Rose speaks on RB offensive woes and Xavi Simons' form dip

Despite the fact that his German Red Bulls have now gone three competitive fixtures without a win (and have only scored one goal in said matches), RB Leipzig trainer Marco Rose sought to allay talk of an offensive crisis within his squad whilst speaking at his Thursday pre-match presser.

The 48-year-old sought to accentuate the positive, pointing out that in two scoreless draws in the league, and the UCL loss against Atletico Madrid, his team had also performed well defensively.

"I'm surprised at how quickly all this talk is cropping up," Rose said, "We have eight points, haven't been defeated yet, and only conceded two goals [in the last three matches]." 

"I see a team focused, motivated, and believing in themselves," Rose continued, "It's not been easy for them to get moving offensively as of late, but it's not a fundamental issue. The basics are there." 

After Rose's men brought Leverkusen's long unbeaten run in the league to an end in round two, many expected a roster expensively re-tooled in the summer transfer window to proceed to dominate the league. Instead, the purported high power attack has not scored in the league since. 

Asked about the form of a specific player, Rose addressed the fact that Dutch phenom Xavi Simons still awaits his first league goal of the current campaign. At this juncture last year, the 21-year-old PSG talent had already knocked home three league goals and registered four assists. 

"Xavi naturally wishes to re-pay the trust [Lepzig placed in him by organizing a fresh loan deal] and lead the way," Rose said, "He knows that a lot of people are observing him. Sometimes that leads him to place himself under unnecessary pressure." 

"He should focus on the basics," Rose continued, "He wants to make an impact [on the scoresheet], but as a coach I'm not asking anything more from him. He only needs to remain the bright and free-playing lad he's always been."