Antonetti : “The situation is unbearable”

Stade Rennais is yet to fall against the big teams this year. Against Lille, Paris, Lyon and Marseille, the Breton team clinched four draws before travelling to Bordeaux, another Ligue 1 hopeful, this Sunday. “I had not even realised this”, Antonetti concedes.

During the press conference, the Rennes manager seemed more concerned with a particular issue: the reduced number of players available to him. Rod Fanni is reportedly about to join Marseille and could be missing the game at Chaban-Delmas. Frédéric Antonetti will let him go, since he had given his word to the player. “I always stay true to my promises”, he simply comments.

« The biggest worry is Apam, who isn’t recovering from his knee surgery, not Fanni », he adds. The Nigerian had return to complete training at the beginning of the week. “And the pain is still there”, the Rouge et Noir manager explains. Consequently, a doubt remains on the Nigerian’s ability to play from January. “If Rod and Apam are missing in January, it will be worrying. We will need to react quickly”; In other words, recruit a defender during the transfer window.

"In Stress"

The Rennes squad was purposely reduced this summer. Since then, the Stade Rennais had been hit by multiple injuries. Victor Hugo Montaño, Kader Mangane and Rod Fanni have all missed several games. At the moment, Sylvain Marveaux, Alexander Tettey, Kévin Théophile-Catherine and Onyekachi Apam are injured. Jérôme Leroy and Kader Mangane were left to rest and missed Thursday’s training session. "The situation is unbearable. It can’t continue like this, the Corsican manager complains. Every time we set up a more intense training session, we are afraid to lose a player. (…) I’m in stress at the moment, we’ve gone over the limit.”

Saved by the youngsters… And Lemoine ?

How to explain the “Rouge et Noir”’s good position in the Ligue 1 ranking then? “We did well because the youngsters proved very competitive”, the coach replies, while regretting he was never able to make any “sportive choices”.

This Sunday, Samuel Souprayen, Abdoul Camara & Tongo Doumbia are very likely to be on the pitch at kick-off, having played 22 Ligue 1 matches between the three of them. Four months after his bad kidney injury, Fabien Lemoine could even be returning. “With such a reduced squad, anything can happen”, Frédéric Antonetti admits.
And when told that in Bordeaux, in front of the Canal + cameras, his team could send a clear message by winning the game… “All I’m interested in is to repeat the performance displayed in Marseille, with the same behaviour, the same ambition and the same intention”, he demands.

Nicolas Auffray - Le Mensuel de Rennes

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