Rose: “Keep our heads up and believe in ourselves”

Marco Rose and Max Eberl held their virtual press conference ahead of Saturday’s Bundesliga home game against Bayer 04 Leverkusen (15:30 CET) on Thursday afternoon, discussing the personnel situation, tomorrow’s opponents and the team’s poor form.

Head coach Marco Rose on…

…team news: Lars Stindl won’t be available against Leverkusen as he has picked up five yellow cards and is suspended. Jonas Hofmann suffered a muscular problem in the DFB-Pokal game against Dortmund and it hasn’t quite subsided yet. We will have to see how he’s feeling tomorrow. The same goes for Breel Embolo, who also has some muscle problems. Christoph Kramer also rolled his ankle in training. We’re still waiting on a diagnosis in terms of ligament damage, but he will definitely miss out tomorrow. Rocco Reitz is feeling good though and will be in the squad on Saturday.

…tomorrow’s opponents: Bayer 04 had an incredibly strong first half of the season and played very exciting football. The schedule has caught up with Leverkusen a little since the turn of the year though and, like us, their results haven’t been all that positive. They’ll be hoping to have luck back on their side. I think it will be a high intensity match with both sides hoping to get back to winning ways. We’re well aware of the individual quality and goal threat that Leverkusen possess. We need to show the same desire and approach that we did against Borussia Dortmund.

…the current situation: In life, there are always good periods and periods where things aren’t going your way. The game against Leverkusen is a chance for us to end our poor run and we need to take it as a united front. Nothing has changed between me and the players – the only thing that’s missing at the moment are the results. We need to keep working hard to turn it around. I’m convinced that the things we’re doing are working and that the lads are taking it on board. We will be rewarded for it soon enough, ideally tomorrow against Leverkusen.

…the run of poor results: We went on a similar winless run in the first half of the season. There was a fair amount of disappointment back then too, but there’s more being made of it this time. It’s an incredibly challenging season for us, with an unbelievable number of games in a short period of time. I think it’s important for us not to just talk of a lack of results; I think the performances have been okay, but a certain amount of conviction and desire has been missing. We have to make that right. We need to sharpen our claws, but also remain confident. We need positive results and sometimes you have to force them. We need to get stuck in, keep digging away, keep our heads up and believe in ourselves.

…Jordan Beyer’s role: Jordan put in a good performance in Leipzig. I was really happy for him. Whether he plays depends on the system we choose to adopt. We certainly have him in mind though.

Sporting director Max Eberl on…

…Marco Rose’s current position: Marco Rose was the man we wanted at the helm before he announced his decision to leave and we’re happy that have been able to enjoy the success we’ve had so far. I don’t believe that the reason that we’re not winning games at the moment is down to just one person. Nothing and no one is above the club and we have to make decisions in the interest of the club and success, and that’s what we’re doing. My decision – and I’m convinced that it is the right one – is to carry on working with Marco until the summer. The team’s performances have shown me that we’re doing everything we can to start picking up points again. We will fight back against this poor run.

...Oscar Wendt’s future: Oscar’s contract is due to run out in the summer and we’re in talks with him. He’s at an age now where it’s perfectly legitimate for him to start thinking about going back home to Sweden. Oscar has been at Borussia for a long time and knows what he wants. We will come to a decision together.