Trouble at Rapid too

Siebenhandl frustrated: “It pisses me off!”

Jörg Siebenhandl was frustrated after the derby defeat.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

With five defeats from six games, LASK have made a glaringly bad start in the Bundesliga. In the 1-0 defeat against Blau-Weiß Linz on Saturday, it became clear that it will probably take longer for new coach Markus Schopp's ideas to take effect. The derby winners, meanwhile, are celebrating their soaring form and goalscoring phenomenon Ronivaldo. Rapid were annoyed by a puzzling drop in performance in the 1:1 draw against WAC.

"You could see that it's not an easy situation for us. I think we were too complicated, especially in the first half, and didn't solve situations well," said Schopp after the defeat. There were too many mistakes at the front and back, the Styrian said, and the team was too playful with the ball at times. You can only get out of a series like this, in which everything goes wrong, with hard work. "It doesn't happen by watching or believing that it will somehow get better," emphasized the coach.

"It's starting to piss me off that we just can't manage to win in games like this, where there's really a lot at stake," Jörg Siebenhandl spoke plainly on Sky. The ex-Sturm goalkeeper will probably be in goal for a longer period of time in place of Tobias Lawal, who suffered a muscle injury to his thigh against Blau-Weiß. Schopp said after initial discussions with the medical team that he could be out for several weeks.

The team of the hour
Due to LASK's plight, Blau-Weiß are currently not only the top team in Linz in terms of soccer, but also the surprise team of the season. Before Sunday's games, Gerald Scheiblehner's squad had ten points in fourth place - just two less than leaders Sturm Graz. "I really have to praise the team. They simply implement the things we talk about," said the victorious coach. "It's almost my highlight since I've been at Blau-Weiß. To win the second derby in a row is very special."

Goalgetter Ronivaldo has scored in each of the last four league games and - as he has an Austrian passport - is currently the most prolific red-white-red striker. Due to his advanced age of 35, however, he himself waved off the topic of the Austrian national team. "I'm staying healthy, that's all that matters," said the Brazilian-born striker. "If I stay healthy, anything is possible."

Frustration at Rapid too
Rapid are one point ahead of Blau-Weiß in second place. The fact that they only managed a 1-1 draw at WAC and thus missed out on at least a temporary jump to first place was due to a relapse in the second half. "It's annoying because the point loss was unnecessary. Especially because we weren't able to build on the way we played in the first half. We have to work on winning games like this in future," summed up coach Robert Klauß.

One bright spot was 18-year-old Nikolaus Wurmbrand, who impressed on his league debut and not just because of his goal. "We've known what we have in him for a long time. Now we have to stay grounded and keep working with him," said Klauß, whose team have a home derby against Austria coming up in a week's time.

His WAC colleague Dietmar Kühbauer was pleased with the improvement after the break. "We could even have won in the end, but we have to take the point. We were too timid in the first half. But my lads really responded well to the break," said the ex-Rapid coach.