Real Madrid: Ranking the four main candidates to replace Zidane after Allegri goes to Juve

Real Madrid are officially looking for a new manager. Word first broke from Fabrizio Romano last night that Zinedine Zidane would be leaving the club. And the rumors have become a reality on Thursday, as the club announced the legend’s departure.

To make matters more complicated for Los Blancos, the rumored top replacement for Zidane is off the table, as Max Allegri has agreed to replace Andrea Pirlo at Juventus. And now the field of candidates is wide open, though some of the top names are actively being recruited elsewhere.

Let’s rank the top managers linked to the Real Madrid job from fourth to first, eschewing names like Xabi Alonso who are potentially on the radar but not as concretely linked to the position.

4. Joachim Low

The worst option is clearly Joachim Low, and he is the only manager who does not qualify as a “good” option for Real Madrid.

I want to quickly dispel something. Low is not a bad manager. I don’t want to join the hivemind of people memeing Low, because he’s actually accomplished a lot at the German national team and does get blamed for issues that go well beyond the manager. There are serious sources of dysfunction within the DFB that they, as an institution, needed to acknowledge after the failure of the 2018 World Cup.

Nevertheless, the issue with Low is that his tactical ideas are not innovative enough for a club that wants a “Revolution”. More to the point, when has Low achieved success at the club level? To my knowledge, it’s never happened, and certainly not at a club of Real’s stature. And a Revolution is ambitious. Does Low have the chops to mold young talent and make the right transfer suggestions? I have high doubts.