Another coach gets sacked…(not the same ring as that Queen tune, eh?)
Per a release from RB Leipzig, the club has relieved head coach Marco Rose of his duties:
Marco Rose has been relieved of his duties as RB Leipzig head coach with immediate effect. His coaching team of Alexander Zickler, Marco Kurth and Frank Geideck have also left the club, along with Frank Aehlig (head of first team football).
Marco Rose took over the head coach role at RB Leipzig in September 2022 when the club found itself in a tricky position and helped the side get back to winning ways. He was on the sideline for a total 125 games. Under his stewardship, RBL qualified for the UEFA Champions League twice, won the second DFB-Pokal in the club’s history and emerged victorious in the Supercup for the first time.
The club will announce who will take over the head coach role on an interim basis in due course.
RB Leipzig managing director for sport Marcel Schäfer said the team needed a “new impetus.”
“We have believed in our cooperation with Marco and his team for a very long time and, up to now, tried everything to turn things around together. Given the development and the continued lack of results, we’re all firmly convinced that we need new impetus for the remainder of the campaign in order to achieve our aims for the season. We’d like to thank Marco and his coaching team for the past two and a half years, the success we enjoyed together and their commitment to the club,” Schäfer stated.
For Rose, the former coach never really figured out how to successfully handle the RB Leipzig environment. Having to balance developing young players (to maximize value for a sale), showcase loaned players, rely on a select few veterans, and try to compete in a very tough league is not easy and it wore on Rose.
The club later released a statement officially naming former Bayern Munich assistant coach Zsolt Löw as the new manager:
Zsolt Löw has been named as the new head coach of RB Leipzig. The 45-year-old will sign a contract until the end of the 2024/25 season and will take charge of his first training session on Monday. Peter Krawietz (53) will be Löw’s assistant coach in Leipzig.
At RBL, he was an assistant coach under Ralph Hasenhüttl and Ralf Rangnick from 2015 to 2018. He worked as Thomas Tuchel’s assistant at Paris Saint-Germain (2018-2020), Chelsea (2021-2022), and FC Bayern München (2023-2024).
He has also been a coach at FC Liefering (2012-2014) and Red Bull Salzburg (2014-2015). Löw has won the Champions League (2021) and the Bundesliga (2023) as an assistant coach, as well as titles in France (2019, 2020) and Austria (2015). During his playing career, he was a defender for Energie Cottbus, TSG Hoffenheim and FSV Mainz 05 in the Bundesliga.
Schäfer endorsed the move.
“Zsolt Löw has got everything we need to turn things around quickly and give performances a boost: an incredible amount of experience, a lot of success at top European clubs, and the right approach. It’s now up to the team to turn the tide together with Zsolt. At the same time, we’re working on finding a permanent head coach for the start of the 2025/26 season,” said Schäfer.
As for Löw, he is excited at the prospect of taking over such a talented group.
“We’re fully focused on the maximum nine remaining games of the season. We’ve still got the chance to achieve our goals in two competitions. We’ll do everything we can to reach the DFB-Pokal final in Berlin and get the most out of the remaining Bundesliga matches,” Löw remarked.
Looking for more thoughts and analysis on Bayern Munich’s 3-2 victory over St. Pauli in the Bundesliga? Awesome, then check out the Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show on Patreon, Spotify, or below:
Be sure to stay tuned to Bavarian Podcast Works for all of your up to date coverage on Bayern Munich and Germany. Check us out on Patreon and follow us on Twitter @BavarianFBWorks, @BavarianPodcast @TheBarrelBlog, @IredahlMarcus, @2012nonexistent, @TommyAdams71 and more.
