Sun and 15 degrees instead of black ice and cold – Rapid in Benidorm, Spain, is preparing for the hot spring until Saturday. “It’s wonderful, the conditions are great,” grins Ercan Kara in the “Today“-Conversation.
In focus: neo-trainer Johannes Hoff Thorup. “He’s likeable, a good mix of buddy type and football teacher. He has good energy, is very motivated. He has a lot of plans for us.”
The Rapid season in pictures (25/26)
Among other things, the plan is to switch to an offensive 4-3-3 system. But: Are three weeks enough to rehearse it? “It’ll have to be enough, we don’t have any more time,” says Kara. “We have the quality to do it. In any case, we know that we have to deliver straight away. For us it starts with the cup quarter-finals in Ried, then in the league against Hartberg. Two important games.”
Kara wants to help with as many goals as possible. There were four in the current championship. “Everyone knows how much Rapid is close to my heart. I want to be successful with this club and I always give it my all.”
That wasn’t the case for everyone in the fall and is said to have been one of the reasons for the bad mood. “When the day is long, people talk a lot. The chemistry in the team is good at the moment. A certain level of competition is part of it.” Kara also brushes off the supposed communication problem, which was often discussed. “Nowadays everyone knows at least a little English. I was in America and learned a lot there.”
Kara has been 30 years young since January 3rd. One of the well-wishers: Peter Stöger. The Viennese says about his ex-coach: “Every coach has his own approach. His ideas worked to some extent, but in the end it was unfortunately not what he and we had hoped for.”
Speaking of hoping: Kara, who has played in seven ÖFB international matches, secretly dreams of jumping on the World Cup bandwagon. When asked by “Today” he said: “You only get into the national team if you deliver for the club. If I score my goals at Rapid, Ralf Rangnick will look at me. The rest is then out of my hands. I know my qualities and have proven them a few times. An Ercan Kara in the squad is always good.”
