If you’re in the spotlight, you shouldn’t dress too warmly. Marco Rose is also a man with experience in this regard, so the Leipzig coach gave his commands on Wednesday evening wearing a thin jacket in the four-degree cold Leipzig stadium. It’s been a heated few weeks for the coach of RB Leipzig. After six games without a win, he had to sit up and take notice of his choice of words before the cup game against Eintracht Frankfurt: Rose spoke of a “vicious circle” and a “victim role” from which he had to free himself wool. And when the 48-year-old was warmed up surrounded by his players with joy and cheers, it was clear: that’s not what victims look like.
The character of a team usually only becomes apparent in critical moments, and perhaps we will look back on this Wednesday evening more often as the season continues to be long. Winning 3-0 in the round of 16 of the DFB Cup against Eintracht Frankfurt was an extreme from a galaxy that the Leipzig team had recently not only left, they had completely lost sight of it. “Perhaps no one believed that we could do it anymore,” said Rose, meaning winning in the first place. Lost 5-1 against Wolfsburg four days ago, now a clear win against the team of the moment – how could this turnaround be explained? Rose explained that his video analyst said something apt before the game: “If your back is against the wall, then there is only one direction. And luckily we found them today.”
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It is clear that the direction in Leipzig was always known, but the RB team had to search for a long time for the attack mode that they showed against Frankfurt. Being intimidated by failure doesn’t get you anywhere, so Benjamin Sesko put aside the frustration of the past few weeks against Frankfurt and freed himself and his team with a 1-0 win in the 31st minute. And he does so with dribbling as if it wasn’t about his coach’s job, but – and this could be the crux of the solution – simply about having fun Football.
It was a goal of “extraordinary quality,” praised Rose, but above all he now saw a team that was showing self-confidence again. RB had shown a face, which was good, he said, “which also suits us better, and the boys have to take that with them now”. With his two goals (50th and 58th minute), Loïs Openda made us completely forget that Frankfurt actually has the most feared striker in the Bundesliga in Omar Marmoush on their team. But Marmoush didn’t get the opportunity to appear against RB. “We wanted to show that even though they have the best striker, we also have one of the best defenses in the Bundesliga,” said Openda. The Leipzig team made up for the many failures that have accompanied them throughout the season, especially with their eye-catching forward play this evening.
The crowd of cheers when Openda ran up to the coach after the 3-0 win and the team joined in was a clear sign
And it’s not as if they didn’t have to deal with moments of crisis in this game: twice the ball was in Frankfurt’s goal before the first regular goal, twice an offside decision prevented the collective ecstasy. A phase in which you can collapse as a team after the depressed mood of the last few weeks. “As a coach, you often talk about that too: How do I deal with resistance,” said Rose, “we’ve had a hard time with that in the last few weeks.” Not this time, there’s no point in hiding when you have to win .
After the game, managing director Marcel Schäfer thought the team was on the right track and spoke of the “best performance of the season”, although it would already be December. “If you want to be a very good team with our ambitions, you still have to give several answers after the weeks we have had,” said Schäfer.
Which leaves the question of how much the performance against Frankfurt really strengthened Marco Rose’s position. The crowd of cheers when Openda ran up to the coach after the 3-0 win and the team joined in was a clear sign of where the team is located. And it was Rose himself who sent messages to Fuschl am See, where Red Bull managing director Oliver Mintzlaff is his internal club critic. “I have received a lot of love over the last few days, I have to say, from a lot of people who were concerned about me personally. “That’s always an indicator for me that there must be a lot going on outside,” said Rose. And also: “The cabin works.”
On Saturday, the Leipzig team will go to Kiel, second to last in the table, perhaps a grateful task in order to enrich their own balance sheet with the next success. But the Champions League game against Aston Villa is already on Tuesday, the next game that will decide whether they stay in a major competition. Leipzig has no points there so far. Maybe your thoughts will go back to that evening against Frankfurt. Marco Rose chants echoed through the stadium after the final whistle, Willi Orban celebrated topless with the fans. In Leipzig you can leave your warm clothes hanging in the closet for now.
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