Rose: “We need to deliver again”

Ahead of Sunday’s away game at Bayer 04 Leverkusen (18:00 CET), head coach Marco Rose and sporting director Max Eberl spoke about the squad, the upcoming opponents and the international break.

Head coach Marco Rose on…

…the squad: Patrick Herrmann had slight muscular problems in Ukraine but things are looking good for him right now. Ibrahima Traoré suffered a knock to his adductor during his cameo in Kiev, however he has already been given the all-clear. Mamadou Doucouré has had some muscle problems lately and hadn’t been fully training. Now he’s back in team training though, although because of Mams’ injury history we need to be careful. Overall, we have come through the last few weeks well and the majority of the squad is available. This is a testament to the squad’s fitness and the hard work that was put in during pre-season. Nevertheless, the busy period will continue after the international break with more midweek games.

…the upcoming opponents: Bayer have a very strong squad and made a great signing in Patrik Schick. They will have ambitions of getting back into the Champions League for next season. Two in-form teams will meet this weekend. We need to be able to match their intensity. This year, Leverkusen have a clear plan and they play with a lot of speed, which makes it hard to defend against. They have a lot of quality in their team so it will be a real challenge.

…his own gameplan: The coaching team is working on a strategic plan for the game, but the lads on the pitch still need to make their own decisions too, which are normally good. We only give them guidelines and this worked well in Donetsk. We’re not yet sure what to expect in Leverkusen, maybe they will base their tactics on when they last played here in Mönchengladbach. I think there are comparisons to be made between Leverkusen and Shakhtar. Both teams play with a 4-3-3 formation, are confident on the ball and look to carve the opponents open. The Werkself play at a high intensity and with pace on the wings. We will make sure our players are aware of this – we need to defend their game but also play to our strengths.

…Jonas Hofmann: I think Jonas has always been a great player but he has been really consistent recently. He anticipates a lot of things, covers a lot of ground and sprints at the right moments. On top of that, he can hit a ball really well too. Those are all things that make a good player. Nonetheless, he still needs to keep on working hard.

…the last two games against Leipzig and Shakhtar: Wins are important for the team and we will gladly accept praise. Despite this, those wins are in the past and we’ve got another difficult game up next against Leverkusen. We need to deliver again.

…Marcus Thuram’s France call-up: We are pleased for every player we have that gets called up – this backs up the work done by the club and the team. We are happy for Tikus that he’s been named in France’s senior squad for the first time and we believe he’s deserved this. Tikus is a young player who has a lot of potential. He’s already shown how important a player he can be for us. I hope that he can make his debut. Alassane Plea didn’t get selected because France have a lot of quality centre forwards. This doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a chance. Lasso needs to keep going, perform well and stay fit.

Sporting director Max Eberl on…

...the derby: We can’t presume that the fight for fourth will be a battle between Leverkusen and Gladbach. It will be a fight between six or seven teams for the top spots in the league. We are aware of this. This match will still be a special game because both teams have played well in recent years, which is again the case this season. Leverkusen are going well and made good transfers in the winter to prepare for their summer sales.

…the international call-ups: As the club, we would have had the right to stop players going away to play in high-risk areas. We know that the associations are taking the situation seriously so we’re not going to stop our players meeting up with their national sides. They won’t have to quarantine once they return to Mönchengladbach.

…player development under Marco Rose: We fought hard to get Marco Rose as coach and obviously wanted to be successful with him. We knew that players like Jonas Hofmann and Florian Neuhaus would fit his style of play well. They have developed really well under him and listened closely to what is expected of them. We are pleased with our squad and that we have Marco, who definitely improves players.