In Stuttgart, RB Leipzig should have their first away win on Saturday (3:30 p.m.). The interview with Dominik Szoboszlai (23).
BILD: Is a hairdressing appointment planned before kick-off? The Mainz game showed that cutting hair can save goals…
Rooms: “That’s correct. No, there is nothing planned. Only again next week. I have to score a goal in Stuttgart without even touching my hair…”
BILD: How often do you go to the hairdresser?
Room: “I have someone in Leipzig, I go there two to four times a month. It depends on how many games we have.”
BILD: You played well in the first leg and scored two goals.
Room: “It was a good start back then at home. Now we want to get three points again. We have big plans, so an away win would be important.”
BILD: Back then, victory was followed by three bankruptcies. Why doesn’t that happen to you this time?
Room: “We have adapted our idea of football, play a good mix of possession and aggressive pressing of our RB DNA. Also, we work hard on ourselves. And if you work hard, it pays off. You saw that against Mainz.”
BILD: There was a lack of consistency in the first half of the season.
Room: “We cannot undo what has happened and we are looking ahead. We’re in better shape now and have big plans in Stuttgart and then in the home games against Rostock and Wolfsburg.”
BILD: With Jesse Marsch you became champion and cup winner in Salzburg. Little or nothing fitted here. Why?
Room: “There are a lot of things that happen in football that you don’t necessarily always understand. I had the same contact with Jesse here on and off the field as I had in Salzburg. That’s in the past now and I wish him all the best. Now we have a new coach in Domenico Tedesco and we want to play consistently successful football.”
BILD: Domenico Tedesco wants to average two points per game to make it into the Champions League. Are 56 points enough in the end?
Room: “We’ll see at the end. Fourth place is definitely our goal. We know that we will not get anything for free on the way there. We need this winning mentality.”
BILD: Tedesco has been a coach for five weeks. How did he make you better?
Room: “I can get better with every game and it always will be. I’m a perfectionist there. If the trainer gives me instructions and tips, then I implement them. And when I have the time and space, I go one-on-one, give an assist or score a goal.”
BILD: What exactly does the coach want to see from you?
Room: “After the Bielefeld game I had a conversation with him in which he said a few things clearly to me.”
BILD: What exactly?
Room: “I don’t want to go into details. The coach was satisfied and said that I did better against Mainz.”
BILD: What is your favorite position?
Room: “I see myself as a ten, a striker or an eight. I play where the coach puts me. Well, as a defender I might not be that good. But like everyone else, I don’t get anything for free, so I have to work hard for it.”
BILD: Even a hard day’s work comes to an end. What do you do in your free time in Corona times?
Room: “My girlfriend, I and all my friends have been vaccinated three times – luckily the doors are open to us. We go to the restaurant from time to time. But my girlfriend cooks very well.”
BILD: Your friend Fanni plays tennis and has won prize money at the Bucharest Open, among others. Who can handle the ball better?
Room: “We’ve never played tennis against each other. She claims she can play better. But I don’t think so.” (laughs)
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