when we had Wednesday games and then straight after, 72 hours, the next game, it was a little bit tough for my game style.
“I was tired, but now, it’s getting better and better. I feel really good in the training and the games.
“But it’s a little bit different also, the games in the Championship, when you compare it with the game style in Germany. Here you run from left to right, left to right. In Germany, you have more control, a little bit, but that’s why I’m here. It’s the perfect style of football for me. But I feel really good.
“The important thing was, to not get injured because, yeah, I had these five weeks, and it was my first injury in my career. Then I said to my gaffer, after 85 minutes or something, ‘I have a little cramp’, or ‘I was tired, get me off, please, so I don’t get injured’. Now I’m fit and it’s an important thing.”
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