Real Madrid: 3 reasons to trust in Zinedine Zidane after 2019-2020

Zidane put veteran players back on track

Real Madrid may have been worried about carrying an aging squad with veteran players who were past their primes. Superstars like Luka Modric and Toni Kroos suffered massive down years in 2018-2019, which was a primary reason for Los Blancos playing so poorly that season.

Everyone, with the exception of Gareth Bale, rebounded in 2019-2020. Even players whose seasons were plagued by injuries, specifically James Rodriguez, looked good. Bale’s circumstances are extenuating, but even he played decent football at times before his season was totally upended by injury and controversy.

Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Isco, Dani Carvajal, Sergio Ramos, and Thibaut Courtois were all world-class this season, with Ramos actually being the worst of those six players.

Courtois looked like the best goalkeeper in the entire world by the time the season ended, Carvajal was back to being one of the premier right backs in the game, Kroos was back to being a maestro in midfield, Modric didn’t look washed at 34, Ramos captained the world’s best center back duo alongside Raphael Varane, and Isco became one of the team’s most important players by March.

It’s safe to say Zidane got far more out of the experienced players on his roster than any of the managers before him in the 2018-2019 season. These players respect Zidane, who knows how to use them and how to motivate them.