Stade Rennais Online - Le forum

Brilliant.

I'm actually a Serbian Atlético-fan who lives in Sweden, moved here in 1992 as a kid when the war broke out in former Yugoslavia.

I watch a lot of football on my spare time and Ligue 1 is just one of many leagues that I follow closely these days, especially with the extensive TV-coverage around.

I  think you guys have a good side; dynamic, often pressuring high up the pitch to counter attack your opponent. The central midfield with M'Vila is interesting, especially when they get a chance to dictate the game. I wouldn't be too hard on Pajot though since he's just come into the side, it often takes time for a young player to adapt to the demands, physically and mentally. I saw some positive things from him against ASSE on Sunday where he showed flashes of his ability.

Pitroïpa is definitely a steal, his close control and dribbling ability is what really makes him stand out. I like the way Féret makes himself available by making runs off the ball as well, he's good at running into spaces behind the opposing defence and also into that space between midfield and defence. Good in terms of interplay too. That type of player is what I really love. Kembo has got the tools to become a good winger but he's way too wasteful in my opinion; doesn't really play enough with his head up, wastes too many chances (although the finish against Sochaux was absolutely brilliant, compare that to all missed chances against Udinese for an example) but he also creates quite a few opportunities. Do you sometimes feel that if he had Boukhari's intelligence combined with his own abilities that he'd be a really good player? That's the feeling I get.

Finally, I think you guys have some issues with the fullbacks. This is something I've been thinking and seeing since the first game against Dijon. I know for instance that Crvena Zvezda tried to utilize their right-winger a bit more because the left side wasn't as strong. Mavinga didn't look good against ASSE to be honest.

How are you guys in general on set-pieces btw? I've got a feeling that you've improved there with Costil playing better (safer in the air, takes more responsability), compare it to the Dijon-game for an example.

Atlético de Madrid: The team started this year really well. We only allowed two goals in nine competetive games before Camp Nou. It should be said that Gregorio Manzano started with 3/4 of his usual backline out so it wasn't really a surprise that we got absolutely thrashed by Barcelona. Arda didn't start either and he's usually a starter. I wouldn't really read all too much into that loss at Camp Nou as the usual starters will be back for Rennes. Barcelona is simply on another level and it isn't strange when they get €100 million more than Atlético in TV-revenue every season, make that two seasons and they're €200 million richer. You can't compete with that and that's why Sevilla for an example have started a war on the TV-rights this summer.

Atlético have changed approach, shape and identity under Manzano during the summer; As you all know, we lost our three most vital players in De Gea (Manchester United), Agüero (Manchester City) and Diego Forlán (Inter). We're now a side who wants possession, who wants to play football. Possession is actually one of the reasons why Atlético's improved so much this year defensively; the opponent can't get the ball off us so the chance of being counter attacked or outrun is much smaller. I'll just give you a stat; the average passing stat last year was 345 passes per game, against Racing in that 4-0-win when Falcao scored a hattrick, we completed 617 passes out of approx. 715. We've also improved a lot on set-pieces, that was usually almost a guranatee for the opponent to score before, we haven't allowed a single goal through set-pieces in 10 games this year and scored on quite a few.

The club have signed 9 new players and two have arrived back from their respective loans. Atlético were active on the transfer market four hours before it closed, so it didn't give us the best opportunity to get our best players together right away. We played without two of our most creative players in Diego and Arda against Valencia for an example and then, when they came on with 25 minutes left, Valencia couldn't borrow the ball from us. Only slip ups in the finishing cost us points there unfortunately.

Courtois
Sílvio (Perea) - Miranda - Domínguez - Filipe Luís
Gabi - Mario - Diego
Reyes - Falcao - Arda

That should be our starting line-up against Rennes considering the importance of the game. Manzano's made a lot of rotations to keep the squad fit and healthy so there could be a surprise, here and there.

Courtois is on loan from Chelsea and have settled in really well, he's a really good goalkeeper who won the Jupiler League with Genk last season. 19 years of age and he's dominant in the air while playing with great attitude.

The backline is usually the one that I posted there. We've finally got a proper right-back after missing out on Fanni. Sílvio is really brilliant, the only negative is that he's injured and a doubt for the Rennes-game. Now, if we start Perea there, things'll look a lot different as he's got no place whatsoever as a fullback. Miranda was in Sochaux a few years ago, didn't settle in, moved back to Brazil and became one of Brazil's best centre backs, actually, he was voted CB of the year for four straight years over there. Domínguez was called up to the Spanish NT last month, such is his progress and he's only 22 years old. Filipe Luís is one of La Liga's best left-backs who had trouble settling in last season after that horrible foot injury he suffered during his last season at Deportivo. Fantastic in attack.

Gabi was signed from Zaragoza and he's just like Féret, a player who've come home after a few years in another club. He's a good passer of the game and he had three assists against Sporting Gijón when we beat them 4-0. All from set-pieces. Mario is the holding midfielder and he'll be trying to break up play and keep the passing game flowing. I'm sure all of you know who Diego is though, he's been looking really good for Atlético in the few games he's played so far.

Reyes haven't adapted well to the new playing system, 4-3-3 but he should be given a starting spot. Falcao is Falcao, fantastic in the air, an incredible goalscorer who scores with his right, left, through headers, his chest, every single possible way. Arda have moved from Turkey and Galatasaray to join Atlético and he's also looked good so far.

So I'm optimistic, this should be a terrifick game.

Thanks for the detailed input, Puchkin. I really appreciate that you took some time and answered my questions, especially this well. The same goes for you, lauig, Big thanks.

Atlético are in for a good right-back to replace Heitinga who's the only option in that position as Valera, who came back from his loan at Racing, isn't good enough. Now, there have been quite a few rumours about Heitinga possibly leaving Atlético before the transferwindow closes on Monday, several clubs like Wolfsburg. Bayern and Everton have showed interest, especially Wolfsburg who want to replace Zaccardo with Heitinga. Atlético needs someone who'll be able to provide offensive presence and still defend rather well 1-on-1 as we've got a very offensive-oriented team with little pace at the back.

The club haven't had the money to actually make an approach for new players, but Atléti just qualified for UEFA Champions League and earned around €9,2 million (€2,1 million for knocking out Panathinaikos and another €7,1 million for reaching the groupstage), so there's money available to make a move now. Appereantly, our sports director, Jesús García Pitarch, is very keen on bringing Fanni to Vicente Calderón, he's Pitarch's first choice. This means that Fanni would be the first choice at right back and I'd certainly want a replacement for Heitinga who just isn't good enough to play as a defender, loses his concentration all too often and makes too many individual misstakes. I don't think he'd struggle to actually settle in Madrid either for that matter, he'd probably get loads of help from Florent Sinama-Pongolle who'd guide him through his first time at the club. France have a fine tradition of producing quality fullbacks and if he was good enough to make the Ligue 1 Team of the Year, then I'm sure he'll be a massive improvement over Heitinga.

Anyways, I'm an Atlético-fan who lives in Sweden, originally bosnian-serb, so it'll be fun to watch Serbia vs France in Belgrade. I also hope Petter Hansson is doing a good job at centre-back for you guys