Johannes Hoff Thorup Rapid Wien, Digi Mart USA News: Danish coach Johannes Hoff Thorup has led Rapid Wien to a surprisingly strong start to the season. His team recently beat rival Austria Wien 2-0 away from home, a result that was celebrated by several hundred cheering fans in a car park after the match.
Speaking after the win, Hoff Thorup said the credit belonged to his players. “This isn’t about me.
It’s these guys who turned it around. Without them, I was nothing,” he said.
The victory was Rapid Wien’s tenth in the first 11 matches of the Austrian Bundesliga season, which currently places the club in first place. That is a notable change from last season, when the club won only 12 of 32 matches, narrowly reached the top six and finished fifth in the championship round.
Hoff Thorup, who was appointed last December, said the work began last winter. He pointed to a need for better physical conditioning and said the team’s intensity and work rate were not high enough.
He also said the squad had embraced changes in culture.
The Danish coach acknowledged that his ideas and concepts have helped set the direction for better results. He said the club saw significant potential if it approached matches in the way he and his staff were accustomed to, referring to a more possession-based style of play.
Hoff Thorup contrasted the previous season, which he described as more chaotic and short-term, with the club’s clearer communication about its long-term goals. “We were very clear in our communication that we had to take this team and this club to a completely new place,” he said.
