Stade Rennais is going through a deep sporting and tactical crisis under the thumb of Habib Beye. The recent results, combined with criticisms from inside the locker room, confirm that a gap has widened between the Senegalese coach and his group. This discomfort translates into the field by disputed choices, a frozen strategy and a team losing bearings.
Strategic choices that cost Rennes dear
The 4-3-3 deployed against Le Havre on October 4 is the most telling example. This system, already criticized in previous outings, has once again proved ineffective, unable to ensure a solid defensive transition or to offer coherent offensive animation. Ball losses in the middle have multiplied, opening up disturbing breaches in front of the Rennes surface. According to Mohamed Toubache-Ter, the staff struggles to make players adhere to patterns tried
“Too frozen” And unsuitable for managers like Seko Fofana or Brice Samba. This lack of adjustments during the match accentuates the feeling of a team blocked in their ideas, gradually mining collective efficiency.
Critics do not stop there. Several decisions by Habib Beye are pointed out, including its late replacement of a lateral medium in the 75th minute against Lens, while the right corridor was constantly overwhelmed. The absence of an alternative plan in front of the low blocks leaves the team without offensive solution in the last ten minutes, while the systematic appeal to high pressing disorganizes the lines and exposes the central defense. These recurring errors cost the precious points and weakened the confidence of the locker room, which now doubts the ability of his coach to adapt to the realities of the game.
The Rennes locker room rebels in the face of Beye's tactical errors.
The observation is reinforced by worrying statistics. In three Ligue 1 games since the end of September, Rennes has only one victory. Worse, the team displays an average of only 1.2 shot on match per game, a figure unworthy of a club with European ambitions. Even the possession of the ball, often superior, appears misleading when it is not followed by any frank occasion. These data underline the ineffectiveness of a game project that turns empty and struggles to transform its domination into results.
An urgent need for tactical leadership
The growing dispute of executives, embodied by Fofana and Samba, testifies to a crying need for tactical leadership. The players now claim a coach capable of anticipating the vagaries of the matches, adjusting his plans according to the opponents and fully exploiting the potential of a workforce rich in talent. Rennes is thus found at the crossroads: persist in a project that gets bogged down or operate a strategic turn before the season switches.
Rennes is now there: under Habib Beye, the team seems to have reached its limits. His inability to develop his patterns, inspire his executives and meet the requirements of Ligue 1 weakens his future at the head of the club. Pressure rises inexorably for a change before the crisis became irreversible.
