Tottenham Hotspur loanee Joe Rodon gives verdict on getting fewer starts at Rennes
Tottenham Hotspur defender Joe Rodon was loaned to Stade Rennais last summer as he looked to get more playing time ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
It was obvious that Spurs weren’t going to use him in the first-team set-up when their senior options were fit. He had just 86 minutes of Premier League football last term, which is a shockingly low number for a full international.
The loan move started out well. He played 14 matches across competitions until 3 November. After that began a run of games without a start.
A straight red card against FC Nantes in a 3-0 win on 9 October was the last Ligue 1 action he saw before being either out of the matchday squad or on the bench for eight league games straight.
Rodon back in the XI
This was until he started and starred in a 1-0 home win against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) earlier this month. That was followed by a 1-0 Coupe de la Ligue loss against Olympique de Marseille shortly after, but at least Rodon started that game as well.
It seems that he has been restored to the starting XI after an extended period on the sidelines. During this time, he represented Wales at the 2022 FIFA World Cup but it’s not like he was overworked there as they exited in the group stage.
Speaking about this spell on the sidelines, Rodon told Stade de Rennais’ official website (h/t Football.London):
“Four or five defenders, all systems are fine with me. I don’t have a favourite. For any player, it’s not fun to be a substitute, but the most important thing is to stay focused and work hard while waiting for the opportunity to play.”
“It’s good for the coach to have several options. We have experienced this with several serious injuries in recent weeks. The priority is the team, you have to train seriously, then it’s up to the coach to make the decisions.”
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There’s no point in being loaned out if you don’t see regular playing time. But it seems a few factors caused the Welsh centre-back to sit out on the sidelines but now he is back in the big time. Rennes’ next game comes against Lorient on 27 January, where we can see the Spurs loanee play once again.
