Lille – Stade Rennes: Jordan James, the clearing in the fog
Finally coming into play, the Welshman brought a fresh breath of fresh air to the midfield by doing what none of his counterparts have been able to do so far: playing forward.
It's a sigh of relief, a deliverance even, for many observers of Stade Rennes, and in particular for one of the finest among them: Sunday November 24, 2024, Jordan James played with Stade Rennes, and more only 20 minutes.
Coming into play at the break in place of the invisible Glen Kamara, the Welshman was entitled to his most playing time since the start of the season with Rennes. Returning against Strasbourg (18 minutes), Montpellier (1 minute) then Lens (8 minutes), “Jay-Jay” played an entire half with a team in which he had not appeared for two months!
Against PSG (September 27) and Toulouse (November 10), under two different coaches (Julien Stéphan and Sébastien Tambouret), he was even left out of the group, although not injured. After this meeting against Lille, many still wonder why.
Finally some forward play
Because Jordan James has been available since this summer with Rennes, but it is with his selection that he has played the most (279 minutes) since September, with the Nations League. Joe Rodon's compatriot came to Rennes to look for a “springboard” in his career, at 20 years old, and for three months has only found a cave from which Jorge Sampaoli has just taken him out.
“He brought energy and personality by bringing the ball up to the attackers, it’s a good start, he did a good job”said the coach after the meeting, in comments reported by Ouest-France. Above all, James achieved what no midfielder seems to have been able to do for months: play forward.
And the Welshman did it well with 23 passes out of 23 completed, a 100% that only Alidu Seidu, Ludovic Blas and Jota share with him, but with no more than 7 passes on the clock. James held on to half of his duels (4 out of 8) and worked a lot on the left side in his own camp, to block, recover and restart. In the Rennes fog, there is the only clearing this morning.
