After a promising start this season, Quentin Merlin is going through a complicated passage at Stade Rennais. The international Espoirs, who made an impression at the opening of the championship during Rennes' victory against Marseille, is now struggling to regain his level. According to a statistic revealed by Ligue 1 +, the Breton left-back is, on average, the player in the five major European championships who loses the most balls. An alarming figure which illustrates its current difficulties in combining offensive ambition and defensive security.
Sunday, against Auxerre, Merlin paid the price: a poorly adjusted pass directly led to Auxerre opening the score. This type of error, occasional at the start, now seems more recurrent, to the point of worrying his coach and the observers. And if his qualities of projection and percussion are no longer to be demonstrated, the statistics highlight a problem of consistency and reading of the game in the last gesture.
A worrying average
However, this data must be put into context. Modern attacking full-backs take much greater risks than a few years ago, seeking to create excess numbers and actively participate in the build-up. But even taking this trend into account, Merlin's average number of balls lost remains worrying.
After being mentioned in the French team during his good spells in Marseille, the 23-year-old player today seems to be at the bottom of the wave. It remains to be seen whether he will be able to reverse the trend and regain the technical accuracy which was his strength at the start of the season.
