What’s going on with Leipzig? After five rounds only one point clear of the relegation zone

Seven competitive games, only two wins and four defeats. The new season is not going the way the Saxon team expected. RB Leipzig are just one point above the relegation zone in the league. Why?

As is tradition, Bayern Munich is the clear favourite to win the Bundesliga title this season. RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund will compete with them again. However, the former looks like a science fiction after five rounds of play.

Leipzig did not have a good start to the new season at all. After five games in the Bundesliga, it has only 4 points and is only one point away from the relegation zone. This was certainly not expected in the Saxon city.

No wonder the management team is under pressure. However, it shouldn’t be such a big surprise. RB Leipzig has had a difficult summer. It lost coach Julian Nagelsmann, stars like Dayot Upamecano, Ibrahima Konaté and captain Marcel Sabitzer left. In short, nothing easy.

Nagelsmann was replaced as head coach by Jesse Marsch, who is already very familiar with the workings of Red Bull teams. It was expected that he would easily replace the current Bayern coach, as the Salzburg side, who had troubled the bigger fish in the Champions League, had done well under him.

But so far, it hasn’t worked out. On the one hand, that wouldn’t matter so much, but the pressure is creating considerable investment. After all, the Red Bull team has spent almost 108 million euros on transfers, but the investment is not paying off yet.

For example, Leipzig paid almost 25 million euros for André Silva. The Portuguese was unstoppable last season, along with Erling Haaland, trying to outdo Robert Lewandowski, but without success. Nevertheless, he made a big impression in a Frankfurt jersey and earned himself a transfer to Leipzig.

But so far he hasn’t shone at all. He has scored just one goal in seven games. Moreover, his style of play is clearly not suited to him and it seems he is not alone. Coach Marsch has to work hard to get all the reinforcements and his charges into the line-up.

Marsch is tactically set for attractive and attacking football, however, taking over the helm from Nagelsmann, who is considered a tactical master, is complicated. At times, Leipzig seem to be stuck between two tactical systems, only that the players don’t fit properly into either.

The worst thing for Marsch is the fact that Leipzig don’t know the situation. The Saxon team is built on success, if possible, achieved very quickly. It has practically never happened before that the club has failed to start the season successfully. The question is therefore whether the management can be patient and whether they will not break their grip on the coach.

Moreover, one important fact must be remembered – Marsch’s team, despite the investments made, does not reach the qualities of the team Nagelsmann had at his disposal. The mainstays left in the summer and would adequate replacements come in? That can’t be said either. The squad has not been adequately replenished, but the potential is still great.

It will be important not to break Marsch. He needs time and he needs to bring back the money the club made from the sales of its stars. He may not find a better coach who understands the Red Bull philosophy.

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