Rennes who’s who. (2)

By: Shazback | September 4th, 2007

In my last instalment of the Rennes who’s who series, I presented John Mensah, Etienne Didot and Jérôme Leroy.

I’ve decided to keep the same format, so I’m going to present 3 players. One from the youth system, one of this summer’s signings, one older signing, and all three players will play in different positions. What’s more, I’m trying to get players that are in shape and play first team football. So, I’m going to present Mario Melchiot’s Swedish replacement, Rennes’ home-grown replacement of John Utaka and Alexander Frei, and then the player who’s performances allowed Dréossi to let Olivier Monterrubio leave for Lens.

The first player is, as you might have guessed, Petter Hansson, our latest Swedish import.

Last season, I didn’t know Petter Hansson. Sure, I’d seen him a few times for the national Swedish side, but I hadn’t paid that much attention, because I was too concerned with Källström, Isaksson and Edman’s efforts to watch anybody else. When news came to my ears that Rennes were looking at a Swedish defender, I was pretty happy, because none of Rennes’ Swedes have failed to deliver, and if the scouting cell is sure they want this swede, then he’ll probably do well. However, when I learnt that he played for Heerenveen, I looked a little closer. After all, I only knew that Heerenveen had prolific striker Afonso Alves in their ranks, and I hadn’t heard much about Heerenveen’s defenders. On the other hand, I knew that Heerenveen have a tradition of producing quality players : Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Klaas Jan Huntelaar, John Dahl Tomasson, to state the most obvious. Then, I heard that he had been voted “player of the year” by the club’s fans in 2003 and 2004. The picture was taking shape. A tall, strong defender, Hansson sounds like a good defender to be next to Mensah, as he is reputed to be a consistant performer, and a good header of the ball.

So far, Hansson is proving to be a solid defender, and with only 5 goals conceded in 7 games, despite defensive partners who are far from perfect (M’Bia) or just not yet at Mensah’s level (Borne). In fact, his partnership with Mensah hasn’t yet yielded it’s fruit, as in the two games they played together, Rennes lost one and drew one. However, I think that it was just teething problems, and once they have more playing time together, then Hansson and Mensah will rightly become one of Ligue 1’s best centre-back pairings. Hansson also impressed me by managing to get on the scoresheet so early after signing, as he became the first Rennes player to score this season, after only 183 minutes of play. I know that’s not impressive for a striker, but you’ve got to give credit to a defender who does it.

Who else but Jimmy Briand is John Utaka and Alexader Frei’s replacement?

One of Rennes’ many youth prospects, Briand has got the potential to be a fine striker, both for club and country. His first asset is his strength, using it to protect the ball before shooting on the turn, or to win challenges against defenders. His second asset is his speed, making him a valuable player on the counter-attack who can double up as a winger to multiply Rennes’ offensive options. His third asset is his intelligence, as he proves he can be more than just a “young” Cissé, playing with enough team spirit to pass instead of shooting, looking for through balls and one-twos with his team-mates. Of course, he’s got all the other characteristics a good striker needs as well : lots of stamina, an eye for goal, nice heading, composure when facing the goalkeeper, and a powerful yet precise shot.

Some people say that he’s France’s next Thierry Henry (or that Thierry Henry was France’s first Jimmy Briand). That’s a tall order, but there are a lot of similarities between Briand’s playing style and Henry’s. Both like to go towards the wing to collect balls and then pull a defender towards them before putting the ball through to a team-mate, or flicking the ball past his defender to run at the defence, before placing a crossed instep shot. But there are differences between the two, and not the least. Henry runs at defences far more often, whilst Briand often shields the ball with his body to hold up play for a few seconds before playing the ball to a team-mate, or shooting on the turn. One thing is sure about Jimmy Briand though : he’s got talent, and he’s not afraid to use it.

Now, I’m cheating a tiny bit when I say that Olivier Sorlin is an “old signing”, since he joined Rennes from Monaco in January 2006… However, he had only been playing for Monaco since August 2005, and before that he played for Rennes, where he had played for 4 seasons after Christian Gourcuff had bought him in 2002 from Montpellier to boost Rennes’ Ligue 2 challenge.

So, Sorlin has been a Rennes player since he joined from Montpellier in 2002, minus 6 months of wondering what he was dong next to the Grand Casino of Monaco. And he’s one of the players that bolstered Rennes’ european challenge last season. A winger by trade, Sorlin is used to taking on his man, and his dribbling talent is boosted by the fact that he can use both feet, allowing him to play on either wing to break down opposing defences. Sorlin is also a good crosser of the ball, but to be honest it’s his passing ability and his ability to read the flow of a game that has made him a favourite of Dréossi’s. Dréossi uses Briand, Marveaux, Cheyrou, Thomert and Moreira as real “wingers” when he wants a winger, and gives Sorlin a slightly more central position on the pitch, close enough to the wing so that he can run at defences without being worried about leaving a gap behind him, but also central enough to have players either side of him. This season, Sorlin is going to suffer from competition with Leroy, Wiltord, Marveaux and Cheyrou to get a starting spot, but he’ll probably get a fair share of playing time, as he has proved to be a reliable player, who is often at the start of good moves, and his versatility is probably enough to get him on the match sheet as soon as anyone gets a knock.