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It was surprising to see Zinedine Zidane given the manager’s position at Real Madrid after the sacking of Rafa Benitez. His only previous experience was in charge of the reserve side, Real Madrid Castilla, for 18 months, and his record didn’t speak well for himself.
In his only full season with Castilla, the team finished outside the playoff positions for promotion to the second division. Although, to be fair, he did leave the team in second place the following season before moving to the first team in January of 2016. Zidane’s coaching career was even a surprise to some of his former Madrid teammates. Even Los Blancos legend Raul Gonzalez said he didn’t see Zidane becoming a coach when they played together.
The doubts surrounding his ability increased early on when Madrid dropped 8 points in Zidane’s first 8 games, including a 0-1 defeat to Atletico Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
It was thought that he was giving in to the pressure from the boardroom and focusing on only playing the star players. Despite this slow start, from that moment forward, it all changed. Star players like James and Isco were dropped in favor of Casemiro and Lucas Vazquez, and Real Madrid went on a 12 game undefeated run in La Liga.
At the end, in the 27 games Zidane was in charge for, Madrid won 20 games, drew 3 and only lost 2. This resulted in Real Madrid’s 11th Champions League title, beating Atletico Madrid at the San Siro.
This season, Real Madrid are tied on points with Atletico Madrid for first place in La Liga, and they beat Sevilla 3-2 to win the European Super Cup. However, what are Zidane’s strengths and weaknesses as a manager?
Strengths
He’s well liked by the players: Zidane has had the respect of the players from day one. Despite all the turmoil that existed under his predecessor, Rafa Benitez, Zidane managed to instantly change the whole mood of the squad.
This is down to not just his laid back mentality but also to his fame as a player. Zidane is one of the all-time greats who has literally won everything there is to win. Even on a professional team full of stars, this gives him instant authority in the dressing room. Not even Cristiano Ronaldo would be able to use his success as an excuse to stay on the field. Could you all imagine how that conversation would go?
Cristiano: I have three Ballon d’Ors.
Zidane: So do I.
Cristiano: I have a Champions League and La Liga title.
Zidane: As do I.
Cristiano: I’ve won the English Premier League.
Zidane: I won Serie A.
Cristiano: I won the Euro Cup with Portugal.
Zidane: I did the same thing with France…I even won a World Cup. Did you?
Cristiano: No.
Zidane: Exactly, so listen to me when I’m telling you something. By the way, I’m benching you this weekend to make sure you stay in good shape throughout the season.
Cristiano: Yes, sir!
I’m not saying this conversation did or would happen, but you all get the picture.
Zinedine Zidane got a fair few votes for the Ballon d’Or
Landslide. pic.twitter.com/UwtIRDFLrS— Footy Accumulators (@FootyAccums) September 29, 2016
Rotation and fitness: It may be early on, but Zidane is trying to make sure the team stays fully fit throughout the entire season. For the last three seasons, Real Madrid struggled to keep their players fit towards the final stretch, and Zidane doesn’t want that to happen this time around.
As a matter of fact, his first decision this summer was to bring in Antonio Pintus from French side Lyon as the club’s new fitness trainer. Pintus is a person Zidane knows very well from his time at Juventus.
Additionally, Zidane is not taking any risks when it comes to injuries, regardless of names. Real Madrid beat Sevilla in the European Super Cup without seven starters from the Champions League final in May.
To date, Keylor Navas just played his first game this season against Borussia Dortmund, and Zidane is regulating the minutes of Ronaldo, Pepe, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema — all of whom have been struggling with injuries since the summer.
Despite all this, these injuries have allowed Zidane to put his faith in other players, many of which have responded to the call. James has regained his old form, Lucas Vazquez has started this season in the same great form he finished last year, youngster Marco Asensio has stepped up with some great performances, Mateo Kovacic has shown great improvements and Alvaro Morata has had some consistent performances while stepping in for Benzema.
We’ll see later on in the season if this plan of rotation pays dividends, but Zidane is taking the necessary steps to assure his team is 100% towards the end of the season.
Weaknesses
Overconfidence in the team: When I say this, I’m not just talking about the reserves but also the star players. It’s been well documented that one of the reasons the players enjoy playing under Zidane is that he doesn’t get on them about correcting their every little mistake.
Of course, when you have world class players such as Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane there is not much any manager can do to improve their quality.
Most top players are well aware of their responsibilities and don’t need someone correcting their every mistake. However, one thing is their technical abilities, but the tactical and psychological side is a completely different story. After winning their first four La Liga games, Madrid has drawn their last three league matches to Villarreal, Las Palmas and Eibar; two of which were at home.
Real Madrid missed two great opportunities to extend their league lead on Barcelona with Luis Enrique’s side having drawn to Atletico Madrid and lost to Celta Vigo. Now Madrid shares the league lead with Atletico while Barcelona sit only two points behind.
What’s more interesting is that Zidane has used practically the same speech during these last four games in the post match press conference. Saying things such as the team couldn’t finish the game out, they weren’t mentally disciplined or they started the game slow. If that’s the case, then Zidane is either failing to make sure his players are mentally well prepared, or he’s not tactically setting up his team properly.
Tactical switches: Speaking of tactics, that just may be Zidane’s biggest weakness of them all. Even last season, despite La Undecima, Real Madrid struggled tactically in many different areas. Some of those struggles include an unbalanced lineup with no holding midfielder, poor marking in defense, the BBC trio not dropping back to defend and a lack of in-game tactical changes.
The lineup issue was resolved in early March when Zidane reintroduced Casemiro and the balance of the team was restored. The centerbacks were more relaxed with a holding midfielder in front of them, Modric and Kroos had more freedom to be creative and it covered for the BBC’s lack of defending and allowed them to stay up top.
However, every time Casemiro is out or the game gets rough, Zidane doesn’t seem to have a plan B. Casemiro’s natural substitute would be either Kovacic or Varane, but he constantly puts in Kroos, who has shown on many occasions that he’s not the right player for that position.
When it comes to substitutions, his changes are almost always ‘like for like’. The only tactical change Zidane really makes on a regular basis is when he puts on Vazquez; a player that can not just play out wide on the right wing but can also pressure in midfield and help with defensive duties.
Of course ‘like for like’ changes can also have a big impact on the game, but there are times when tactical substitutions are important in order to change the dynamic of the team, either defensively or offensively, and break the opposition down.
We could use this weekends game as an example: Real Madrid concede an early goal through poor marking. Despite drawing level minutes later, the team doesn’t have a good balance in midfield and is not creating many opportunities. Even with Varane’s injury at halftime, Zidane doesn’t make any tactical changes.
No playing with three in the back or switching to a 4-4-2, just ‘like for like’ substitutions — Nacho for Varane, Morata for Benzema and Asensio for Isco.
Madrid do improve because of the circumstances but don’t have that dominance they should be having over a team like Eibar. In fact, Real Madrid only land three shots on goal throughout the entire game. As a result, the game ends 1-1 and Madrid miss yet another great chance to extend their lead on Barcelona.
Another disappointing draw for Zinedine Zidane’s men! pic.twitter.com/XARrmVK5BK
— Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) October 2, 2016
Only time will tell if Zidane becomes a great manager or just another Real castoff. People point to the fact that Zidane already has a Champions League title under his belt but so does Roberto Di Matteo. Just look at how his managerial career has gone since: sacked by Chelsea, released from Schalke and just recently sacked by Aston Villa in the Championship.
Even bad managers can win a trophy, but a top manager is someone that can win consistently over a long period of time. Zidane has gotten off to a great start, but we will soon see in which category of managers he falls.
