Metzy mess and Thomert grabs two.

By: Shazback | August 28th, 2007

Now, I know I’m late. Damn late. But stick with me, because Rennes won, and won with class.

You’ve got to know when you were wrong, and I was wrong about Olivier Thomert. After he failed to score in 11 games out of 11 last season, I was expecting him to be pushed down the picking order by Briand’s youth, Pagis‘ experience, as well as Wiltord and Emerson’s arrivals. But it seems that competition might just be what Thomert needs.

If you read my preview of Rennes - Metz, then you’ll notice that I was expecting a 4-4-2 with Pagis and Briand up front. Well, Rennes played in more of a 3-4-3, with Thomert very high on the left wing, and M’Bia as low midfielder. My predicted starting XI was correct, save for two players : Borne and Sorlin were benched in favour of Thomert and Didot.

The first half was, I’ll admit it, quite boring. Pagis and Briand missed a chance to open the score after 7 minutes, and then there were only a few half-chances until the 30th minute, when Metz’s Aguirre lead a counter-attack, but couldn’t find the net. The last few minutes of the first half were more entertaining however, as Rennes seemed to find a little more fluidity in their passing moves, and earned a few corner kicks and throw-ins in dangerous positions. But just as I was thinking that I could go and get myself something to nibble, Thomert finished a neat Rennes move : Briand shielded a ball from Metz’s defence, found Leroy with a superb through-ball, and instead of shooting, Leroy played the ball back to Thomert, unmarked, to open his goal tally with Rennes, after 16 games.

Now, the second half was really a whole lot better, as Rennes seemed to push up a gear. Right from the start, Rennes were more active, pressing Metz a little more, and trying more to find gaps in the Messine defence. After ten minutes, Thomert doubled his tally (I hope the flood-gates are open now), once again on a pass by Leroy. Leroy recieved a ball by Didot, waited for Thomert to start his run, and then just slipped the ball into Thomert’s run, where he beat Marichez for the second time of the evening.

But the main event was, of course, Wiltord’s 57th minute replacement of Briand. Briand had been having a good match, so I wondered why he was the one that came off, but I guess Dréossi knew what he was doing, because Rennes went from a side that was finding small gaps in Metz’s back four to a side that made it look like Metz were only 7 or 8. Wiltord hit the post on his second touch of the ball, and he was perfect : always on the move, pulling defenders onto his dummies, playing neat passing and skilful flick-ons, as well as always going forwards, be it on the wing, deep in Metz’s half, or just after the centre circle. For me, Wiltord was the man of the match. Metz were unable to stop him, and Marichez thanked his other post for stopping Wiltord’s 74th minute shot. But Pagis, Leroy and Marveaux had chances to make the score 3-0, yet their luck wasn’t any better than Wiltord’s : Pagis’s lob went over the crossbar, Leroy’s lob was too low to get over Marichez’s outstreched hands, and Marveaux’s head was a few inches short on a great cross by Wiltord.

Two nil is a very good result, as it confirms Rennes’ form. Although Metz weren’t a big danger, Rennes need all the points they can take, and getting 3 points against the newly-promoted sides is crucial considering how close standings can be at the end of the year (also, a 2-goal win means that you get maximum points in the “offensive” league, and that’s a lot of money…). But more than the end result, what’s great about this win is the style Rennes showed during the second half : Wiltord, Pagis, Leroy, Marichez, Sorlin, Didot, Thomert, Cheyrou… everyone was on song. In fact, the only problem Rennes still have is defence, as Pouplin seemed to be playing within himself, and although Hansson was decent, he couldn’t fill in for a M’Bia who was prone to being a bit careless. But with Jeunechamp, Mensah and Danzé coming back into the squad (and there might be a last-minute addition if the Rbati impresses on trail), I think that the “weak” defence Rennes showed today was an overall ok show.

Well, I’m happy with myself too. I’m giving my predictions a 60% rating. I made a few mistakes in the starting line-ups, including leaving out Thomert. I predicted 3-0, and it was only 2-0, thanks to Marichez’s posts. I thought Rennes would score early and then Wiltord would get a goal and an assist, but Thomert scored both goals off Leroy assists either side of the half-time break. But I was right on the impact Wiltord would have on Rennes play, and I feel like I was quite accurate on both sides’ playing intentions.

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In other news, Rennes are 8th, with 8 points, after 5 games. We’re in front of Lille (9th), Lyon (10th with a game in hand), Marseille (11th), Paris (14th) and Caen (16th with a game in hand). This means that Rennes are The Offside leaders of Ligue 1. Yay!