Rennes’ turnover model becomes talent trap in season of reckoning | Ligue 1

Have Rennes taken it too far in their constant churn of players? The likes of Eduardo Camavinga, Jérémy Doku and Ousmane Dembélé have all benefited from their time at Roazhon Park, a club which has made its name selling and producing young players and investing the proceeds. In recent years, the club also became a regular in Europe, having not missed out since 2017-18 – at least until this season.

With their coffers swelling from their turnover in player sales and regular participation in European football, one would have thought that recent heavy investment in their playing staff – Enzo Le Fée, Amine Gouiri and Arnaud Kalimuendo each cost more than €20m, a statement sum for any team aside from Paris Saint-Germain – would have kept this going at a canter.

In the last two seasons, though, that has hardly been the case. Rennes stumbled to 10th last year, despite only two teams (PSG and Monaco) scoring more goals than the Bretons. This season looks rather more dire. Julien Stéphan’s side are currently thirteenth, just a point outside the bottom three after a 4-0 hammering against Auxerre on Sunday that leaves them without a win on the road this season.

That is hardly in keeping with the ambitions of a team who hoped to return to Europe at the first time of asking. Sunday’s result left Stéphan frustrated but defiant, with the manager saying: “I have the energy to continue, to fight, to do everything I can to make this team progress. Do I feel threatened in my position? It’s not up to me to answer that.”

While injuries have played their part in a lack of cohesion this season, the blame for the team’s struggles can be squarely laid at the feet of the duopoly of Stéphan and the club’s hierarchy. Stéphan, who had shot to prominence with the club before departing despite having guided the team to a historic Coupe de France win in 2019, resigned in 2021 after a poor run of form.

Stéphan’s subsequent spell at ambitious Strasbourg went no better and his return last season, on the heels of a flawed but far more successful tenure on the part of Bruno Génésio – who is now at Lille – has plunged the team further down the table. Lacking much of a defensive identity, Stéphan has been up to his usual tricks with Rennes, chopping and changing systems at will while regularly deploying line-ups that are attack-heavy.

The manager’s return was castigated in many circles in France, seen not only as undeserved, but also potentially reflecting dysfunction behind the scenes. The chair, François Pinault, appeared to be using his influence on the club to work around then-sporting director Florian Maurice, a sign of a growing rift, something that is perhaps also reflected in the club’s disjointed signing strategy.

There is no question Rennes have brought in a raft of talented players this summer, but there remain questions as to whether their thinking is joined up. Other clubs in France who have made changes to their squads this summer include Strasbourg, Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain. All have made youth a priority, as have Rennes.

Rennes have also signed Glen Kamara, 29, and Hans Hateboer, 30, fine footballers with European experience but both look without a position on the pitch or in the project. It demonstrates a lack of clarity that has highlighted Stéphan’s inability to get the best out of a poorly constructed squad.

In addition, most of his previous sides had proven performers upon which to call – Benjamin Bourigeaud, Benjamin André and Martin Terrier at his previous Rennes teams, or Habib Diallo and Ludovic Ajorque at Strasbourg. While the current Rennes team does still have a modicum of experience in players like Steve Mandanda and Baptiste Santamaria, the majority are either very young, new to Ligue 1, or both – hardly a recipe for success.

It is not only that lack of experience but the volume of players arriving and departing – roughly 10 in each direction this summer. With many of them being asked to quickly take up key roles, in a team with unsettled tactics and personnel, it has simply a bridge too far for many of them. The failure in changing systems and personnel must lie at the feet of Stéphan. The manager has been dealt a bad hand, but his time is running out to fix things. The suggestion is that should Rennes fail to defeat Toulouse at the weekend, his second spell in charge will reach a premature end.

Talking points

After a strong start to the season, Monaco are reeling. Despite continuing to perform in the Champions League, they have just one point from their last three league matches, with a mounting injury crisis limiting Adi Hütter’s options. Top of the table under a month ago, they have now slipped to third and will have to hope that the upcoming international break can allow them to regroup.

To say that Marseille impressed against a much-changed Nantes side on Sunday may be a bit hyperbolic, especially with the hosts missing a few gilt-edged chances, but there’s no doubt that certain players in the side responded well to the team’s 3-0 humbling at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain last weekend, with Adrien Rabiot, Neal Maupay and Mason Greenwood all looking sharp in their 2-1 victory as they moved above Monaco.

Finally, a word for Nice. Franck Haise’s team are not playing with the same full-throttle abandon that characterised his time at RC Lens, but with injuries having regularly limited his attacking options, it has been needs must in terms of his approach. It took some time for Haise’s adjustments to take hold, but with Nice unbeaten in Ligue 1 since mid-September and up to fifth place, it is clear that his flexibility is having a positive effect on his side.