Bayer Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt believes that late disruption in the summer transfer window is the reason for his side's poor Bundesliga start.
During a hectic couple of days at the end of the summer transfer window, Leverkusen sold South Korea star Son Heung-Min to Tottenham and replaced the 23-year-old with fresh attacking power.
The club signed Mexico international Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez from Manchester United, and re-united Kevin Kampl -- who spent six disappointing months at Borussia Dortmund -- with his former coach Schmidt.
But since then the club have went without a goal in the league and have failed to take any points from trips to Bayern Munich and Dortmund, while also suffering a shock defeat at home to Darmstadt.
The club's sporting executive Rudi Voller has attacked the players, who, according to him, "have fallen into a deep sleep" ever since a 3-0 win over Lazio in late August.
Speaking at his pregame news conference ahead of Leverkusen's crucial match against Mainz on Wednesday, Schmidt -- who has come under fire from sections of the media already -- cited the transfer period as one of the main reasons for the club's recent results.
"We're in a difficult phase and we haven't made a good start to the Bundesliga campaign. We've had to make a lot of changes and that has affected our tactical stability," he said. "But the team retains its integrity and we are very capable of winning games. We just have to rediscover our style."
Going into their sixth match of the season, Leverkusen already trail leaders Bayern by 12 points and are three behind Wednesday's opponents Mainz.
"They're extremely good at transition play -- in both directions. So it won't be easy for us," Schmidt added. "Recent performances have not been satisfactory so we definitely want to get three points."