Ken Ilso’s Bundesliga nous and big name backing locked in another Great Dane for Marco Kurz
ADELAIDE United boss Marco Kurz has continued his great Danish affair by welcoming a former Bundesliga forward to the Reds.
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KEN Ilso’s Bundesliga experience and glowing recommendation from former Chelsea midfielder Bjarne Goldbæk convinced Adelaide United Marco Kurz boss to pursue another Great Dane.
Johan Absalonsen proved a Reds favourite with six goals in his only 2017-18 A-League campaign. Kurz has brought former Denmark youth internationals — stopper Michael Jakobsen and No.10 Ilso to Hindmarsh this season.
Adelaide needed a hardened forward to replace Džengis Čavušević and zeroed in on Ilso.
“Marco knows Bjarne and was saying he needed a No.10 so suggested he give me a call,” said Ilso of Goldbaek, who won 21 caps for Denmark and featured for Fulham, Chelsea, FC Copenhagen and Kaiserslautern FC.
“I knew of Marco and he also remembers me from my time in Germany.
“Marco came here and did a very good job last year. Hopefully we can continue the Danish influence.”
Ilso figured for Fortuna Dusseldorf from 2010-13 when Kurz was coaching Kaiserslautern in the Bundesliga and left a “quality” impression.
“Ken is a very good player and someone with a lot of offensive abilities. I have known of Ken for a few years while he was playing in Germany,” said Kurz.
Ilso replaced Shane Smeltz at Malaysian club Kedah in January last year then coveted an A-League sea change upon leaving FA Penang.
Former Reds winger Iain Ramsay sold the 31-year-old on Adelaide United.
“Rambo spoke very highly of the club, loved his time here. I’ve always wanted to play in Australia at some point in my career,” Ilso told The Advertiser.
Adelaide starts its FFA Cup campaign in the round of 32 against Central Coast Mariners with fixtures scheduled between July 24 and August 8 ahead of a Halloween grand final.
A journeyman who has fronted in the Dutch Eredivisie and Danish Superliga, Ilso joins United prioritising silverware.
A marathon A-League pre-season will help to bed down Kurz’ revamped roster.
“It will be good to get stuck in with the team, we are after a higher finish than last year, show energy and direct football. I want goals and people in the stadium,” said Ilso, who slotted 61 goals in 85 matches with Singapore’s Home United and Kedah.
“I felt part of the group after 10 minutes and that’s how Johan Absalonsen said it would be.
“It is very important that I come to stable club where the players know Marco’s training methods.”
Adelaide is doubling down in its search for a left-back with Tarek Elrich rejoining Western Sydney Wanderers and Ben Garuccio landing a dream deal with Scottish side Hearts.
Adelaide added former Melbourne City skipper Jakobsen to fill the central defender slot vacated by Ersun Gulum. Reds championship winger Craig Goodwin returns from Sparta Rotterdam to replace brilliant Absalonsen.