Article by Marius Mărgărit – Published on Monday, 04 May 2026 23:13 / Updated on Monday, 04 May 2026 23:14
It was towards the end of the first half in Giulesti, which was about to explode, already hostile beyond swearing and threats, with nerves on the minus, as Rapid showed in the confrontation with CFR.
I was looking at the eyes of the people of Giulești. In the technical space, Costel Gâlcă seemed lost, lost. He didn't understand anything either. In the field, the looks of the players were desperate, like the executions, like the game. You don't see anything, no idea, no desire, it's so helpless and abandoned that it hurts just to look. Even if you're just a neutral. What would those boys in the stands feel, who really suffer from rapidism.
How and why did it end up here again? A déjà vu that no one can explain, even if they have a triple Pro License. It is said that the locker room was broken, especially after Dobre's excess of personality (not even on the field for several months!) towards his technician.
So the former captain, who scored 15 goals, would have given the fatal blow. Because since then everything seems to be disintegrating.
Those in the stands, Petrila, Hromada, Kojlic (his best execution remains the “scorpion” from the match with Dinamo), seemed to want to hide, to run home, only to not be there anymore. It was as if Manea was a bit more detached, but he is also thinking of leaving.
Dan Șucu did not come to the match. He's fed up and I almost understand him. He lost another year and several tens of millions. He gave the reins completely to Victor Angelescu, the man decides everything, but nothing else works.
And I think it was a mistake, maybe it was too much, because the Superliga is completely different from the 2nd or 3rd league. After all, we all have our limits.
Luck, which some have called pragmatism, that, you see, Rapid had few opportunities, but at least he put most of them on the table, could not last indefinitely.
Because sooner or later, the truth hits you. And the truth is that, although it was clear that reinforcements were needed since the first part of the season, nothing was brought to Gâlcă.
There was always promise and talk about a playmaker and a striker. Three players came, but, the record tells us, no footballer. Paraschiv can't wait to leave, Moruțan has been blocked for several years, (I haven't seen a softer player in duels since I've been watching football, you say he's a hologram), and Talisson, the great Brazilian hope, doesn't know his head.
At every duel with Braun, which Rapid gave up without regret, the South American almost cried that he wanted his mother. And he went faster to the cabins, injured by a crack from the old opponent.
In the rest, Aioani is nothing more than the shadow of the goalkeeper who was said to be the goalkeeper of the national team, gladiator Onea is nothing but a teddy bear, Borza is still being told that the scouts are fighting to see him, to take him, that he just beats the bullies. It's a shame, he has quality, but I'm really afraid he won't waste it too.
Christensen is just a velvet wiking, too fragile, too good at football, unable to be the leader that Giulestiul keeps dreaming of, Grameni has forgotten what he learned at Hagi, Keita has other problems, Dobre seems to be just tipping.
I watched what he does when he loses the ball. Most of the time it stays. No attempt at recovery, none of the determination with which he conjured his appearance in cherry and white. It was activated again in the second part, but it is little, too little.
Major repairs are fast
Pașcanu and Kramer seemed to be the only ones who gave the impression that they wanted to and even could. The last to and saved Aioani at the start of the match. But only with them, Rapid is not and cannot make claims even for the Conference.
The so-called revival in the second half was only an impression, given that CFR got into the box. That desperate possession with no horizon, with some bigger opportunities only in the last 10 minutes.
But in the end, without Synian's gift, Gâlcă's boys probably wouldn't have scored that goal when Moruțan was almost injured.
It is clear, not now, but for a long time, that the Rapid needs major repairs. I honestly don't even know where to start. That the steering, acceleration, brakes have broken again, the mechanic can no longer control anything.
It is clear that Gîlcă no longer fits into the landscape, that its peace and balance no longer have any charm, any effect. They lasted a while, but they are no longer enough. The problem is that others are in the same situation, from the chancellery to the grass.
It's going to be a hot summer in Giulesti. But until then, let's see who and how escapes the fury of betrayed love that keeps pouring out from the stands. How strange it was to listen to those moments in the second half when even the drums went silent. That doesn't sound good at all.
