It was only later with the Strikers (with stars such as Gerd Muller, Teofilo Cubillas, Ray Hudson and Branko Segota) where he loosened up and got his teams attacking and the Strikers had two very successful seasons getting to the semi-finals twice.
He continued to start for Wolfsburg until coach Eckhard Krautzun, who had sought Lapper's services, was fired by team management.