No playful finesse: Leipzig in battle mode

Marco Rose is struggling with his tactical systems and sees a defensive problem in particular. Ahead of the DFB Cup quarter-final this Wednesday (20:45/Sky) against VfL Wolfsburg with former coach Ralph Hasenhüttl, Leipzig have missed a quantum leap with the highly ambitious team. Champions League qualification can no longer be taken for granted.

"Maybe it's not so bad to be in the hunter's role for once, we have tough tasks, now we have direct competitors," said Rose, who has dropped down the table with RB.

Rose's system with a back four is not working

After the 2:2 draw against 1. FC Heidenheim, which was embarrassing at times, the head coach sees huge steps backwards, especially in the tactical area. "I wanted everyone in their perfect position, which means 4-2-2-2 with two center forwards. But after the 0:2 at the latest, I knew it wouldn't work that way, we had to go back to the back three. It wasn't the first time that's happened this season because we couldn't work our way back into it," he said, complaining about the system that originally worked.

In addition, there were numerous misplaced passes when playing out of their own half and especially in the final third. "The issue of sloppiness has been with us all season, we are too imprecise," said the 48-year-old Rose, who was clearly disappointed. Nevertheless, he remarked: "I have a feeling for my team, I don't have the feeling that we're unsettled. I would recognize that." So instead of being in progress mode, RB remains in fight mode, "just like I said on January 1 or 2".

Rose wants to find solutions against Wolfsburg

Now he wants to "find solutions against Wolfsburg to reach the cup semi-finals" because he believes in his team. Goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi sees "a lot of room for improvement overall. I don't think the direction is bad, we have to win games and get into the flow."

Captain Orban, who was part of the defensive problem as the defensive leader and also the man responsible for the 2-0 penalty, sees the problem in attack: "We were too imprecise in the last half hour and didn't create enough goals. I would have hoped for a bit more here at home, especially in the last 20 minutes." RB won't get any further. "We're not losing our nerve," said Orban.