SeasonSeven.EpisodeFive | End of season review
MANAGERS WORDS
I’m still trying to get my head around what happened last season. Here’s a recap:
- 102 points
- 111 goals
- 97 goal difference
We were by far and away the best team in France. We won the league and the league cup primarily with home grown or youth players we’ve developed and brought through from the youth teams. It’s a phenomenal achievement when you consider the riches of PSG that we are up against.
Make no mistake, next season will probably be tougher. I expect them to strengthen and spend another €300M in recruiting the worlds best. We, however, will concentrate on doing what we’ve always done. Developing and working with youth.
I have noticed a slight drop in overal determination and the squad has picked up some rather unfavourable personalities, so where we do recruit players for the first team (which we will have to do), I need to make sure they’re ambitious and determined players so that they can pass this onto the younger lads.
THE BOARD APPRAISAL
The board are still only very pleased with my management of the team. Still, it’s better than just being satisfied.
Confidence summary B
Club vision
A slight increase in our rating this season. B- in terms of us meeting the club vision.
Club culture
The board continue to be delighted with the club culture.
- Desired: Develop players using the clubs’ youth system | Delighted
5-year plan
Fortunately, the board haven’t raised their expectations! The 5-year plan is to carry on getting qualification for the Champions League. Something I think we should be able to achieve for the next few years.
TEAM STATS
It has been a season of records. A stupid number of goals scored and hardly any conceded. We have far surpassed any other team in terms of chances created and with Schmitt stepping up to the challenge of leading the line we’ve been unstoppable.
I worry how next season looks with a different striker. Other players will have to chip in and help out I think.
If I had to find a place to be critical it would be our possession numbers. I would like to dominate games a little more in terms of having more of the ball, but in all honesty, that’s just me looking for reasons to complain.
| Rennais Stats | 2025/26 season | Position | 2024/25 season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average possession | 54% | 3rd | 56% (2nd) |
| Goals | 111 | 1st | 106 (1st) |
| – from set-pieces | 20 | — | 19 |
| Pass completion ratio | 86% | 5th | 86% (3rd) |
| Cross completion ratio | 30% | 1st | 29% (1st) |
| Chances created | 154 | 1st | 137 (1st) |
| Shots on target ratio | 51% | 6th | 52% (5th) |
| Conversion rate | 11% | 2nd | 11% (1st) |
| Conceded | 14 | 1st | 29 (2nd) |
| – from set-pieces | 7 | — | 10 |
| Fouls committed | 353 | 5th | 415 (5th) |
| Tackles won | 85% | 7th | 82% (19th) |
Our average attendance in the new stadium was 39,742 so again a complete sell out every single match. At some point the board should consider adding more seats to this stadium!
A brilliant second season at Parc de la Guérinais.
PLAYER STATS
Cristian Rivis bettered his stats this season compared to last. An incredible 37 clean sheets kept and just 14 goals in the league conceded. I don’t think he has any ideas about leaving us, which is good. If he does, he will be hard to replace.
Out wide in defence we were down to one left back as loanee Martínez was recalled by Klopp at Barcelona because he couldn’t get in ahead of Taylor. It’s not surprising when you consider his 16 assists and 0.69 chances created p/90. On the other side Barry and Abrigo have shared the role with 19 assists between them and .81 and .73 chances created respectively. A massive part of how we play is down the wings with these guys and the stats show why!
The central defence was shared between Gélin, Onguéné, and Nikolaou. 15 goals between them from set pieces. They’ve been faultless all season.
Losing Camavinga and Ênio in January didn’t hurt us as much as I thought it would. Jacky Rault stepped into the advanced midfielder role and hit 13 assists and 6 goals. He doesn’t create as many chances, with 0.37 so that’s something I’ll try to work on tactically over the summer.
Pereira wasn’t as productive with just 2 assists and 6 goals. I think he will probably be off to China if I can find a buyer. At 30 years old and with a €32.5M valuation, I think I can find someone more suitable for the team.
At the base of the midfield Tomislav Duvnjak has had another fantastic season as the single pivot. He has 2.08 key passes p/90 and 94% pass completion. He really is so key to us. His 57.11 passes completed p/90 is also the highest.
Finally, Gilles Schmitt. There aren’t enough superlatives to explain just how good this kid is. Just 21 years old and he’s already a team leader. He has 0.88 goals p/90 and chipped in with 12 assists, creating 0.52 chances p/90. I really hope we can keep him for another season.
As rated in-game, the following end of season awards were presented to the players.
Top Goalscorer
- Gilles Schmitt | 41 goals
Highest average rating
- Gilles Schmitt | 7.83 rating
Most Assists
- Greg Taylor | 16 assists
Best pass completion
- Tomislav Duvnjak | 94% pass completion
Most player of the match awards
- Gilles Schmitt | 11 Player of the Match awards
Most yellow cards
- Jacky Rault | 9 yellow cards
Most red cards
- Michael Petersen | 1 red card
END OF SEASON AWARDS
Oliver Jensen’s golden spoon award
Awarded to my stand out player of the season.
- Gilles Schmitt
Another win here for Schmitt. I’m not sure how I could have voted for anyone else to be honest. Over 40 goals and literally destroyed every defence he came up against. I’m not sure we can hold onto him this summer. I’m hoping to get one more season out of him, but if he does go, it should add another €100M+ to the transfer kitty, so it’ll help us get in some more youth players for development.
Oliver Jensen’s wooden spoon award
Awarded to my stand out player, for all the wrong reasons.
- Michael Petersen
I had very high hopes for Petersen at Rennes, but following a falling out over a new contract, it’s likely I will be letting him go this summer. We paid just €18.75M for him, so with a €63M valuation I hope we can find some suitors. Despite putting in some relatively average performances, Petersen thought he deserved to be one of the top earners at the club.
Not on my watch!
Oliver Jensen’s silver spoon award
Awarded to the best youth player (under 23) to break into the squad, either new signing or from the youth teams.
- Amadou Barry
Technically, not his first season but he deserves some recognition. A bargain at €7.25M when we signed him. He really has come into his own this season and is fighting with a world class full-back for a starting position on the right. When he has played he has been dependable and often outshining his peers.
Fans player of the season
- Gilles Schmitt (76%)
- Malo Boyer (11%)
- Greg Taylor (9%)
Goal of the season
- Nicolas Serrano vs USON Mondeville – Saturday 3 January 2026
A weird choice, because we’ve scored some absolute belters! I wouldn’t even say that was Serrano’s best goal. Check out this one for a better example of what he’s capable of.
@FMPressure CWB – At love again. pic.twitter.com/42duN1XHrn
— Oliver Jensen (@fmFutbolManager) May 30, 2020
Young player of the season
- Gilles Schmitt, 21 years old
OFF THE FIELD
We have some money in the bank now with the player sales in January. €209M to be exact. This should increase with the player sales I have planned this summer. €115M available for player trading. I will be concentrating on youth, primarily, but I do need a little more experience in this squad.
We’ve increased our revenue in almost all areas this season. With that comes a whooping great tax bill of €58M which goes to show that you really should spend every penny you have available for transfers, otherwise it’s just going to the tax man.
Despite the record points haul and a first league title for Stade Rennais…
What a crock of shit. This vote is rigged. How can Tuchel win this award after spending €354M on players last summer and still finishing 7 points behind us? Heads gone.
So that just about wraps up the review of this season.
As always, you can get in touch with me in the comments below, via twitter @fmfutbolmanager, or my slack channel #fmFutbolManager — if you’re not a part of the Football Manager Slack community, then you can join here!
Until next time, à tout à l’heure.
Oliver Jensen