There can only be one

By: Shazback | September 19th, 2007

One Champion of Brittany that is. With Nantes leaving Ligue 1 last year and Guingamp having been enjoying Ligue 2 with Brest for the past 3 years, there were only two clubs from Brittany this year in Ligue 1 : Lorient and Rennes.

Football clubs in Brittany Now, Nantes is not administratively part of Brittany, since they are in Loire-Atlantique, but many people agree that it was simply an administrative move made by the French Republic of 1791 to avoid giving administrative Brittany a large town that had military capacities, when Brittany was strongly divided upon joining or rejecting the Republic, leading to counter-revolutionary movements such as the Chouans who fought for the restoration of the royal family.

Rennes is the administrative capital of Brittany since 1791, but has always been contested this leadership by Nantes, the bigger, stronger, more visible town of the peninsula. And football was no exception to this rule. Nantes was a powerhouse of Ligue 1, with 44 consecutive Ligue 1 seasons (1963-2007), 8 Ligue 1 titles (runners-up 7 times), and most of all, a playing style that became an institution : “le jeu à la Nantaise“. Short passing moves, collective play and technical quality were the bases of a football style that had Nantes crushing Rennes almost every year, and whilst Rennes languished in mid-table obscurity, Nantes was fighting against Saint-Etienne, Marseille, Monaco, Paris and Lyon for championship titles. They even set a record that even Lyon hasn’t bettered when they won the league in 1994/1995 after conceding only one defeat in 38 league games.

The XXIth century, however, has seen the Nantes powerhouse loose impetus whilst Rennes improved under Pinault’s presidency. A last league title in 1999/2000 (last team to win the league before Lyon’s six) seemed to be a great way to enter the new millennium. But bad leadership by several key members of the club’s staff meant that Nantes haven’t been able to get back to that high since, as they plunged to relegation battles in 2005 and 2007, loosing the latter. Over the past three seasons, Rennes bettered Nantes’ results in Ligue 1, and the power has shifted from Nantes to Rennes.

One last contestant challenges Rennes for the title of “Champion of Brittany” : recently promoted Lorient. Lorient are more of the typical Brittany town, with quaint harbour and fishers, chalk cliffs and limestone houses. But Rennes set the record straight when the Stade visited the town that their stadium is called after.

Marveau applauds against Lorient The Stade du Moustoir was host to the game between Lorient and Rennes, with both teams surprisingly high in the league : Lorient who were expected to be in the lower strates of the league had a great start and were well inside the top 3 for a few games. Rennes were expected to have a slow start, with so many new faces in the starting 11, and the loss of key team players such as Utaka and Melchiot. The game was promising, since both teams were on-form, and whilst Lorient had lost at home to Valenciennes 3 weeks before, they had beaten Paris, Monaco and Lyon, and Dew Lille and Bordeaux… So it seemed that when facing “big” sides, Lorient was able to get all 3 points. However, Rennes were the best defence in Ligue 1 so far, and on a 6-game undefeated streak.

Lorient had the better start, with 20 very good minutes, lead by attacking maestro Vahirua. Luizi’s second start with Rennes was better than the first though, as he managed to ward off the shots that came his way calmly, perhaps thanks to the fact that Mensah was making his come-back from injury. After a slow start, Marveaux and Didot started to run Rennes’ midfield the way they are used to, and seemed more and more in control of the game. It was Didot who scored the lone goal of the match, when his 34th minute free-kick was dodged by Leroy and found its way between Audard’s legs.

From that point on, Rennes were always the better side, with Sorlin and Wiltord completing the midfield line-up. Briand put in a good performance, but was unable to add a goal to his tally, in spite of a few efforts that came close to increasing the margin. Edman and Fanni comforted their starting position with good, if unremarkable, perfomances. M’Bia also seemed more confident in his central defence role, filling in for Hansson, and seems to be getting better each time he plays. He’ll be a good safety to have once Hansson and Mensah are both in form, but I doubt he’ll keep the starting spot.

Lorient had a good game, but were let down by Saifi, invisible in midfield, allowing Rennes an easy domination. Props to Vahirua, Marin and Marchal, who were the best three players of their side, even if Vahirua suffered from a constant lack of support.

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As for something slightly different, Rennes’ defenders Hansson and Edman featured in Sweden’s difficult win over an impressive Montenegro side. Vucinic opened the scoring for Montenegro, but Sweden hit back twice through Prica and Rosenborg. Whilst Edman played the whole game and seemed unfazed by the weak winger he was up against, Hansson was replaced at half-time, with a slight knock, having put in a decent performance that was marred by a few mistakes due to inattention. Marveaux didn’t play for the French youth team, even though he was on the bench.

In conclusion : Rennes are 4th of Ligue 1, just behind Lyon, Nancy and Bordeaux. Rennes are joint best side on the road, and best overall defence.