Bundesliga fan series
After the 2nd and 3rd Bundesliga, Transfermarkt will also take a detailed look at the 18 teams in the Bundesliga with the help of the community in the coming days. Which players are the fans looking forward to the most, where is there room for improvement and what is in the squad for 2022/23 for your favorite club? We asked around in the forums and got our opinions – in league one we continue with user “Rumpelstiltskin” and RB Leipzig.
How do you rate the RB Leipzig squad?
On the one hand, it is positive that Leipzig, as the best team from the second half of the season and cup winners, has largely kept the squad together. The extension with Christopher Nkunku, the best kicker of the past season, and the statement transfers from David Raum and returnee Timo Werner and Benjamin Šeško for 2023 also had a signal effect. The team has above-average Bundesliga staff in almost all positions.
On the other hand, it is questionable whether Domenico Tedesco can form a powerful team with his approach of reducing the squad. The questions that arise from the ten goals conceded against Liverpool and Bayern and from the mixed final sprint in May are far from answered. On the right side, which was already weak last season, Nordi Mukiele was handed over without replacement and Lukas Klostermann is injured. The defensive center has been missing a calf biter for years, in principle there are too many eights and tens in the squad. With Konrad Laimer, Leipzig’s best central midfielder of last season could still move to Munich. Only Nkunku and Werner really bring speed and in terms of length RBL has the dwarf squad in the league.
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Discuss now in the RB Leipzig forumRight this way
Some kickers who shaped RBL in the first years of the Bundesliga have reached their maximum performance or are stagnating (Emil Forsberg, Kevin Kampl, Péter Gulácsi, Marcel Halstenberg, Yussuf Poulsen, Klostermann). Coupled with the desire for a small squad and many double-game weeks, these problems lead to a currently rather unbalanced team, which also consists less and less of the talents that have shaped Leipzig so far.
With Nkunku & Silva: The top scorers in RB Leipzig’s history
Where do you see a need to catch up by Deadline Day?
At the moment it looks like Laimer will stay and therefore nothing will happen in the center. In defense, RBL could be active again after Klostermann’s injury. Overall, games with low regular place prospects were given up. Ilaix Moriba (loan), Alexander Sørloth (now that Werner is there), Amadou Haidara (last only bank), Solomon Bonnah and Joscha Wosz could follow as departures. This would only partially close the squad’s weak points. Werner has the lack of speed so far, but also has deficits in possession. The duo Laimer and Xaver Schlager have potential in the center, but neither of them are real defensive midfielders. In addition, the 25+ million for Laimer would be missing as income.
There is still a gap in quality on the right and the swap Raum for Angeliño is not a quantum leap either, because Raum first has to prove that his last season was not a one-hit wonder in the Bundesliga. Actually, a problem has been solved here, which technically wasn’t one. It would potentially be an idea to give up Laimer and get Mohamed Camara from Salzburg – strangely enough, he has not been in the squad at RBS so far. It would be even better to hit it off on the right and land Stephane Singo or Ridle Baku. Even in central defense, RBL would not be doubled for a three-man chain. So maybe a polyvalent Thilo Kehrer would be an idea.
What do you expect from the playful appearance of the team?
Currently, the first complete Tedesco preparation does not seem to have a really positive effect. In principle, RBL – even if the back four worked well against Bayern in the second half – will try to be defensive with a back five and rely on the individual players Nkunku, Werner, André Silva and Dani Olmo. Which is a problem at the same time, because there are only three offensive starting positions in the 5-2-3 preferred by Tedesco. That will be enough against the majority of the league, but not for top opponents, see Supercup and Liverpool. Offensively, a clever match plan is missing, which allows stable goal quotas apart from the trust in God in Christo. In addition, RBL recently tended to sleep through the first half.
What’s in it for RB Leipzig in 2022/23?
Even if that all sounds pretty pessimistic, the goal for the season of qualifying for the Champions League should be achievable with the team. Because when it comes to squad costs, RBL is far from the underdog and easily ranks among the top 5 in the league. As far as the championship is concerned, something would only work if Bayern stumbled and you scored the absolute maximum in terms of points, which it doesn’t look like. Down below, RBL would have to play as poorly as they did under Jesse Marsch to run the risk of missing this most important goal of the season. In the Champions League, with a bit of luck, pot 2 is more likely, the round of 16 is possible. RBL would have real chances of winning the title if they were “relegated” to the Europa League, as last season showed. The cup could be something like the Leipzig competition, even if RBL could not avoid Bayern or BVB again and they always meant the end of all cup dreams.
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