Nach Feiern ist Marco Rose derzeit nicht zumute. Aber was soll er machen? Die Adventszeit hat nun mal begonnen und mit ihr stehen diverse Weihnachtsfeiern an. Am Sonntag besuchte der Trainer von RB Leipzig samt seiner Spieler eine Veranstaltung der Fanklubs.
Ein Pflichtbesuch, klar. Für Rose kam das Bad in der Menge trotzdem zur rechten Zeit. „Wir haben viel Zuspruch erfahren, das tat gut“, sagt er. Als gebürtiger Leipziger ist er beliebt in der Stadt, viele Einwohner leiden mit ihm und der Mannschaft, die seit sechs Spielen sieglos ist. „Es ist das erste Mal, dass wir in eine richtige Krise geschlittert sind“, sagt Rose.
Das klingt weit weniger dramatisch als es ist, es klingt nach: Kann schon mal passieren, irgendwann ist schließlich immer das erste Mal. Nur hat sich der Fußball zu einem Unterhaltungsbetrieb entwickelt, in dem nichts mehr nicht schlimm ist. Fallhöhe und Tonalität haben sich geändert. Interessant geworden sind vor allem die Botschaften zwischen den Zeilen, und was die anging, ließ Rose einen Tag vor dem DFB-Pokal-Achtelfinale gegen Eintracht Frankfurt (20.45 Uhr im F.A.Z.-Liveticker zum DFB-Pokal und im ZDF) tief blicken.
Es ist nämlich so: Scheidet RB auch im letzten Wettbewerb aus, den man in dieser Saison realistisch betrachtet noch gewinnen könnte, würde das Ende der Arbeitsbeziehung zwischen Rose und RB sehr wahrscheinlich näher rücken. Medial wurden schon mögliche Nachfolger genannt. Roger Schmidt zum Beispiel, der vor einiger Zeit von Benfica Lissabon entlassene und mit RB-Vergangenheit behaftete Trainer.
Against this background, Rose’s statement about the first real crisis takes on a different sound; it becomes a defense speech. “It’s not the first time that I’ve been questioned,” he says, mentioning previous negative series and claiming to have overcome them.
But things have never been as sensitive as they are now. Not because Leipzig has lost all international matches this season and not because the gap in the Bundesliga to league leaders Bayern Munich is now nine points. Shifting processes have started at RB that are not in Rose’s favor.
Klopp is one of Rose’s best friends
In the autumn, the company achieved a coup by signing Jürgen Klopp as the new head of football. Ironically, Klopp is one of Rose’s best friends; the two know each other well from their days together in Mainz. But the name Klopp is associated in the industry with great ambitions, with championships and the Champions League.
CEO Oliver Mintzlaff wants these titles, whether realistic or not. And the general criticism of Rose was aimed in this direction, because under his leadership Leipzig was always far away from the championship. So when Rose says, as he did on Tuesday: “I am the same coach who won the DFB Cup, who won the Supercup, who didn’t lose eighteen games in a row in the first year,” then this is aimed at the addressee Oliver Mintzlaff.
Tight schedule, many injuries
Even if this doesn’t go down as well in every place in an ambitious company as it does with the audience: Marco Rose is currently giving the Realo with conviction. From his point of view, he has won everything that is possible with Leipzig.
The coach explains the current crisis with injuries and the tight schedule. A game every three days without alternative personnel and without managers, those are the general conditions. Xavi Simons, David Raum, Lukas Klostermann and Xaver Schlager are missing or have been missing for a long time.
At least Klostermann and Schlager could help again against Frankfurt. “I don’t know what anyone else would say in my place. In terms of content, there aren’t that many alternatives right now,” says Rose. This is also a verbal greeting to the management team.
Explosive personnel change
Anyone who wants to can understand Rose’s comment as a clear message. “In Salzburg, Rouven was given the opportunity to take full responsibility as managing director and help shape the club’s progress. “He just wanted to take advantage of the opportunity,” he says.
What is explosive is that the position of sports director in Leipzig was vacant for a long time. Instead of promoting Schröder, Leipzig signed former Wolfsburg player Marcel Schäfer for this position. It would have been possible for Schröder to be in the forefront in Leipzig – if only he had been allowed to do so.
Instead of Schröder, Schäfer now has to decide what happens next with RB and Rose. Most recently, he regularly expressed his trust in the coach. But if you listened closely, you would have noticed one or two notes between the lines in Schäfer’s work.
