Stade Rennes – Saint-Etienne: Sampaoli, first warning
At a press conference, Jorge Sampaoli calmly made an initial observation: according to him, Rennes does not have players currently capable of making a difference.
It was with Olympian calm that he once again spoke in front of the press, for a pre-match conference. In Spanish, with a smile and an easy joke, Jorge Sampaoli neither saw nor knew, placed in the middle of a general story, two sharp observations about his squad.
No players capable of winning a match
For half an hour, the coach recalled his desire to see an orderly group, solid defensively and offensively. “The priority is to put this team in order. We will get through this together. Our organization must disorganize the rival”summarized the technician, who repeated his remarks several times in different forms.
Until slipping in another observation. “Then we can get out of it in an anarchic way, but we need players who make the difference, win matches on their own. And in Rennes I don’t see any.” Relaunched on his next eleven, the Argentinian gave his conditions. “According to my analysis before arriving, I have players with great abilities, but some have not yet shown. Some players do not measure up to my analysis. It may have to do with the context, the psychological situation. What I want are players capable of rebelling, giving absolutely everything against Saint-Etienne. I want the image of the club to change, to generate something among the public, some emotion. »
Gouiri, Blas, a lack of revolt?
Among the players not up to par, we can think of Jota or Ludovic Blas, expected starters and ultimately replacements against Lille. “The situation of each player is currently being re-evaluated. We do an analysis, and I make choices”justifies Sampaoli, tougher with regard to Amine Gouiri, supposed to be an offensive leader.
“I hope Gouiri can be that player. But today it is not, Sampaoli confides. “One day, it could be Gouiri. No doubt for multiple factors that I have not yet identified. With Marseille, I suffered enormously here. Rennes was fast with and without the ball. Rennes has lost that. For there to be leadership, I have to find these players who are unbalancing.”
And Sampaoli sums it up. “Today we favor players who will give everything. We are not going to negotiate this. You need players capable of rebelling. We are all involved in a difficult process, to which Stade Rennes is not accustomed. We want to quickly get out of this situation. » The message got through.
