Criticism despite Rapid victory: "It simply wasn't a good game from us"

In the top rows of the main stand at Allianz Stadion, the beginning solar eclipse could still be glimpsed.

A group of fans dared this feat, the majority of the 13,705 attendees completely forwent the natural spectacle in favor of Rapid's return leg against Paide Linnameeskond.

Was that a good trade? With the 2-0 (Match report>>>), the overall result against the Estonians, after the 4-1 away win, was emphatically underlined; otherwise, it was the less spectacular interplay of light and shadow that evening and will hardly be remembered for long.

Except for the players of the Baltic opponents, who even thanked Block West for the atmosphere. A rare, but sympathetic occurrence after the final whistle.

Johannes Hoff Thorup gave minutes to some players who had recently been sidelined. Louis Schaub, for example. Although "Euro-Louis" further improved his international statistics with a goal from the penalty spot, he had expected more.

"Over 90 minutes, it wasn't a good game from us," the victory brought him no satisfaction. "It should have been an opportunity for everyone who was rotated in to show the coach that they belong in the starting eleven. We didn't achieve that a hundred percent."

More Pace and Finishing Quality Desired

"It can be difficult when players come in and want to show what they can do," Johannes Hoff Thorup was aware.

He was happy with the confident completion of the 'qualification' task, but he would have liked "a bit more pace and a bit more quality in front of goal" from the second leg. Then the outcome of the 90 minutes would have been clear much earlier.

"It was important for us to have more control over the game. But from some players, it was too slow, and the last 10-15 percent of intensity in pressing and with the ball was missing," criticized the Dane.

Too Little Output

Already in other games this season, a problem was not consolidating the result as quickly as possible.

"We've had a lot of control in many games, but too little has simply come out of it. For example, in the home game against Altach, we failed to make it 2-0. We have to make sure that we reach our performance limit in every game, otherwise it will be difficult against anyone. You also saw today that we struggled significantly for a long time," Schaub affirmed.

Seven Wins, Sure

At least the record of the first few weeks of the season leaves little to be desired, when looking at the results side of results-oriented sport football.

"You still have to win it in the end," Louis Schaub cautiously looked back at the tasks completed. "But of course, we also know that the opponents haven't all been at a top-top level yet, and we still need to improve."

"JHT" saw it the same way: "We are happy about the seven games, we fulfilled everything we could expect and perhaps a little more. But if we don't continue that, it's absolutely worth nothing."

The challenges are growing, at the latest next week – most likely with Hearts in Edinburgh.