Real Madrid: Why Zinedine Zidane deserves more time and patience

Real Madrid have suffered a slow start to the 2019-2020 campaign. What does this mean for Zinedine Zidane?

Having the “legendary” status attached to your name because of your successes as a player and as a manager does not give you the right to be above criticism. However, it does give you the right to have the fans be patient with your project, and judging by how things are going, many believe Zinedine Zidane may not deserve that patience from them.

Zidane initially joined Real Madrid at a low point in the club as Rafael Benitez was not able to get what he wanted out of the squad. With Zidane’s appointment came an awakening within the team that propelled them to winning the UEFA Champions League that season (the first out of three consecutive titles) as well as fighting until the death with Barcelona in La Liga. Three Champions League wins, one La Liga title, one Spanish Super Cup victory,and two UEFA Super Cups and FIFA Club World Cups later, the manager decided to move on.

That decision, as well as other questionable moves by the club, saw them reach unexpected lows under Julen Lopetegui and Santiago Solari (who in all fairness can’t completely take blame) before the club announced the return of the legendary Zidane. They expected Zidane to fix the team by the time this season began.

Not only has the team not been “fixed”, but we can still see some signs of last season’s problems if we look a little closely. Having said that, we can also see improvements and we can see light at the end of the tunnel with Zidane in charge. Unfortunately though, if you’re hoping for an abundance of silverware this season, then prepare to be disappointed as these types of projects usually take time to be completed.

The Old Guard

One of the main criticisms against the French manager is his reliance on the “old guard”. Personally, that was my main criticism of Zidane as we became more aware of how the summer transfer window was developing. However, the majority of them have proven themselves again and are being rewarded with time on the pitch.

Marcelo has improved dramatically and even though he isn’t the same left-back he was two years ago, he has helped Real Madrid more times that he has hurt them so far this season. Toni Kroos looks rejuvenated under the manager, while the partnership between Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane looks quite solid. Karim Benzema has continued his hot form of last season, and Carlos Casemiro has been arguably Real Madrid’s best player so far this year.

There are players who have faced more problems, such as Luka Modric and Isco, and I believe that is where things are looking a little worrying for Zidane. His dependence on Modric is very clear, but we have to face the fact that the Croatian Balon d’Or winner isn’t even a shadow of his old self. Regardless of how the season progresses, I highly doubt Modric will be at the club next season.

Many Real Madrid fans are looking at Zidane as though he’s the one to blame, and they have completely overlooked another important aspect. Players such as Luka Modric or Marcelo seem to have not only aged suddenly but also lost their determination to win titles anymore. Regardless of how improved the Brazilian is, he’s clearly lost the edge required to play for the team, especially during some of the bigger games. It’s not a surprise to see that they only players performing well so far this season are either the newcomers or people that are hungry for success. James Rodriguez, Vinicius Junior, and Ferland Mendy are just some of the names.

There were changes in the transfer window, but you also cannot expect the full roster to change in the space of a couple months. Therefore, what Zidane has done was reinforce what he could while focusing on man-management and doing his part in bringing back the hunger and motivation to his players. I have to say that so far, he has done an exceptional job in that area as every single player has improved (to different degrees than others obviously). However, with certain players, they just aren’t good enough to be in the club anymore.

Tactics

Is Zinedine Zidane the best tactical manager there is? No. Not only that, he isn’t even close. Yet, we are speaking about a manager who has defied logic and has raised the bar in Europe. Until today, many consider him “lucky”. What they don’t take into account is that it takes a lot more than luck to win the UEFA Champions League. Imagine how much luck is required in order to win it three times. Consecutively.

Before “Zidane the Manager”, we witnessed him as an assistant Mmnager during Carlo Ancelotti’s time at the club.

The Italian manager famously said “When Zidane speaks, the players listen” once Zidane was initially appointed as Real Madrid manager, and that has continued to be the case today.

The French manager does not rely heavily on the tactical side of the game but rather focuses on his ‘social tactics’ and develops an extremely close friendship with each member of the squad. It’s very rare to see a player openly come out and vent his frustration at not playing as often as he would like. Of course, there will be a couple cases of it, but when comparing that to other managers, it’s difficult to find anyone with a less happy squad than when under Zidane’s leadership. The same could be said about one of his main idols, Carlo Ancelotti.

