Following Stade Rennais’ disappointing Coupe de France exit at Marseille yesterday, L’Équipe has reported that the defeat has brought to the surface simmering tensions between coach Habib Beye (48) and his players.

Last night’s 3-0 defeat at the Vélodrome, as well as ending a realistic chance of winning silverware, also meant that Rennes have now lost three straight matches in all competitions, conceding nine and scoring none in the process.

That poor run has reportedly brought to the fore issues with coach Beye, among some members of the playing staff.

According to some sources, Jordanian international Mousa al-Tamari (28) felt targeted by Beye’s criticisms at half-time of Tuesday’s match and team-mates were taken aback that the normally calm winger was still wound up after the final whistle. Other sources observed that Beye had simply given al-Tamari instructions to follow in the second half.

Another flashpoint occurred between Beye and French international goalkeeper Brice Samba (31) when Beye made his feelings known after Samba’s long clearance led to Marseille’s second goal in the first minute of the second half, in a similar sequence of play to Monaco’s opening goal against Rennes last weekend.

While these incidents may not be particularly concerning on their own, they follow incidents earlier in the season when al-Tamari and Mikayil Faye for disciplinary reasons, then Seko Fofana and Ludovic Blas for what Beye termed a lack of investment, were dropped. Fofana was loaned this month to FC Porto, while Blas has only started nine matches all season.

Those earlier incidents during Rennes’ poor run of form at the beginning of the season and it is probably not a coincidence that these latest incidents have arisen during this latest blip. Sporting director was clear in his support of Beye this week but Rennes could do returning to winning ways sooner rather than later to ease tensions. And their next two fixtures are against the top two – RC Lens and Paris Saint-Germain