Real Madrid: Why Zinedine Zidane welcomes adversity
By Ben Sundock
Real Madrid has had a very disappointing start to the season in La Liga which has led to many fans criticizing Zinedine Zidane’s tactical coaching abilities. Despite the hate, Zizou loves the adversity that comes with a slow start to the season. Here’s why.
“After a defeat, of course, people aren’t happy but in some way, I actually like this,” Zidane told the media in his press conference yesterday in London.
“I like having the motivation of a big match so we can get back to winning ways. This is something that inspires me. When the going gets tough I think I work my best. Life is like this, there are always hard moments, but you have to trust in the way you work and come back stronger.”
While Zizou hasn’t had to really deal with adversity in his time as Real Madrid manager probably since he took over the team in January of 2016, this start to the 2017/2018 season, while disappointing, could be what Real needs going forward.
“Perhaps some people are thinking from the outside that a defeat might leave us down in the dumps but that is not at all the case. We are good, we have a big match tomorrow. We are working well and are ready to perform well against great opposition in Tottenham Hotspur.”
The questions toward Zidane focused on the defeat at Girona over the weekend, and instead of shying away, Zizou took the questions head-on.
"“I don’t think it [Girona] is my worst match [as a manager], this is football. We all know how football works, that sometimes you’re going to lose matches and it’s obviously frustrating particularly when you are 1-0 up and you need to push home that advantage. The little moments in that match got away from us and we ended up losing. It is important we don’t dwell on that, that we think about tomorrow, go again and give our all as we always do to get the right result. Nothing will change our approach when we prepare and are going out to win.”"
When asked about the match tonight, Zinedine had nothing but praise for a Tottenham side that have lost back-to-back matches in the English domestic cup and the Premier League.
“I really think very highly of Mauricio Pochettino. I think he’s doing a fantastic job at Tottenham. He is building a team and building a club that has high aspirations. You don’t need to rely on what I say, the results speak for themselves.”
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“It’s a great stage for us to play on against really great opposition. This is something we like and a great arena in football. The players are very prepared for this match. It is not without its complications in the build-up but we are prepared to go out and do our job.”
Real has been focused in training early this week leading up to the match. Zidane has elected to keep his players fresh and not push them too hard with just three days between the match in Girona and the travel to London.
As for the starting lineup, Zidane failed to mention who will be on the pitch to start the match, leaving the status of Isco unknown still. Real Madrid needs a win at Wembley Stadium tonight if they want to capture the top spot in Group H, while also achieving qualification for the round of 16 in this match with a victory.
Zinedine Zidane knows this and will have his best team out on display tonight. It should be a very fun match to watch.
Next: Real Madrid aren’t just in trouble in La Liga