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Rabat- Ahead of the Atlas Lions’ clash with Uzbekistan’s national squad and following Hervé’s boys’ somewhat impressive win against Serbia, Morocco’s French head coach believes that his side still needs to improve its flow and rhythm in many departments. To counter the quick passes and counterattacks of world-class opponents, the Atlas Lions need more focus and a better ball possession, Hervé Renard said yesterday in an interview with Spanish outlet EFE.
Though he is convinced that the Moroccan national squad has the technical depth and the required individual talents to take on football’s heavyweights like Spain, the meticulous French coach believes that his team “needs to improve its ball possession, as well as its ball recuperation techniques in order to compete with other teams” at this summer’s World Cup in Russia. If you are to confront and thwart the sea of counterattacks and crosses associated with European squads, you need to “make the best of your opportunities,” which includes maintaining a good possession, Renard argued in his interview.
The “white wizard,” as he is often called, went on to say that “European teams are faster;” and as such, countering them requires “that you not lose your balls”: Keeping the ball is key, Renard explained. Renard’s comments reflect what we wrote last week in the aftermath of the Atlas Lions’ victory against Serbia: “Against the likes of Spain and Portugal, where the ball quickly flows from the midfield to the sides, like a tide of an irresistible tsunami, you need an almost impenetrable defensive fortress… And so, to stop the lethal Cristiano headers, or the incessant Alba crosses, or the seamless and elegant Isco-Iniesta midfield, you need more inspiration and urgency than what the Atlas Lions displayed yesterday. Morocco shined in Turin, but it can do better; it has to do better.”
Considering what he told EFE in yesterday’s interview, Renard seems to understand, three months before the Russian World Cup, that his boys are in dire need of change and adaptability, which is a good sign: you need a winner’s mentality to take on Spain and Portugal.
