Why Yann M'Vila is Mr. Dependable for Rennes and France at Just 21

The beautiful area of Brittany will welcome Red Star Belgrade to the Stade de route de Lorient this evening as Rennes try to protect an excellent first leg result and confirm passage to the Europa League Group Stage.

Goals from Jonathan Pitroipa and Victor Hugo Montano, having gone behind to a Mendes Kadu penalty, gave Rennes a commanding position for the second leg. Red Star would need to score two unanswered goals before they were back in the tie.

For Rennes to be successful this evening and even more so this season they will need to call upon one of Europe’s hottest young prospects. Yann M’Vila at 21-years old finds himself as one of the most wanted players in Europe and a fixture in Laurent Blanc’s Les Bleus side.

Although earlier in the summer the midfielder pledged his future to Rennes stating he wanted to stay for one more year, it didn’t stop reports that Arsene Wenger had made a bid rumoured to be between €15m-€20m. A move to Arsenal would usually excite most players, but earlier in the year Laurent Blanc stated that he wanted young French players to stay in France, giving them a better opportunity to play in next years Euro 2012 tournament should France qualify, meaning Rennes should keep their man for another 12 months.

Last season M’Vila was without a doubt one of Rennes best players, playing 37 league games for Les Rouges et Noir, he is the type of player that if you don’t notice him and he flies under the radar then he’s had a good game. In all the 37 games he was only once picked as WHOSCORED.COM’s Man of the Match but he finished the season as the player with the highest rating (7.06) in the whole squad.

With only two goals and one assist his game is not to be a goal threat or a threat in the final third. He did though only pick up two yellow cards throughout the whole season. At this point fans that haven’t had the pleasure of watching M’Vila play might be asking what he actually does in this Rennes team.

Yann M’Vila is the player that starts Rennes play, every move put together will usually start with an M’Vila pass. Last season he averaged 61.2 passes for game, which is more than 17 passes per game higher than anyone else in the squad. Completing over 82% of these passes, he is a very elegant and classy midfielder.

It is not very often that the midfielder gives the ball away- he is dispossessed less than once a game and averages one turnover per game that is a fantastic stat for someone who is in control of the ball so often.

When he doesn’t have the ball M’Vila is just as efficient. He averaged 2.9 tackles per game last season only 0.1 behind Kévin Théophile-Catherine who made the most tackles for Rennes as they finished 6th last season. To contrast the two players, last season Théophile-Catherine averaged 2.1 fouls a game but with the same amount of tackles, M’Vila averaged a paltry 1.1 fouls a game.

It’s not just his good timing that makes him stand out but it’s his exceptional positioning and anticipation that makes him such a good player. With 2.4 interceptions per game he was in Rennes top three in this category.

When next summer rolls around there will be plenty of teams looking towards Yann M’Vila as a potential summer signing. If they are looking for a flashy player armed with 60-yard Hollywood passes, M’Vila is not their man. If they are looking for a dependable, solid and consistent performer- someone who will protect the defence and keep a team moving forward, then there are not many better than the young Rennes midfielder.

Real Madrid, Cheslea, Arsenal and Manchester United have all been linked this summer and if M’Vila continues to play in the same way for the next 11 months there is no doubt they will be back after Euro 2012.