DECRYPTION: Jorge Sampaoli, expertise awaited by Stade Rennes
During the official presentation of Jorge Sampaoli, particular emphasis was placed on the expertise and experience of the new first team coach and his staff, while the conclusions of the audit carried out by the club are expected soon. .
The new era begins this Tuesday for Rennes. Exactly 230 days after the announcement of Julien Stéphan's extension by Olivier Cloarec and Florian Maurice to the press, Jorge Sampaoli appeared accompanied by Arnaud Pouille and Frederic Massara. In almost 7 and a half months, the entire triumvirate will have been renewed, for what appears to be a break with recent history for the Breton club.
With a character and ideas of play very different from what is practiced in Ligue 1, the Argentinian stands out with a club known for being discreet, reserved and constantly pushing humility further. This is another way of doing things that is expected, but also requires expertise. “What also weighed in our decision was Jorge’s experience, a great CV, and he has the advantage of coming with expert and competent staff who will help him get set up”summarized Arnaud Pouille, having insisted on the experience and the eye of the new team which will discover tomorrow morning a part of the squad in training.
The expertise of « bon expert » Sampaoli, seeming to contrast with his predecessor Julien Stéphan. “When you pick up the thread, Julien spoke after the match (against Auxerre, editor's note) saying “I still have the courage”, engaging things for him. Afterwards, we sat down with Frederic for a certain number of days to say “were the comments related to what was happening in training? The answer was no”Pouille explained about last week's curious timing.
A good expert, with what staff?
These comments once again materialize the doubts that existed among management regarding the level of training under the former staff, and therefore, consequently, their expertise. Just like Julien Stéphan, assistants Denis Zanko and Bouziane Benaraibi are engaged in a procedure with Stade Rennes, while Rudy Cuni, video analyst and close friend of Stéphan, was not on the match sheet on Sunday, and was then following a reflection which should lead to a departure for him too.
This modification of the existing staff comes after an audit carried out by Arnaud Pouille two weeks ago, and entrusted to Grégory Dupont. “It was started to help. It ended Sunday evening, we will have the results on Thursday”said the leader this Tuesday. “It will be all the more useful as it will allow the new coach and his assistants to have a fairly precise view of what exists here within the club. Interviews were also conducted with those in charge of the center”.
However, trends are already emerging. The future of Romaric Boch, physical trainer who arrived in June from Lorient at the request of Julien Stéphan to fill the departure of Grégory Gaillard, remains far from Rennes. This could also be the case for Thomas Choinard (performance manager). Olivier Sorin would not be leaving, just like César Arghirudis (video analyst).
A certainty already exists, Jorge Sampaoli arrives with three assistants: Diogo Meschine (the closest, with whom he thinks about his tactics and his composition), Pablo Fernandez (physical trainer) and Marcos Fernandez (son of Pablo, also physical trainer). “I think what matters most is skill and expertise. What we wanted was to find the right expert for the club,” summarizes Pouille. A staff « expert » whose expertise is greatly awaited to relieve a team currently at the bottom of the bucket. Construction begins tomorrow morning.
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