Real Madrid: Zinedine Zidane hails valiant Navas after loss to Tottenham

Real Madrid has now lost three of its four preseason matches and the performance of the team was not much better than what we saw in the United States last week. Here is what manager Zinedine Zidane said after the 1-0 loss to Tottenham.

Trust. That is the word Zizou used to start off his post-match press conference in Munich this afternoon.

"“I always think positively and nobody can take what we’re going to do this year away from me. We ended a tough season and we’ve had a difficult start to this one. I know that I’ve got an excellent team. We’re still not ready. We’re going to regain more of our play and confidence and we’ll get through this. All we need to do is win one game.”"

Despite 22 shots, only two found the target and Spurs looked to be comfortably in control from the moment Harry Kane scored an easy goal mid-way through the first half thanks to yet another Marcelo mistake.

The talented British striker pounced on an ill-advised back pass from the Real Madrid fullback and calmly beat goalkeeper Keylor Navas to score the loan goal of the contest in the 22nd minute.

Navas was the Man of the Match, doing his best to keep his side in the match as he stopped shot after shot point-blank against a talented Spurs attack. Zidane was quick to praise the Costa Rican international who will be the starter for at least a month with Thibaut Courtois out with an ankle problem.

"“He put in a great performance tonight and that’s all there is to it. I don’t believe that any player has a guaranteed starting spot. They’ve all got to be ready and they’re all fully aware of that.”“These are the players that we’ve got and that’s the end of it. Things can change up until 31 August. I trust in my players. Losing isn’t pleasant but we’re not going to lose confidence because we know that it’s going to be a very long year and that we’ll deliver.”"

Zizou was a bit testy in his remarks, blocking away questions about both Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez’s futures.

Instead, the manager is focused on another match tomorrow – against Turkish side Fenerbache – and getting his team prepared for what is sure to be a demanding and difficult campaign.

There is clearly still plenty of work to be done. After four preseason run outs, it seems the first team players desperately need these three matches that are on deck in the next two weeks to make sure they are somewhat prepared.

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