Still waiting for Eberl, but ...: Marco Rose awakens the "punk" at RB Leipzig

Amazing transformation: In front of the eyes of old master Ralf Rangnick, RB Leipzig suddenly got drunk again on classic Red Bull football against the overwhelmed BVB.

Still waiting for Eberl, but ...: Marco Rose awakens the "punk" at RB Leipzig

Amazing transformation: In front of the eyes of old master Ralf Rangnick, RB Leipzig suddenly got drunk again on classic Red Bull football against the overwhelmed BVB. One ingredient, a mastermind, is still missing. But even if the arrival is delayed, the cup winner sees a sweet future.

The reunion of Edin Terzic and his successor Marco Rose was extremely cordial. Both coaches had worked closely together at Borussia Dortmund for a year, hugged each other deeply and looked like old friends even after Rose's amazing 3-0 (2-0) success at his debut as the new coach of RB Leipzig. Rose cheered euphorically, but it was believed that Rose felt "zero satisfaction" after the triumph. "I made friends in Dortmund that year."

Terzic would prefer not to act as Rose's translator. The 46-year-old would prefer to answer a question asked in English in German. "My English is okay, or do you speak Edin in English? You're better than me," Rose jokingly asked the colleague on the podium next to him. He replied: "I can, I just don't feel like it." Laughter in the press room.

In any case, no interpreter was needed for what had happened on the field in the 90 minutes before. RB Leipzig were transformed in the first game after Domenico Tedesco was sacked and Rose took over. Leipzig played in the classic 4-2-3-1 formation - Tedesco had almost always backed three - with such force as had not been seen since the days of Ralf Rangnick. The veteran, now Austrian national coach, was in the stadium just like Alexander Zorniger, who led RB from the regional league to the second division. You'd think you'd landed at a press-counterpressing veteran class reunion, demonstrating the Red Bull game philosophy at its finest.

Xaver Schlager and Konrad Laimer, also Rangnick's duo in Austria, were at the heart of the new, old RB football. With this team there was no way through the center for the weakened, desolate and helpless Dortmunders. The Leipzig team conquered 74 balls and switched quickly via Emil Forsberg and Dominik Szoboszlai, who were looking for Timo Werner. The fetched darling did little, but due to his speed he tied opponents and suddenly had huge spaces in front of him. If Werner had been less indisposed and insecure, lawn ball sport could have scored two or three more goals.

A few weeks ago, former grinder Eduard Geyer aptly compared Tedesco's possession football with a slow waltz. Under the new conductor Rose, the people of Leipzig showed that they also mastered punk. Even Emil Forsberg, who probably last showed so much commitment in his first Bundesliga season in 2016/17, struggled, fought and won balls like there was no tomorrow. It is amazing how Rose has uncovered these virtues, which were buried in Leipzig, in just three days.

"The boys got that right in the first speech, so we don't ask, we do it that way," Rose explained the change of style. "I felt from the boys that they were getting on their nerves, that they didn't have any results. At RB we stand for a certain type of football, they have it in the tank, they know how to do it, that's why we are there they here and that's how they performed today." Apparently, only a few were no longer aware of how much fun this bilious football can be. Match winner Szoboszlai, who gave Willi Orban the 1-0 lead after a corner (6th), scored the 2-0 himself with a fantastic flutter shot from 23 meters (45th) and also initiated the 3-0 through Amadou Haidara (84th). , said surprised himself: "We should bring intensity, mentality and energy to the pitch, said the coach. How we did it was unbelievable."

It seems as if RB Leipzig have found exactly the right coach in the search for the playful identity of the past year and a half in Leipzig-born Rose. If Max Eberl were to be added as head of sport shortly, who has a male friendship with the coach from Gladbach's days, Leipzig would be better positioned in terms of sporting leadership than it has been for a long time. Eberl would be the ideal buffer between coach and club management and could lead RB back to a stringent transfer policy that fits the game idea.

In the past change period, the club had deviated from this when only seasoned professionals like Werner had come, no rough diamonds like Dani Olmo or Josko Gvardiol before. With his strategic expertise and sporting authority, Eberl, together with Rose, could give the Red Bull club more coherence and unity when making decisions, create a climate in which coaches are not worn out every few months - simply the commercial perspective of Leipzig counteract more sporting competence.

If RB performs at Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday as they did against BVB, that should also stress Toni Kroos and Luka Modrić. The recipe is simple: "Exactly the same as what we did today. Now we're on the right track," said Szoboszlai. And there are translators in the "king class" too.