Ligue 1, Caen 1 - 0 Stade rennais. Analysis. In a freezing Stade d’Ornano, Stade Rennes stumbled on a Caen team regrouped and very able to counter-attack. Inexistent in the first half because of a failing midfield, the attacking animation was revived in the second act thanks to the entrance of Leroy & Brahimi.
Snow only just cleared from the pitch, polar temperatures, pink lines and ball, the spectators at the Stade d’Ornano were witnessing a real winter game this Wednesday between the two Stade, Malherbe on one side, Rennais on the other. Whoever says a wintery game often means a field of potatoes, and this last game of 2010 was no exception to the rule.
Some would say that the quality of the pitch prevented Rennes to play their game, but this would be giving this excuse too much credit. If one reason should be remembered, which probably upset Rennes’ tactics, it would rather be the last minute forfeit of Jirès Kembo. Once more, his name was included in the XI starters lists, after the striker had been feeling pains once more during warm-up.
Forced to change his team, Frédéric Antonetti decided to innovate. Rather than calling - as last Saturday – Brahimi to play on the right wing, the Rennes manager decided to give Tettey the nod, with Dalmat playing further up the field.
Retrospectively, the idea wasn’t exactly bad. Doumbia and Tettey have got the physical and technical qualities to ensure the transmission between M’Vila (placed as an anchor in front of the defence) and Montaño at centre forward. Doumbia’s ability to power through the centre of the field is well known, and Tettey, although he barely showed it since he arrived in Brittany, is famed for his attacking rushes and his long range shots.
Unfortunately, this new-look midfield was a complete failure during the first half. Even more than usual, Montaño was left alone in attack, making his ability to play as a pivot completely useless. Tettey - certainly lacking rhythm as he played only his second game this season - was completely transparent, with a nearly inexistent influence to the game, and a striking inability to go forwards. Doumbia brought a bit more to the attacking sector, but the lanky player was in big difficulties on the frozen pitch, and the youngster kept on slipping and missing passes.
As if it wasn’t enough, M’Vila went down to the level of his two partners at midfield during the first half. The team’s metronome as usual, he did not lose his influence (100 balls played during the game) but failed to complete an unusually high number of passes, a clear problem at his position. An injury to the hand during warm-up caused him some balance issues, and it is one of his mistakes that allowed Hamouma to score the goal.
Unable to power through Caen’s first defensive line, the Rennes midfielder didn’t make things easier to his attacking line. Camara, on the left wing, was probably the most incisive Rennes player in the first half, but he still lacks efficiency in his deliveries and was rarely found by his team-mates (22 balls played in 75 minutes). Dalmat showed that his best position is at the heart of midfield. With qualities not allowing him to play in the depth, he played a pivotal role for most of the time, trying to achieve combinations with Danzé and make the difference with dribbles. Not really convincing.
With Rennes still in command of the ball possession (over 70% during the first half), Caen could only play the counter-attack, and they would play it perfectly during most of the game. In that kind of game, it is easy to be seduced by the team finding wide spaces, and eventually creating more chances for itself. Without the ball and forced to run after it, the Caen player didn’t show much however, apart for their defensive solidity. As for Rennes, they had everything to win that game, if they had played a bit higher up, if they had had more inspiration in the last thirty metres.
Despite the defeat, there are still a few satisfactions in this game. At the back, and despite Hamouma’s goal, the defence showed its solidity once again, with Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik’s impressive power and Mangane coming to help his attacking sector by multiplying the rushes forward. But the main satisfaction was the double change at the beginning of the second half, with Doumbia and Tettey coming out and Leroy and Brahimi replacing them.
Since the beginning of the season, the latter has only been playing in attack, either left or right wing, by Frédéric Antonetti. It was therefore expected that Dalmat and Leroy would be positioned at midfield, with Brahimi in front of us, but the French-Algerian was actually positioned as a playmaker, his favourite position.
Immediately, the face of the game change drastically. Dalmat, who had a serious game, found more influence and a showed the bases of a technical complementary with Brahimi. Together, the players finally managed to go beyond Caen’s first defensive line, and could then bring some pressure on Thébaux’ goal.
Attracting most of the Malherbe defence to the centre, the Rennes attack opened more opportunities on the wings. Leroy and Danzé were finding more spaces on the right wing, developing a few attacks concluded by crosses. In other terms, the whole team creativity was suddenly boosted for Rennes.
Obviously, everything remained far from perfect, and this optimistic summary deserved to be moderated. We could therefore regret the lack of realism by Stade Rennes in front of the goal, as we will note that Caen’s defense is only the 17th in Ligue 1, and left without its usual defensive midfielder, Damien Marcq. However, in less than 40 minutes, Rennes had created themselves nearly as many clear occasions as over the last three games together.
Losing a one-to-one against Thébaux in the last minutes of the game, Brahimi scored points however, with his ability to unbalance a defence by running through it shining through. Often opposed to ultra-defensive teams, Rennes had never seemed as able to score on the play as they were this Wednesday, with their young midfielder in control. Certainly something to think about for Frédéric Antonetti and the second part of Rennes’ season.
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