Manager Zidane a scapegoat for Madrid

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/09/2019 (2524 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The knives are out for Zinedine Zidane. That he is Real Madrid’s second-most decorated manager doesn’t matter, nor does the recency of the three Champions Leagues he delivered in succession, the last of which came only 16 months ago.

Sixteen months might as well be an eternity at the Santiago Bernabéu, where memories are short and winning is always a matter of urgency. No team in the world, in any sport, is scrutinized as meticulously (not even close), so when one poor result follows quickly upon another, panic — never far from euphoria in the bipolarity that is Los Blancos — advances faster than a Cristiano Ronaldo attack down the wing.

Ronaldo, it goes without saying, is much missed in the Spanish capital. His final game for the club, before moving to Juventus last summer, was that third Champions League final on the bounce. At the time — and it seems so long ago even if it isn’t — Zidane appeared to take his leave of the club as well, to exit on a high, even if the real reason was a lack of appetite among Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez and the Madrid board to adequately replace Ronaldo and invest in the overhaul of a squad whose manager suspected would shortly enter a period of decline.

Well, the decline happened, and Zidane returned in March to oversee the promised rejuvenation, backed now by supposedly meaningful transfer targets and a contract through 2022. Only there has been no rejuvenation. And after Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League — a loss that followed a stuttering start in La Liga and kicked off a difficult stretch of the schedule — the Spanish press took to listing off the candidates who might replace the embattled Frenchman.

José Mourinho, out of work since getting the sack at Manchester United last December, is the runaway favourite. The 56-year-old, the thinking goes, would prescribe the necessary discipline the squad purportedly lacks and provide a quick turnaround.

Having managed Madrid from 2010-13, Mourinho is also thought to have fancied a Bernabéu return once Ronaldo, Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos had left the club. He has two out of three of those players gone. Massimiliano Allegri and former players Raúl González and Xabi Alonso are also in the mix.

Mourinho is also favoured by Eden Hazard, who last October told Belgian outlet HLN he’d like to work with the Portuguese again. The two won a Premier League title together at Chelsea, but a disastrous start to the 2015-16 season resulted in Mourinho’s exit from Stamford Bridge. Hazard has taken some responsibility for what transpired, admitting he showed up at training camp out of shape that July.

Hazard, of course, is now at Real Madrid, having completed a 100-million-euro move from the Blues in June. Incidentally, he was out of shape this pre-season as well, as much as six kilograms overweight when he made his Meringues debut.

Zidane can hardly be blamed for Hazard’s unprofessionalism. But rather than train the Belgium international’s return to full fitness, his regimen aggravated an injury the attacker has carried into competitive matches. His new fitness coach, Gregory Dupont, is relentless, and the double sessions and scarcity of days off — while intended to coax maximum conditioning — seem to have rubbed the players the wrong way.

And therein lies the problem.

The core of Madrid’s squad is made up of incredibly accomplished players who have won absolutely everything — titles, domestic cups, Champions Leagues, World Cups. At some point it’s simply no longer possible to motivate them, at least in their current setting. What can Zidane do — what can anyone do — to convince Toni Kroos, for example, that his 16 major honours — which include four Champions Leagues and a World Cup — are not enough, that the team requires him to retain the level that realized those honours in the first place?

Ditto Luka Modric, also 34, Karim Benzema, Marcelo, Casemiro and Gareth Bale? This is a group fat off success — and deservedly so — but that can no longer triumph as a unit.

There’s just nothing left to prove, no one left to beat. No salary cap here. Real Madrid require dismantling and rebuilding not because of restraints, but because the players were so good for so long that they no longer owe the club, or each other, anything.

Zidane knew this, which is why he initially walked away after lifting that third European Cup. He didn’t become deficient overnight, although a fresh challenge wouldn’t hurt him, either. The thing is, he expected that challenge to be at Madrid, with plenty of new faces to look at and skill sets to shape. In the likes of Luka Jovic, Eder Militao and Ferland Mendy he got a few of them, but not nearly enough. And crucially, the older, accomplished players weren’t moved on, leaving him in an impossible position.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

The Warm-Up

Winnipeg Jets Game Days

On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.

Sign up for The Warm-Up

Sign Up

I consent to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies.

I consent to CASL agreement.

The debacle at PSG revealed a squad with no intensity, no leadership and no hope. Next up are La Liga leaders Sevilla (Sunday 2 p.m., DAZN), and after a midweek match at home to Osasuna comes the derby with Atletico. It’s very possible that Zidane won’t see out the month.

He’ll be the fall guy. It’s almost inevitable.

And the knives will come out for his successors as well, be they Mourinho or anyone else, before they’re finally turned on a squad for which pruning isn’t enough.

jerradpeters@gmail.com

Twitter @JerradPeters