"Leipzig is my home"

Marco Rose has taken over as head coach of RB Leipzig. At the official presentation, the 45-year-old joined CEO Oliver Mintzlaff to speak to the media and also looked ahead to the upcoming Bundesliga game against Borussia Dortmund.

Marco Rose on...

… The past few days before signing the contract:

"I didn’t need much time to agree to become the head coach here. I’ve had a lot of free time in the past few months so I should be able to deal with the stress well. (laughs)

Everything actually moved quite quickly. I was with friends in Salzburg for their Champions League match and I watched a good game of football there before the call came.

I’ve been well informed for the past three months because I live here in the city and I know the club and the quality of the squad. I’m pleased that everything’s getting going straight away even though it will obviously be stressful. I’ve never taken over a team during the season before, but everyone here is a complete professional and everything’s going well. The structure is good here; you have everything that you need.

I’ll meet the team for the first time on Thursday afternoon and we’ll get straight to work. We need a lot of energy and power to turn the mood around and start picking up results. That’s what the focus is on now."

… The squad:

"The squad isn’t particularly large so it will be exciting to see how we get through these intense upcoming weeks. One advantage of it is that we’ll have fewer dissatisfied players. I think we have a very balanced squad of 22 players with a lot of quality. We have a lot of very good footballers here, an exciting squad with a good structure, also with regard to age. There are a lot of young players as well as experienced players and therefore everything that you need. I’m looking forward to it.

In terms of the line-up, it’s always dependent on the squad, the opponent and what they’re offering. I’m flexible there and will co-operate with the players and listen to where they feel most comfortable. But then they have a responsibility, because if they feel good in a certain position they have to perform accordingly there. We have a lot of options."

… The most important areas to work on in training:

"Of course we need defensive stability. The decisive question is how we approach that. We can’t just defend all the time and sit back, we have to bring stability to our game by being more active in our play and seize the initiative. We have to gain minor victories throughout matches and do that not simply by being passive and not conceding. It’s about actively defending from the front and quickly getting to a point where we can execute the movements we want instinctively. It’s important to develop your own idea of how to be successful, so we’re mainly focusing on ourselves.

We’ll work both as a group and independently. We’re a team now and we want to be successful together. That works with a good atmosphere – everyone had to know what the focus is and be confident. The team is good, even fantastic. In the two games against of the game against Borussia Dortmund it’s important to work on different elements, create an understanding, and discuss principles that we want to see at the weekend in our performance. We’re going up against an in-form team and I know the team well. When they get going, it’s difficult, but I think we have a good chance with our squad."

… Facing former clubs Dortmund and Gladbach straight away:

"We all play in the same league so we’ll face every team at some point. (laughs) It’s definitely special and exciting, but I have a lot of work to do here so the scheduling isn’t very important. We’ll take it as it comes."

… Influences from his playing and coaching career:

"I was very lucky to play under some brilliant coaches during my career. Joachim Steffens was a coach who I learnt a lot from, both in a footballing sense as well as a human sense. He showed me the right path and we are still in frequent contact now. Jürgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, Ralf Rangnick… they were all good coaches who prefer a good, attacking approach. As head coach in Salzburg I learnt a lot and developed a good playing style.

All the players here have a lot of quality and intensity. The fundamentals always have to be present and that’s what we’ll work on, because one thing is to talk about it but it’s another thing to do it. We have to get the ball rolling in the upcoming week so we can go into the break and be able to say that we have reached a level where we identify with all of our new points."

… Working in Leipzig:

"It’s never easy to take on a role in the public eye in your home city. The people here expect a lot from the club and of course from me as well. I identify really strongly with Leipzig; it’s my home. I’ve always said that. Things will change a bit for me and I'll be judged on results.

My daughter is really happy and is pleased and proud that her dad is doing this. I’m very close to my family, can see them often and can be with my partner. That can help during the difficult moments. It was my decision to come to Leipzig and I’m looking forward to it."

Oliver Mintzlaff on...

… The decision to choose Marco Rose:

"In Marco, we have brought in a coach who has a clear conviction when it comes to our playing philosophy. Marco has the things that make up our club’s DNA. We had a stroke of luck that he was available and agreed to join us at short notice. He is a perfect fit because he is very congruent with the club's fundamental aims. We are convinced that Marco will not only bring continuity and stability to the club, but also development. He can do that brilliantly."