Marco Rose on squad rotations ahead of RB Leipzig-Mainz: “A few guys are very tired.” | OneFootball

RB Leipzig head coach Marco Rose spoke on squad rotations in a weekend Bundesliga meeting with his former playing club Mainz 05. The joy and elation of reaching the DFB-Pokal semi-finals with a narrow win over Wolfsburg came with a price. Rose admitted as much at Friday’s press conference, speaking on the subject of fatigue following a Sunday Bundesliga fixture against Heidenheim and the forthcoming Saturday game.

“For one or two players, it’s now the third game in a week,” Rose said. “A few guys are very tired. Bringing on fresh players is definitely an option.”

Rose didn’t offer up specifics on which players he was referring to, but 34-year-old Kevin Kampl – it stands to reason – might be in need of a break. Captain Willi Orban, left-back David and strikers Benjamin Sesko and Loïs Openda are among the players who went the full 90 both in the draining 2-2 draw with Heidenheim and the highly physical cup tie.

Rose did stress that he “didn’t want to rotate too much” due to limited offensive options. Christoph Baumgartner is suspended due to his fifth yellow card. The usual usual 4-2-2-2 system would be one option, but a 3-4-1-2 formation used recently in against Wolfsburg is also a possibility. Rose may also be able to count on Yussuf Poulsen again if the Friday training session goes well.

“Of course, we’ll be looking at who performs well today,” Rose concluded, “The [final] training [session] shall be important to see how the guys feel.“

GGFN | Peter Weis