A lot of work for Werner during the international break: Keeping his head up

Timo Werner reeled off the run-out of the substitutes still concentrated in the stadium at the Alte Försterei. Bravely, he had previously high-fived his successful colleagues from RB Leipzig after the 3-0 win at Union Berlin. He had not been allowed to play a single minute in the important away victory in the Bundesliga. The next low blow just three days after the booting out of national coach Hansi Flick for the upcoming international matches of the national team against Japan and France.

Work nevertheless awaits the attacker in the coming days. And plenty of work. "Marco Rose, I, the whole team, the whole club will be completely behind him. He has brought a lot of performance for the club, scored important goals, now we will work with him, will give him things back and catch him, then he will continue to be an important part of our team," announced RB sports director Max Eberl still in Berlin.

Coach Rose also placed himself protectively in front of the 27-year-old, who has not scored since April and is in the biggest sporting crisis since returning from Chelsea FC a year ago. "It's important that Timo keeps his head up, that he keeps at it, that he gets through such phases together with us. It's not nice, it's not pleasant," said the RB coach, describing the situation.

At the same time, Rose was also a little annoyed by the public focus on Werner, given successful protagonists in his squad such as scorers Xavi Simons and Benjamin Sesko. "Today you can write quite a lot about Sesko, about Simons, quite a lot about the performance of the team, but I understand that with the player Timo Werner, who has done a lot for the club, who is an international, of course then there are also inquiries. That's part of it, it's a leadership sport, competition, it can hit anyone even a German international," said Rose.