After an intense game against Lille, Stade Rennes will make the short trip to their struggling neighbour Lorient, this Sunday. The Rouge et Noir are facing a very committed derby. Main issue for Rennes, the internationals on duty earlier this week are either “very tired or even injured”, according to Frédéric Antonetti.
The draw snatched in the final minutes against Lille is a new reference for the Stade Rennais. “This could be a good starting point, Frédéric Antonetti admitted in the press conference this Friday. Many players have surpassed themselves, and nearly all of them have played 10% over their usual level.”
After this fine collective performance, the Rennais have spent a pretty unordinary week in training, without a complete session until Friday. In cause, the high number of players called with their international team. Eight regular professionals have gone out with their national team, U21 (Vincent Pajot, Chris Mavinga and Yacine Brahimi) or A (Yann M’Vila, Razak Boukari, Jonathan Pitroipa, Mevlut Erding and John Boye).
This Firday, the Rennes manager regreted being “in a lot of trouble” since “the international players came back very tired, or even injured”. Mevlut Erding hasn’t recovered early enough, he is out, and John Boye isn’t in the best of shapes either. The former was in Turkey and played twenty minutes against Slovakia, the latter played with Ghana on the East Coast of the United States.
Without Onyekachi Apam, suspended, Kader Mangane and Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik were expected to partner at centre-back. The Rennes coach estimated the chances they would start together at “80%”. The captain is still suffering with a metatarsal injury and his team-mate with a knee tendinitis. “We couldn’t have a training session on a synthetic pitch, we will have to see how they cope with tomorrow’s session”, Frédéric Antonetti explained. This Saturday, Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik, like Mevlut Erding, had to pull-out of the game.
Rennes will have to fight against the Merlus, 14th, who haven’t won a Ligue 1 game since November 27th. Lorient are known to “play a really high-tempo game”, according to Frédéric Antonetti, who considers that the key to win the game will be the “ball recovery”. A sector of play which commands a strong team-effort.
The professional squad also needs to recharge the batteries. Before getting in the final sprint, they will travel to Carnac, next Tuesday, for a three-day training camp. A camp of “regeneration for some, a mini-preparation for the others”, Frédéric Antonetti explains. “He will allow us to gather all together as a group and bring everyone back to the same level. Some need to recover, other to work a bit harder”. Planned at the same time last season, this camp had been cancelled. The team had then collapsed at the end of the season. “I’ve noticed that the house is starting to crack, so we will try to cement it”, the manager finally explained before the derby.
Nicolas Auffray - Le Mensuel de Rennes
- Photo : www.rennes.lemensuel.com
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