Sabri Lamouchi had his first successful Rennes coach against Nantes. A year later, the derby is again an essential appointment for the technician, criticized after his choices in Kiev.
A year later, he still has emotions in this first derby, this great vertigo that is decisive for the future. Sabri Lamouchi will never forget because he will always consider this Rennes - Nantes of November 25, 2017 as the tipping point, the founding actor.
One can even write that he was really born Rennes coach that Saturday, a week after his losing baptism in Strasbourg (1-2). "Yes, you can," he corroborates. I had my first game at Roazhon Park for this derby and my first win in Ligue 1. About me, things started from there. After, we won at Angers and then against Amiens. With these three victories in one week, we have been able to put things in place with much more calm, and a coach needs serenity and confidence ... "
The underlying message is understood, the past refers to the present. "It's a coincidence, I could have started with another match, but the fact is that the most important match for the Rennes fans was the most important for me. There was the fact of having made important decisions at that time, of having made the players join the team so quickly, to have had success as is always necessary in the tricky matches. After losing to the Meinau, there could have been questions, it was normal. I can read the articles ... »
The answer to Vahid Halilhodzic
A year later and while he has one more year since Friday (47), Lamouchi remains an attentive reader and did not appreciate the articles following the defeat in Kiev, Thursday (1-3), to the point of their attributing the misunderstanding, deep and legitimate, supporters regarding his choices. "Above all, there is a lack of understanding among journalists, who inevitably relate things that fans read. We can have a lot of regrets, but not that of the team composition. "
By losing in Ukraine without wishing to win, he exposed himself to the greater responsibility of the defeat and inflated the pressure on this derby, for his players and also for him. "I'm not going to deny that a victory would do good," he admits, in a much more nuanced speech than last season, when he said, so soon after his arrival: "That's the game of the season for any supporter Rennes. "
Since the obligation to win has become even more pronounced after Kiev, it now reduces the scope of the meeting: "I prepare my match by simply telling my players that it matters to our fans, that's an obvious fact, but that in reality it is only worth three points. "
It is obviously infinitely more, Lamouchi knows it and dreams of using it, to walk in his own footsteps. To launch a series of successes on this Sunday when the red and black people will come to Roazhon Park maintain a feeling, this pride stretched over the invincibility, nine derbies in a row without losing against the enemy. A beautiful Rennes tradition facing a neighbor who shows off his record at every reunion.
This time, this systematic reflex came from Vahid Halilhodzic: "It's a prestigious meeting even if we can not compare the winners of FC Nantes and Rennes ...". "It's only his. Talking things before the matches, there are some who know how to do it, Lamouchi replies. I do not think he said that when he coached Stade Rennais ... "
Relaunched by four successes of rank, the Canaries land Lorient road with tunes of hurricane able to take everything in its path. They believe their time is finally here, after breaking their teeth on SRFC individuals in recent years. Dembélé, Toivonen, Ntep have marked the recent history of the derby. Khazri, also used last year for the first time and author of a doubled (2-1), including a goal tainted by an offside but validated, and therefore even more savored by fans.
It was especially Lamouchi who had won the last derby at Roazhon Park, through his choices, this find in attack, Zeffane out of the cellar and overweight Gnagnon left on the bench. It's always up to him to win today.