On Saturday, the 15th of May, big news shook up Real Madrid, their fans, and Spanish football in general. With just 24 hours remaining for Real Madrid’s penultimate game of the season against Athletic Bilbao, news broke out that the club’s manager Zinedine Zidane will leave Real Madrid after the 2020/21 season ends.
Reliable journalist Mario Cortegana reported that Zidane is going to leave Real Madrid after the season ends, while Fernando Burgos from Onda Cero had cited that Zinedine Zidane had already conveyed his decision to the players before the game against Sevilla held on the 9th of May.
Zidane’s future was always up in the air during the season, whenever there was a talk about a crisis at Real Madrid. Zidane’s men always bounced back after those crisis periods, to silence their critics. But Zidane’s future was still in doubt. The doubt wasn’t because of the fear of the Real Madrid board sacking him. It was out of the fear of Zidane leaving by himself, something which we have already seen in 2018.
Zidane’s statements before the media didn’t help the case either, as he always ended up leaving a sense of suspense with his statements. He has often said that he won’t be the manager of Real Madrid for 20 more years, and when asked about his immediate future, he replied that he would make a decision after the season ends. He always left the media unsatisfied with his answers, and never gave them clarity.
The recent rumors just added fuel to the fire, as there were always doubts. But after confirmation from Zidane and Nacho that the Frenchman didn’t convey any decision about his future to the players, there was a temporary sense of relief.
But none of them confirmed that Zidane would be staying for the next season. They just denied the rumor of Zidane revealing his decision to the team before the Sevilla game. So his future is still up in the air, and there is a possibility of Zinedine Zidane resigning after the Villarreal game.
Considering a scenario where Zidane has decided to leave, what can be done by Real Madrid to convince him to stay? What are the things the club could do to change the mind of possibly the best manager Real has ever seen, since Miguel Munoz’s departure? Let’s have a deeper look into that.
Renew the contract of Sergio Ramos and look to retain Raphael Varane
In 2018, after a successful UEFA Champions League campaign in which RealMadrid won the title for the 13th time overall and for the third time in a row, Zinedine Zidane resigned as the manager of Real Madrid. A month after Zidane’s exit, the club’s talisman Cristiano Ronaldo left, who had indirectly conveyed his intentions to the public in an interview after the final.
A lot of reports emerged at that time, which also suggested that Zidane’s exit was linked to Cristiano’s exit. Few sources believed that Zidane wanted the club to keep the Portuguese and get rid of Gareth Bale, but the club did the exact reverse. That was said to be one of the reasons behind Zidane’s exit, while the Frenchman insisted that he felt a change was needed at the club.
Fast forward to 2021, there is a similar situation. The club captain Sergio Ramos’ contract is set to expire this summer, with the club and Ramos not coming to an agreement yet. Reportedly there’s a battle of egos going on between the club captain and the club president in the case of the former’s renewal.
Ramos shares a fantastic bond with Zidane, with whom he had also played together. Zidane wouldn’t like to see Ramos leaving the club when he’s still at the top of his game, and Ramos being Real Madrid’s captain only makes his case stronger. This might not be the only factor behind his plan of quitting, but it is common to have disagreements with the board in the case of players.
Another disagreement Zidane might possibly have is in the case of Raphael Varane, who either wants to leave for a new challenge or could even be sold to generate funds to sign Kylian Mbappe.
Zidane might like the idea of Real Madrid signing Mbappe, but not the idea of signing him at the expense of Varane. The 28-year-old French defender is going to enter his prime, and he is one of Zidane’s most trusted players.
These kinds of decisions taken by the board in the case of players may not actually be well received by Zidane, who might be taking the right stand in these cases, valuing things with a sporting vision. So the club giving some value to Zidane’s opinion in the case of players might actually work in the favour of the club and would be a respectful gesture towards Zidane.
Show some faith in Zinedine Zidane and protect him from the stress
Real Madrid fans demand perfection from the team every time they step onto the pitch. Sometimes, when things don’t go as per plan, there is a feeling of unrest in the environment. And most of the times, the fingers are raised at the manager. It has always happened in the case of previous managers, and it has happened in the case of Zidane as well. And Zidane’s unexpressive nature has given the critics greater freedom to criticize Zidane.
But as a successful manager who has won 11 trophies for Real Madrid in such a short span of time, Zidane deserves some respect and he can’t stand such disrespectful situations. To be answering the same question about his future or about any player in every press conference will indeed be very frustrating.
As an easy-going and mature manager, Zidane commands some respect with his behavior and class. When respect isn’t shown to him and there’s a lot of disrespect aimed towards him, it will obviously drain him mentally. And sometimes that mental fatigue is so disturbing that even the strongest of characters would like to escape that.
To save Zidane from that pressure, Real Madrid can take a step. They obviously can’t control the writings of a journalist who looks to criticize Zidane, but they can assure Zidane of his position from their side. By showing greater faith in the gaffer, they can make him feel comfortable.
After the loss against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Group Stages of the UEFA Champions League, there were rumors that the board had an emergency meeting to talk about the future of Zidane. Such situations will only make a person like Zidane feel disappointed. The board might have every right to question Zidane, but that needs to be done in a respectful manner.
Zidane isn’t right every time. But he is an experienced sportsman, and after every loss, even he would be introspecting himself, asking questions about where things went wrong. And Zidane has always shown that he knows how to turn around tough situations. For such a capable manager like Zidane, some trust and backing of the board can be very helpful.
Let Zinedine Zidane have some say in the case of Real Madrid transfers
The board members, scouts, and the president are the ones who are usually responsible for signing or selling a player. But at the end of the day, it’s the manager who would be using the players and designate them with their roles and responsibilities. In that case, the managers do deserve to have a say in the matter of signings.
Even Zidane deserves to give his opinion in the case of transfers and ask the board to sign a/some particular player(s) or ask them to sell a particular player who doesn’t fit into his plans. But at Real Madrid, that doesn’t look to be the case sometimes. Because there is a powerful president (wouldn’t be wrong to call him the most powerful president) sitting in the office of Real Madrid, who has the greater say in transfers.
In the case of transfers Perez does take the suggestion of his scouts and other members, but the final decision is always his. If he sets his sight on a new player or is adamant in the case of any player, it would be very difficult to stop him. Sometimes those signings made by Perez do lack a sporting vision. And the absence of a powerful sporting director (someone like Jorge Valdano) makes it worse.
Zidane wouldn’t like to see things like that. Because he would love to see players who fit into their schemes, and not someone he’s forced to accommodate just because of the board signing him due to some business-related reasons. The same has happened in the case of Cristiano-Bale. And it appears to be in the same in Luka Jovic’s case as well, though there have been claims from Jovic that Zidane personally asked for his signing.
In such cases, Zidane hasn’t been right every time. But he has proven to be the right one most of the time, with Gareth Bale’s issue being the best example. And when his opinion isn’t valued by the president or the board, it does look to be disrespectful, because every manager has a wishlist (though not everyone can be signed), and their own preferences.
Real Madrid does need to give Zidane’s choice greater preference, and it would completely make sense in doing so if they trust him. Doing all of this might not make Zidane change his mind immediately if he chooses to leave. But these will definitely give him a sense of assurance and trust. And in my opinion, such measures should’ve been taken immediately after recalling him to be the manager. Because Zidane left in 2018 due to similar reasons. It might be a bit late to convince Zidane, but better late than never and let’s hope it is not too late.
But one thing is for sure. Zidane is one of the best Real Madrid managers ever, and his continuity will only make the team better. His achievements speak for themselves.