Marco Rose has underlined Oliver Mintzlaff's claims regarding the demands and ambitions at RB Leipzig - but disagrees with the Red Bull managing director on one point. "I don't know where the gap was for us in the last two years," said the RB head coach ahead of this Wednesday's Champions League game (21:00/DAZN), adding: "When I came here, we had five points and then reached the Champions League. In the season that followed, we lost five players."
Even in the previous season, when RB won the Supercup in Munich against Bayern, the Saxons had to compensate for two injuries to regular players in Willi Orban and Dani Olmo. "You can't forget that in the overall assessment. And Leverkusen overperformed. I didn't really see the gap for us."
Mintzlaff had criticized in a "Kicker" interview that unfortunately they were never there "when the gap opened up. I've often said that it's not just on 17 match days that one hundred percent mentality, concentration and consistency have to be there, but on 34 match days".
Rose: "Pressure from the boss is part of it"
In principle, Rose shares the long-standing CEO's demands. "He's our boss, it's his right to speak out, he hasn't insulted or abused anyone, he just wants to take the club forward, that's what we want, that's what I want too. If you get a bit of pressure from the boss, that's part of it," emphasized Rose and spoke of an "expectation" that Mintzlaff had expressed.
Mintzlaff criticized the two goalless draws in the Bundesliga against Union Berlin and FC St. Pauli. "That's far too little for our standards and that brings us right back to the point: if you want to attack at the top, then you have to win games like this against nickel-and-diming opponents who defend very compactly." RB then went on to win 4-0 against Augsburg.
Copyright 2024, dpa (www.dpa.de). All rights reserved
