Marcel Rapp ahead of Kiel away; returns to Kiel as St. Pauli coach
FC St. Pauli | Marcel Rapp ahead of Kiel away
Marcel Rapp ahead of Kiel away
Rapp: “Need a good mindset against Kiel”
Now that’s what we call a quick return to your former stomping ground. Marcel Rapp spent more than four-and-a-half years as head coach at Kiel, and on Friday he returns to Holstein-Stadion for our first away game of the season. Here are the key lines from his news conference in the run-up…
…his squad : “Everyone came through the Fürth game unscathed. Connor Metcalfe has resumed training but it’s still too early for a place in the squad. Sam Klein is available again, but Gísli Thórdarson has picked up an injury unfortunately.”
…signing another keeper : “It’s no secret that we’re looking. We have some excellent youngsters, but they’re not quite ready to take on the role of second or third-choice keeper, so we’re looking for another keeper who can help us out.”
…returning to Kiel : “It’s a special game for me. I spent a long time at Kiel and had a very successful spell there. I’ll never forget it. We took the club to a new level but I go back now as head coach of St. Pauli. I’m looking forward to the game and I’m determined to win it. I’m also looking forward to a pitch that’s just as good as the one here. The atmosphere is great even though the ground is being refurbished. It’s going to be a good game of football.”
…his expectations for the game and our control of the ball : “It’s down to us to a certain extent. After a game, we don’t say whether it was good or bad if we had more than 50 per cent possession. It depends on what we do with it. It may be that we have less possession against Kiel and it’s still a good game. We’re up against a team who want to play football and keep changing positions. They like to put crosses in when they enter the final third, so we have to be prepared for that. They can pose a threat very quickly on winning the ball, but if we have the right mindset, it could be a successful evening.”
…Kiel coach Tim Walter : “I know Tim Walter much better as a coach than I do as a person because we’ve faced each other many times – even at youth level. I know his style of football and he knows mine.”
…Kiel’s possession football : “They didn’t have that much possession against Darmstadt and I don’t expect them to overwhelm us. It’ll be a perfectly normal game, just as it was against Fürth. We’ll prepare in exactly the same way in terms of what do we do when we have the ball and what we do when they have it.”
…losing to friends : “I don’t like losing whether they’re friends or not, but I don’t think about it, I simply prepare my team as best I can so they know what to expect and can perform to the best of their ability. That’s our best chance of winning the match. We know they’re tough opposition. Afterwards we’ll know how it went and how I’ll deal with it.”
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