‘If I was the manager…’ – Seko Fofana critical of Jorge Sampaoli’s choices in latest Rennes defeat | OneFootball

Seko Fofana only joined Stade Rennais at the start of the month, however, he already has ideas as to where the Breton club, now fully mired in a relegation scrap, are going wrong. After Rennes’ latest defeat, against AS Monaco (3-2), the Ivory Coast international pointed the finger at Jorge Sampaoli.

Sampaoli replaced Julien Stéphan earlier this season but the former has failed to arrest the slide. He has lost seven of his 10 matches in charge in all competitions and currently has a lower win percentage than his predecessor. Evoking his future after the defeat in Monaco, the Argentinian said he “always felt pressure”, however, it is not often that it is also applied by one of his own players.

Fofana passed through the mixed zone post-match and was quite frank in his assessment. “We know that we have to do better. We know that we will have to find solutions because we are in an emergency situation,” began the former RC Lens midfielder.

“There was a lack of personality at the start. I think that sometimes the best defence is attack, not starting matches being scared but by playing” he added, perhaps a reference to Sampaoli’s decision to once again deploy Rennes in a back five, a decision that is coming under increasing scrutiny both internally and externally.

Then came Fofana’s most frank and critical appraisal of Sampaoli’s tactical choices. “it is true that, if I were the manager, there are certain choices that I would make that would be different. But the coach has his ideas and he’s also doing what he can with the players that he has. We tried things in training this week: some that worked, others that didn’t work as well,” added Fofana.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle – reporting from Monaco