Funny things about Rennes-Marseille

By: Shazback | January 16th, 2008

Whilst I was watching Rennes-Marseille, I was surprised by the large amount of trivia that the commentators were talking about. So I decided to have a little look of my own on what was strange in this game that happened only one day short of a year after the last Rennes-Marseille in Ligue 1, also for the 20th match of the season…

From brothers to injuries, through Guy and the ANC… Rennes vs. Marseille was full of useless trivia.

Brotherly love :

Bruno Cheyrou started for Rennes, playing against his younger brother Benoît Cheyrou. Whilst Bruno was infamously dubbed the “New Zidane” by Houllier upon signing with Liverpool in 2002, Benoît has kept a lower profile, playing only in France so far.

They used to be heroes :

Jérôme Leroy, Bruno Cheyrou and Mickaël Pagis all played for Marseille before joining Rennes. Leroy joined from arch-rivals Paris SG in 1999, only to be sold back to Paris in 2002, without knowing much success with Marseille. Last season he was instrumental in Sochaux’s win over Marseille in the 2007 Coupe de France final, securing him a lot of resent in the hearts of many Marseille fans. Cheyrou was loaned to Marseille by Liverpool for the 2004/05 season, but a transfer never materialised. Pagis only had a short stint with Marseille from January 2006 to June 2007, and despite two French Cup finals and a 2nd place with Marseille last season, he lost his position in the starting XI and chose to leave last summer.

Marseille didn’t field any homecomers, since Jacques Faty was injured. He was in the stands though, so that’s like a semi-comeback…

Who’s that Guy?

Guy Lacombe isn’t unknown by Marseille fans. Apart from having committed the “sin” of managing Paris SG, he also lead said team to a Coupe de France final win over Marseille in 2006 : 2-1, goals for Paris SG by Bonaventure Kalou and Vikash Dhorasoo, goal for Marseille by Toifilou Maoulida. Mickaël Pagis started for Marseille, but only played 38 minutes before being replaced by Wilson Oruma. Lorik Cana played the whole game against his old club and his future team-mate M’Bami.

Different starts :

Fabien Lemoine made his Ligue 1 début for Rennes, and had a good game. He assisted Pagis to level the scores, and his tireless running was useful for breaking down Marseille and putting pressure on players like Nasri, Valbuena and Akalé. However, he didn’t manage to participate in Rennes’ romp as he was replaced by Thomert with 15 minutes left to play.

Marseille had three debuts againts Rennes, and not two of them were alike! Kanga Akalé celebrated his arrival in the south of France and reminded everyone that he was perhaps why people though Cissé would be one of the best French strikers ever when he played for Auxerre, with tireless running and good crossing that lead to a great assist for Cisssé’s opening goal. Juan Angel Krupoviesa seemed less inspired on his debut, but was solid defensively. However, he was the maker of Marseille’s defeat by recieving a red card that left his team at 10 against 11 for the last 20 minutes. Pape M’Bow also made his debut for Marseille, but was unable to change much as Rennes piled on the pressure. He replaced Valbuena to help the back line, and did decently, but couldn’t shine as Marseille crumbled collectively.

A New Challenge : ANC.

With the ANC, both sides lost a few African players. John Mensah was on duty with Ghana, and therefore missed his first Rennes-Marseille in Rennes… His absence was felt strongly, even though Cheyrou filled in decently alongside Hansson. Stéphane M’Bia’s absence wasn’t as harsh, since the midfield was strong enough to put Didot on the bench. But still, he’s a useful versatile player that was used in defence in case of injury… So without Mensah and M’Bia, thank God Cheyrou has proved to be a good defender!

I wonder how Eric Gerets reacted when he learnt who was leaving for the ANC. The main problem he faced was the loss of top striker Mahamadou Niang. The powerful senegalese striker was one of the few players that didn’t dissapoint so far for Marseille, and with 10 league goals, he’s by far the most efficient striker at the club. What’s more, he has a very good understanding with Nasri, Valbuena and Cissé, meaning he was often crucial to Marseille’s attacks, even when he didn’t score. Modeste M’Bami might not be the most modest player Marseille have on their ranks, nor the best. But he’s a useful player that Gerets might have wanted to have on the bench when Krupoviesa was sent off. However, he was perhaps watching the match with M’Bia as they took a break in training for Cameroon. Now, Kruopoviesa… Who was he brought in for? Well, he’s meant to be back-up/competition for Nigerian Taye Taïwo, who hasn’t been perfect so far. But with the mistake Krupoviesa made and the possible suspension he’ll recieve, Gerets would like Taïwo to be availible, I’m sure. The last player missing for Marseille is the young André “Dédé” Ayew, son of Ghanaian legend Abédi Pélé. He wasn’t missed as much though, with Akalé on fire and good but not stellar performances so far. The only good news for Marseille is that since Algeria didn’t qualify, Karim Ziani is still availible. However, with poor performances so far, it’s not that surprising that Gerets didn’t even have him on the bench against Rennes.

Injured much?

Barcelona are bemoaning their injury list, but Marseille could too… They had so many injured defenders that they had decided to line up youngster N’Diaye, who then proceeded to quickly injure himself on the Friday afternoon training session. It’s only a slight knock, so he still played, but at half-time he was replaced by the convalescent Julien Rodriguez. Apart from those two, Marseille had Faty, Carasso, Zubar, Hamel and Ziani who were more or less injured. Hamel and Zubar stayed in Marseille, but Faty and Ziani came to Rennes only to watch from the stands as their side lost… That’s 7 injured players : the number one and a half (can he get his starting place back from Mandanda?), the fourth goalkeeper (you need one when one of the first three is -always- injured), four defenders, and the second-biggest buy they made this summer.

Rennes were far better off, with -only- 4 injured players… Edman left Echiejile as the lone left-back, Marveaux missed out on an appearance in a pretty innovative midfield line-up, young striker Esteban is still out since he scored his début goal, and Kembo-Ekoko is also out of action for a few weeks with a knock. Luckily for Rennes, only Edman is a regular first-team player, and Esteban and Kembo-Ekoko are more third choice strikers than even bench players for the moment. Marveaux is usually on the bench, but his absence didn’t bother Lacombe much, since Lemoine has pushed Didot on the bench.

Anything else I missed out? Share it with us!