Marco Rose speaks to the media ahead of RB Leipzig vs Mainz 05

The international break is over and RB Leipzig are back in action on Saturday (15:30 CEST), hosting 1. FSV Mainz 05 on Bundesliga matchday 26. 

Head coach Marco Rose spoke to the media ahead of the game, discussing 1. FSV Mainz 05, Bo Svensson and the previous international break. 

Göz Atın

New Official Partner! RB Leipzig starts collaboration with Wayfair.de

Lois Openda Has a New Squad Number

“I wish I could be there” | Catching up with Tyler Adams and Jesse Marsch

Team news

• As planned, Dani Olmoreturned to Leipzig prematurely and is expected to be available for the Mainz game.
   
• Yussuf Poulsen has been experiencing some calf pain after a knock sustained last week. His availability for Saturday’s game is still in question.
   
• Mo Simakan returned from the France U21 camp with some minor muscle problems but should be available for Saturday’s game.
   
• All the latest team news, including updates on Xaver Schlager, Christopher Nkunku and the rest of the team can be found here.
   

Marco Rose on …

… the Bundesliga-free period during the international break:

• “Obviously I was watching our players in action. A lot of our players had some positive results; I’m happy because of that because it’s a boost for us all.

  Austria won two games. Dani got on the scoresheet for Spain, and Josko won an important game against Turkey. Our German players scored a lot. Emil played well for Sweden and scored a goal. I always have an eye on what our players are doing.”
   

… Team news:

• “The latest information is positive. I haven’t seen all of our players yet, such as the German internationals.

  But the information is all good and I’m expecting us to have everyone back in training this afternoon.”

Marco Rose on …

… Dani Olmo:

• “It was good that he was with the Spanish team and playing. He was really tired after the first game and he and his national team reacted to that by taking him out of the second European qualifier.

  Dani wasn’t forced to stop training early, but rather left the camp prematurely after discussions and he was here with us for some control. But everything is in order; he’s still just a bit tired. However, that is a completely normal process – some players take longer and some need less time.

  We have to be aware, but there is no reason to worry; he’ll be available for Saturday.”

… Yussuf Poulsen:

• “We’re taking it day-by-day with Yussi. He took a knock to the calf last week and it’s still painful. There’s no muscle damage, but it’s just a painful one. We have to look at what he’s capable of based on his pain levels.”

… Mo Simakan:

• “Mo had some minor muscle problems upon returning to Leipzig, but we’re positive that he can be available on Saturday. It’s not a serious problem.”

… Timo Werner, David Raum and the Germany national team:

• “Germany played really well in their first game against Peru and deserved to win. It was hoped that they’d continue riding that wave in the next game, but in football things sometimes go differently.

  The first 20 minutes against Belgium weren’t particularly good, but then the team showed a good reaction. Timo and David both played. Timo has been working really hard over the past few weeks, including with the national team; he tracks back a lot.

  I would like him and David to have more conviction and confidence going forward and be braver when looking to score.

  That’s been something that we’ve discussed recently. We’ve been quite secure, not including the Man City game. We create a lot of goalscoring chances, but we could create more – and we’re all responsible for that.

  We all have to work on that together on Saturday. We have good chances, but if we don’t take them, then we need to create more chances. That’s the task at hand.”

… 1. FSV Mainz 05:

• “They’re a very well-organised team. There are not many surprises in store for us; we know what we’re coming up against. They’ll play with a back three and a man-marking system in the middle and use an intense approach.

  When Mainz attack, they attack with everything and go right until the very end. They try to win balls and have scored goals off the back of that.

  They have target men that they like to use in attack, by looking for a longer pass and then trying to go after the first and second balls.

  Stach, Lee and Ingvartsen are all dynamic players. They like to switch the ball often; they can do a lot. They also like to play low, flat balls from midfield.

  Therefore, we have to find a good balance. We know what we’re up against. They use a lot of crosses from deep into the final third. If Onisiwo is playing in attack, we have to be alert. Of course, set pieces will be important as well.” 
   

… Bo Svensson:

• “We played together in Mainz. Bo was a very good football player; a good centre back. He had a lot of strategic qualities, was strong in the air and was smart in playing from the back. Simply put, he was a really good footballer. He’s taken a lot from his playing days into his coaching career.

  He’s a brilliant head coach and has consistently developed Mainz in his first spell as a coach. Mainz are the second best team in the second half of the season behind Dortmund. He’s also an outstanding person. We know each other well and are good friends; you can have a lot of fun with him. He’s a very emotional coach and can sometimes be very animated.”

… the keys to a win on Saturday:

• “There are a lot of arguments and statistics that speak in our favour, so we can be confident going into the game.

  We have clear objectives and we have to approach those in a convincing and sustainable way as we go into the final third of the season.

  We have to improve in areas where we didn’t do well before the international break and led to us losing games recently. We didn’t take our chances and could have created even more opportunities for ourselves.

  We’ve analysed that and first and foremost, it’s about us and our performance. We have to perform.”
   

… Training focuses ahead of Mainz:

• “We’ll come together today and greet the players, congratulate them on their performances during the international break and then enjoy being back together as one. The players have all been away with different coaches and players, which does them good. Now we want to carry on here and we’re really looking forward to it.

  We’ll have a little review and look back on a few things, and then we’ll look ahead to what’s coming up for us, namely the DFB-Pokal and especially the Bundesliga. 

  We still have two training sessions where we can focus on the upcoming opponents. The focus of those will be to discuss the things that we’ve done well in the past and the things that we need to do better after looking at our analysis.”