In the DSE, focus is on training the youth !

Last season, it had taken sixteen match days before Loïc Lambert and his players enjoyed their first league victory of the season, during a derby against Cesson-Sévigné (0-1, read article (in french)). This would not prevent the team from being relegated from DH to DSE at the end of the league season.

This year, Loïc Lambert’s players have continued their long, heavy downfall. After two draws at the very beginning of the season, they went on with six consecutive defeats. With the Stade Rennais rock-bottom in the league after yet another heavy defeat to Vitré’s reserve (0-3) on January 9th, it was easy to imagine the tumble continuing with a relegation to the Division Supérieure Régionale (8th Tier) next season.

But to everyone’s surprise, Loïc Lambert et and his players reacting just a week later, thumping the US Saint-Malo’s reserve by a ruthless three goals to nil (Goals by Da Sylva, Dupuy and an own-goal from a Saint Malo player). A success which did not only surprise the observers. The manager of Stade Rennes’ amateur section himself, showed his amazement: “This victory his suprising, he admitted to Ouest-France. It is as deserved as hoped for.”

« There is quality in this team, Loïc Lambert also explained. But during the games, you can only see it appearing sparsely.” Last week-end, on the pitch of a weaker opposition (SSO Ploufragan), Stade Rennes did it again, winning by four goals to nil this time (braces by Da Sylva and Saïd Bacari) !

If this team struggles so much to express its talent, the cause lies very much in its main default: its lack of experience, explained by the team’s very structure. “The team is young, very young, Loïc Lambert explains. It has become even younger since the beginning of the season. I had five first-year U19 players against Saint-Malo. They deserve to be there, but it makes the team younger. The team is structured around four young senior players, whose age is not over 22 years.” Against Ploufragan this week-end, the team travelled with only eleven players, nine of them from the U19 category, Ouest-France specify. “And there isn’t many U19 players, in one or the other of the DSE championship groups”, the former professional comments.

« The professional squad affect every team, all the way down to the U15 »

It is no easy task to do well in the highest regional league indeed, for the third team of a professional club. “from the DH team two years ago, the coach explains, I haven’t got a single player remaining. The difficulty comes from the fact that youngsters start playing with us at a very early age, with a very decent level however, and it is logical for these players to aspire playing for a club’s first team at some point.”
Indeed, quite a few formers players from that team are now playing in the first team of DH sides. “ We are weakened every year. Every year we have to build a new core of players. This is a difficulty linked with being the third team in a professional club. Either you accept it or you don’t. I do accept it, my players have to do with it as well.”

These difficult conditions are understood by the players and the members of staff. It isn’t always the case. At Olympique Lyonnais, for example, the management has taken the decision to simply remove their third team from the competition. Loïc Lambert is bearing with the difficult conditions: « Every week-end, we put up a new team, with players regularly called to the Reserve in CFA. There are obligations linked to the Ligue 1 team. The professional team affects every single team, all the way down to the U15. We are naturally impacted by the situation of the two teams above ours. »

For Loïc Lambert and his staff, the target is not only to remain at the same level, but also to train youngsters: “ We are always stepping in the unknown, about putting the team together, about the players’ behaviour. All I ask from them for the second half of the season is to show more maturity. They lack it, we know for a fact that they will lack it until the end of the season. We are still hoping to remain at this level, but we won’t focus only on survival at this moment. The players have to be more consistent. They will be naturally rewarded if they show more maturity, mental qualities. As for the good performances, they will only come along each player’s individual progression.”