Frédéric Antonetti has had an « exhausting » season managing the Stade Rennais. He was aiming for fifth place with a highly inexperienced squad. Before the home game against Nancy, on Saturday, he looks back at the “main lesson” he learnt this year.
After the difficult times over the last few weeks, are you looking forward to be at the start of next season?
Frédéric Antonetti : The season isn’t over, I’m looking forward to finish fifth at the moment. Considering where we started from and what we have, it would mean we did an excellent season. Then it will time to take a good rest since the season has been exhausting. Never again will I start a season like this year, with expectancies too high put on players with no Ligue 1 experience. It is very hard. It is a negative pressure to say we will build on the Academy, give a chance to the youngsters and then given a challenge that is too high. This is what I have learnt from this season as a coach. If one day I’m asked to give the chance to youngsters, I will say “no problem”, but if I’m also given the mission to qualify for Europe, I’d say “take those keys back and find someone else”.
Paradoxically, it worked.
Yes, it worked, but I can also tell you I feel five years older. I won’t do it again as this is a negative pressure. If we have objectives, it has to be according to the certainties at the beginning of the season. This is the main lesson I take from this season. I will never take the risks I’ve taken this year again.
Is this a message to your management?
No. This is personal experience, not a message to the management. The policy won’t be the same next season. We won’t start from as far. Théophile-Catherine, Brahimi, Kana-Biyik and many more you could see and appreciate at their real level, will all be one year older. We committed to a bold and very risky policy. But this season, we took a major risk, especially because we had injuries during the season. We lost key players such as Marveaux or Apam. True, it allowed Kana-Biyik to explode, but it was too much. There was a lack of balance. It worked because some players were far better than I imagined, but the objectives must be coordinated with the resources. We had 10 or 11 experiences players, and when three or four were injured, we realised it was difficult on the long-term. None of the managers of the teams above us would have taken such a risk. The man who took the risks this season, it’s me.
It would maybe be good not to let too many players leave the club in late summer, as in August last year?
Yes, we pay for August. The positive point however, is that the finances are solid, and at the moment we have some serenity on that level.
Nicolas Auffray - Le Mensuel de Rennes
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