Leipzig Gain Ground but Still Fight Up Hill Battle

photo from RB Leipzig

RB Leipzig got a much needed win against VfB Bochum over the weekend but it took late heroics from Andre Silva, leaving many questions about the team heading into the international break. Manager Jesse Marsch spoke about the difficulties but also highlighted the fact that his team has performed admirably through the rough stretch of games.

"I told the team to stay strong," said Marsch after another first half without a goal. "At the moment, it's maybe not a bad thing to fight for everything until the end. The way our game went was almost perfect. We've learned a lot from the past few months and showed our development today."

The win moved Leipzig into eighth place, a far cry from where they expected to be seven games into the campaign. Expectations over the past several years have been that the team will compete for the Bundesliga title. Bayern Munich has made that difficult but this past off-season saw a significant investment with players like Silva joining the club. Still, they remain far behind Munich and now face challenges from a rejuvenated Borussia Dortmund.

Marsch, an American coach that has significant experience with Red Bull in various countries, has never had as difficult of a time. Despite this, the Red Bull hierarchy has backed him and gone out of their way to assure the fanbase that they believe in his ability to achieve the organization's goals in Germany.

"We are more than convinced by the coach," said Head of Soccer Oliver Mintzlaff to Kicker. "There are no question marks. Only an emphatic exclamation point."

That backing should keep Marsch momentarily calm as the team navigates the rough waters early in the season. In years past, the team has waned late in the campaign. Perhaps they can push later on and keep their streak of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League. That turnaround will need to happen quicker if they want to progress this campaign, with two losses already recorded against Manchester City and Club Brugge.

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