Another aspect that Zidane has focused on is fitness. That is something that pushed the team forward during his initial tenure, and it’s also something that he has placed great importance on once he returned to the club. Anontio Pintus was a massive factor behind that, and even though he is no longer part of the club staff, it’s still something that Zidane relies on with his new Head of Physical Preparation, Gregory Dupont.

Lastly and most importantly, Zidane knows how to use the players’ strengths. Under Benitez, the team suffered but Zidane came in and automatically used the players perfectly. Casemiro, who was heavily criticized under the leadership of Benitez, became an indispensable member of the team while the manager worked on creating a heavily attacking side who were also able to defend. He also looked at implementing the “A Team” and “B Team” as he played to one of his strongest suits during his time: Rotations.

This season, we can see many aspects of his initial time at the club. Casemiro is still playing the “Makelele Role” as many have called it over the years while Toni Kroos and Luka Modric are placed in the middle to stop any attacks coming their way and more importantly, to distribute the ball quickly and efficiently to the forwards. Marcelo and Carvajal are more like wing-backs (something Jurgen Klopp has gotten immense credit for even though when Zidane did it before the German, he was considered lucky). In addition to that, the wingers – Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard mostly – are tasked with running back and helping the wing-backs whenever the team is defending an attack.

When the team works as a unit, Zidane’s match preparations are usually solid. However, this isn’t always a guarantee, which is why another criticism the manager gets is his past reliance on Cristiano Ronaldo. My question here is: Who wouldn’t be? The Portuguese forward guaranteed goals at the most unlikely moments, and that is something Real Madrid don’t have in the squad currently. They have been scoring and attacking, but there are times where individual genius is needed. Even though Los Blancos don’t have that, it doesn’t mean that Zidane should be blamed for it either.

Youngsters

Another criticism coming out regarding the manager is his inability to develop or manage youngsters. To a certain extent, this rings true, but you’ll need to dig a little deeper in order to see exactly why.

The standout youngster during Zidane’s first stint was undoubtedly Marco Asensio. This time around, it’s a little more difficult as it’s too soon to find a ‘standout’ player as of now, yet we have seen him rely on players such as Vinicius Junior and Federico Valverde. As time goes on, we will be seeing more of Brahim Diaz, whom Zidane is a fan of. Also, slowly but surely, Rodrygo Goes is getting some more play time, and that could increase as the season goes on. He already made his first start of the season during Los Blancos’ 1-0 win over Galatasaray earlier this week.

When looking at these names, we realize certain attributes that all these players possess: A desire to take the ball forward.

This is something that Zidane needs when it comes to the younger players in the team. He needs to see the hunger and the ability to move the ball forward efficiently. Many players such as Jesus Vallejo, Marcos Llorente and Dani Ceballos have been unable to impress the French manager even though they possess the quality. It would definitely be great to see him depend more on the youngsters and give them more responsibility in the team, but saying that he does not use them at all is a massive over-exaggeration.

Again, it is a little too early to say just how much he depends on the mentioned players, but it’s very clear to see that he holds Vinicius and Valverde in high regard. Zidane has previously praised Brahim, and he is giving Rodrygo some much-deserved time in the team as well.

It is shocking to see that after everything Zidane has done for the team, he is still considered to be lucky. Not only has he proven himself as a manager more than once, he has also earned the right to be given patience regardless of how things progress. Having him as the manager of this team for less than two full seasons before making a decision on him would be a mistake and the last thing needed with the current team is yet another change in manager and change in philosophy.

We tried doing that with Julen Lopetegui and Santiago Solari, and we have all witnessed how that went. For the moment at least, Zinedine Zidane is the right man for the job, and we need to give him time to show what he can do. This is an aging team, and we are slowly going through changes in the squad. One summer is not going to cut it, and even though two summer transfers is not exactly ideal, it will at least show what the manager has in mind.

Zidane deserves praise for what he has done at this club, and he deserves patience to show us what’s about to come. As you sit behind your screens and consistently talk about how he has no tactical knowledge, you are disrespecting a legacy that will probably never be matched again and a person who has returned knowing the risks that it imposes to that legacy.

Zinedine Zidane is the right person to take Real Madrid forward. As you scream out names such as Jose Mourinho or Mauricio Pochettino, they have both shown why they won’t be the right names to help this club reach their previous heights. Zidane is the reason we reached these heights before, and the least we could do is give him the tools needed to reach them again. The club have given him power; we need to give him patience.