Rose after Openda's missed penalty: "Not a coach who specifies penalty takers."
The Belgian international also missed from the spot against Israel in the recent international break.
Despite this, Rose noted that he still trusted his team to select penalty takers amongst themselves.
| Photo: RB Leipzig/OneFootball |
Matters didn't go quite as well as RB Leipzig might have hoped after they toppled the seemingly invincible Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the final Bundesliga game prior to the international break. In point of fact, matters have rather tanked hard for Belgian striker Loïs Openda. After notching a brace in the victory over the defending champs, the 24-year-old botched penalty takes for both country and club over the last eight days.
Openda's miss cost Leipzig three points on Saturday. It also wasn't the first time it happened. Openda also missed a crucial spot kick against Augsburg last February. At the time, head-coach Marco Rose was most critical of his striker.
Facing an outclassed 1. FC Union Berlin side, the German Red Bulls probably fancied their chances of topping the Bundesliga table. Instead, that honor belongs to record champs FC Bayern München after Rose's Saxons could only manage a 0-0 draw against the visiting Köpenickers. After the match, Rose - who was unable to coach the team from the sidelines due to suspension - defended his team's system at the post match presser.
“I'm not a coach who assigns penalty takers,” Rose said, “I expect my team to take responsibility for finding the one who is feeling good on the day. Almost all of the boys have scored from the penalty spot at some point."
"Bayern [and other clubs] have their clear taker," Rose continued, "We'll just keep going [with our system]. Next time, the team might decide differently."
Lukas Klostermann - in for the suspended Willi Orban - also commented on the matter in his post-match interview with Sky Germany. The 28-year-old also endorsed the RB rule under Rose, though his words were certainly tinged with regret.
"An 'old saying' holds that fouled players shouldn't take the penalty," Klostermann said, "but sometimes fouled players score. There's nothing we can do about it now. If he's feeling it, we all trust him to score – regardless of whether he was the fouled player or not."