Real Madrid: 3 things Zinedine Zidane still needs to do

Earlier substitutions

Although this may seem like a minor aspect of team development, it can have a significant impact in the scope of an entire season. For example, league titles can often be decided by one point or one slip (yes, that was a Liverpool joke). A well-timed substitution can change everything, so a manager consistently wasting time before making an inevitable change could cost points in the long run. And those points could cost a title.

Real Madrid are in a better long-term situation than Barcelona when looking at finances, organizational stability, and youth development. But Real can never overlook Barcelona, nor can they overlook their improving competition in Europe.

There are so many times where Zidane waits until the last 10 minutes to make changes that he clearly should have made before the 70th minute, whether it’s a change to the attack or midfield. One of the few times he made an early change, Vinicius Junior completely changed the complexion of the game and created a goal that ended up being the winner in El Derbi.

Or how about the times Marco Asensio, Luka Jovic, Rodrygo Goes, and Mariano Diaz have scored off the bench?

Imagine the points Real Madrid could have recovered in other matches if Zidane had been more proactive with his subs. Those young players would have received more minutes and more chances to score. (Thinking of Jovic here.)

Even with five substitutions now allowed during COVID-19 to help manage the smaller breaks between matches, Zidane is still waiting too long to make changes. That’s a tactical area Zidane can directly impact.