Power, speed, percussion, dribbling … In Rennes, Jérémy Doku still impresses as much, but impatience grows in the face of the ineffectiveness of the young Belgian international winger (19 years old) in the last gesture.
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EStill running in during the resumption against Lens, the most expensive player in the club’s history (transfer estimated at 26 M EUR in October 2020) once again displayed his talent in Brest (1-1) and against Rosenborg (2-0 victory) in recent days, but still in vain.
In the second half during the Europa League Conference play-off on Thursday evening, he recovered a ball in the Rennes camp to go up more than half of the pitch, wiping out three opponents … before stopping at the entrance to the surface for a harmless back pass.
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More infuriating, he missed several clear chances, with a low strike passed just next to the cage against Rosenborg, another not sufficiently supported at close range against Brest goalkeeper Marco Bizot, and even one that fled the frame while he was alone against the empty goal at the very start of the match in Brest.
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“I think I saw it already in it,” he explained after the meeting, visibly disappointed. “These are opportunities that I must put. I feel guilty. I should have been more diligent. ”
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Already last year, his performance had disappointed: 2 goals and 4 assists in 37 matches in the Rennes jersey in all competitions, the equivalent of what he produced in just 7 Belgian league matches with Anderlecht at the start. season before its transfer.
His coaches, Julien Stéphan then Bruno Genesio, have continued to plead leniency and patience, recalling his youth and his lack of experience at the highest level.
“Already old”
But in a particularly young workforce, with holders of 17 or 18 years old and the arrival for example of Mathys Tel, who came into play in Brest at 16 years and 3 months old – even younger than Eduardo Camavinga when he started in 2019- , age is no longer really an argument in Rennes.
“I am 19 years old and I already feel old!” Doku joked after the match in Brest.
Above all, after a full season in Ligue 1 and a successful Euro with Belgium, where he distinguished himself in particular by causing a penalty in the quarter-final lost against Italy (1-2), the argument begins to grow. blunt.
The impression of a waste is all the stronger as on the other wing, the alter ego of Doku, the Ghanaian winger Kamaldeen Sulemana, scorer in his first quarter of an hour in Rennes against Lens, also showed himself more draft in the last matches.
“No room for error in the face of players like that”
“When you are a defender and you are in front of players like that, you often look at the clock in the hope that it ends faster. You have no right to make mistakes, ”nevertheless assured Genesio after the match against Rosenborg.
But the unpredictability of the two small Rennes bombs can sometimes also unsettle their own teammates. “With them, it’s sometimes difficult, they can go left, go right,” said striker Serhou Guirassy.
“Sometimes they feint the attacker,” he added with a smile. “When you are center-forward (…), you have to remain attentive because they can center at any time”.
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