First-choice goalkeeper Niklas Hedl kept his sixth clean sheet this Bundesliga season. In the first eleven rounds, no other team has kept a clean sheet as often.
"We work on it every day – with Luka Pavlovic (assistant coach, editor's note), we do a lot together as a defensive line," explains Jannes Horn.
Criticism allowed
After eleven rounds, Rapid is therefore at the top of the table, has just won the derby, and boasts the Bundesliga's second-best defense and best offense.
However, Hoff Thorup is more pleased about something else: "That we have succeeded in developing a game where everyone watching has expectations – the journalists, the fans, and all spectators," says the Rapid coach.
According to the Dane, this is why, despite good results, "somewhat more critical comments" about the performance are allowed. "Because that was not 100 percent what people expected," he adds, seeing this development as positive, because this new standard arises from the Rapid team's development. The expectations the team has of itself internally are even greater.
"That's why I say I'm happy on behalf of this group, because that's exactly what I see every day: that no one leans back and simply settles for just any performance. We always want to get better," says Hoff Thorup.
"Wahrscheinlich ein bisschen besser und mehr, als ich erwartet habe."
Always getting better – that's probably what every football coach expects from their team, including Hoff Thorup.
However, even he couldn't foresee the extent of the performance increase from last season to this one: "If I look at the work we've done, the result is probably a bit better and more than I expected."
But the 37-year-old will also think this way if Rapid loses a game. Hoff Thorup proudly says: "The result may be the 90 minutes on Sunday, but that doesn't reflect all the effort and hard work during the week. And it's this week that makes me proud of this team."
