Rennes is doing badly. This is not new in itself. Julien Stephan paid the price in November. But his successor, Jorge Sampaoli, is sincerely struggling to give a color other than that of grayness to this group, although reinforced by the arrivals of Brice Samba and Seko Fofana since the beginning of January. Wednesday evening, in Troyes, the partners of Adrien Truffert, new captain, were logically eliminated by a team in difficulty in L2, suffering their third setback in 2025, after Nice (2-3) and Marseille (1-2).
With 17 points at mid-season, just one step ahead of play-off Saint-Étienne, Stade Rennais is in serious danger of survival among the elite before hosting Stade Brestois on Saturday (7 p.m.). The reasons for hope lie more in the mediocrity of the opponents in the fight for survival than in the quality of play displayed. In the mixed zone at the Stade de l'Aube, the sports director, Frédéric Massara, spoke to the media present. A first for the very discreet former manager of AC Milan.
Massara: “Really concentrate on saving yourself! »
“It’s a truly shameful defeat, with a very disappointing performance. We have to think carefully after a match like that… We are focused on getting back on track, to start again much better than what was done in the first part of the season. We have to be well aware that with this kind of performance, we have to be very careful and really concentrate to save ourselves, that's what we have to do (…) We have to put a little more soul, heart on the ground. The players have to do better than that. When you go on the field, you first have to win the duels… That's not the attitude. We must realize this, everyone and immediately, starting with the players,” said the man who recruited most of the elements in failure today.
Yes, there is indeed a problem of attitude, but also of the real technical level of the recruits… This raises questions, de facto, about the level of the sporting director himself. The next two weeks should make it possible to strengthen this very limited group, to experience the next few months more serenely, failing to rediscover the flame of past seasons. And that will already be a lot.
France
