Debunking the Zidane propaganda... (And yes he is overrated...)

As the resident 'Zidane hater' of this forum, it was probably about time that I created a deliberate thread to thoroughly and conclusively debunk a lot of the persistent myths about Zidane. The poster known as @lessthanjake created an excellent long-running thread of Zidane vs. Xavi-Iniesta, in contrast, I want to center this thread not necessarily around how Zidane compares to specific players, but primarily around the demonstrable fact that so many of Zidane's arguments are intellectually dishonest.

Specially what I call 'hit and run' tactics, where the propagandists hit-and-run with an offensive that largely consists of lies, and then watch how willfully ignorant but dedicated Zidane ideologues who don't know any better, take over the so-called 'discourse' until it becomes a good old 'children at the school yard - your mom is stupid, which means you are stupid' type situation, that should by all means be ignored by the sensible people who actually value their time on this earth. Of course, the reference 'hit and run' alludes to the fact that the propagandists are typically nowhere to be found, when simple fact-checking demonstrates the true nature of their motives. Bottom line: this thread is primarily about fact-checking the hit-and-run propaganda via which Zidane is inflated into Maradona/Pele territory.

NOTE:

I will try my best to DELETE comments that are needlessly ad hominem, and I will also try my best to DELETE statements that are not substantiated by actual facts - because statements not substantiated by actual facts have the unique quality of easily-almost-casually destroying the credibility of any thread/discourse.

 

Chapter 1 :

The Copa del Rey (within the relevant context) cannot serve as a measure of what Zidane needed to do, to win the big games...

Real Madrid never was a good team at the Copa del Rey... Put differently: the Copa del Rey's KO stage overlaps with the Champions League's KO stage, and Real Madrid has always prioritized the Champions League's KO stage and La Liga's business end of the season, over the Copa del Rey (which is the main reason as to why Real Madrid has done so poorly at the Copa del Rey over the years).

Here is Real Madrid's record at the Copa del Rey: Real Madrid was eliminated in the Quarter Finals in 1993-94; Real Madrid was eliminated in the Round of 16 in 1994-95; eliminated in the Round of 16 in 1995-96; eliminated in the Round of 16 in 1996-97; eliminated in the Round of 16 in 1997-98 (but they won the Champions League); eliminated in the Semi Finals in 1998-99; eliminated in the Semi Finals in 1999-00 (but they won the Champions League); eliminated before the Round of 16 in 2000-01, reached the Final but didn't win the Final in 2001-02 (but they won the Champions League); eliminated in the Quarter Finals in 2002-03; reached the Final but didn't win the Final in 2003-04; eliminated in the Round of 16 in 2004-05; eliminated in the Semi Finals in 2005-06; etc. In conclusion: Real Madrid literally did not win one single Copa del Rey between 1994 and 2006.

He's (Zidane) somehow credited as a "big game player" even though he only showed up for 2 finals in his whole career, and went invisible in most of the others:

1996 UEFA cup final - invisible, gets destroyed at home, team loses
1997 CL final - invisible, his team loss (the same team that had won it in 1996 without him)
1998 CL final - invisible, his team loses
1998 WC final - clutch, scores 2 headers from set pieces after being average the entire tournament, team wins
2000 Euro final - invisible, team wins because he's bailed out by Wiltord and Trezeguet (Zidane not involved in their goals)
2002 CL final - clutch, team wins
2002 CdR final - invisible, team loses
2004 CdR final - invisible, team loses against a lower mid table side
2006 WC final - chokes and gets sent off, team loses

All that the above list shows is that if Zidane didn't absolutely take control and win the final for his team by scoring goals, they generally lost it (apart from the Euro 00 final and even there he had better overall stats than both Henry and Totti, both of whom are considered to have had a better game than him by his detractors and were the respective motms for their teams). Which shows how the "he always played with superior teammates" argument is also a bit of a fallacy (at least for cup finals).

As was already preemptively demonstrated, the Copa del Rey was a competition that Real Madrid literally did not win, not even one time, between 1994 and 2006. The fact that Zidane was 'invisible' in 2 Copa del Rey Finals, is not only not a good argument in and of itself, but arguably is not even an argument in and of itself, due to the known fact that Real Madrid did not win a Copa del Rey Final at any point between 1994 and 2006. Which begs the question: Why should Zidane become the single biggest reason why Real Madrid failed to win 2 Copa del Rey Finals, when Real Madrid failed to play 10 out of 12 Copa del Rey Finals (in the years that are relevant to Zidane's career)??

The fact that Real Madrid failed to win 2 Copa del Rey Finals, is much more a testament of Real Madrid's demonstrable lack of form at the Copa del Rey (i.e., not one single Copa del Rey title between 1994 and 2006), than it is a testament of how Zidane needed to come big in the big games, in order to win those big games. (And not only did Person Z conveniently ignored the fact that Zidane was 'just a passenger' in the World Cup Semi Final 1998 and again in the World Cup Semi Final 2006, but also...) As is typically the case, Person Z thinks that the universe revolves around Zidane, so much so that he forgot to even check simple 'surface data' such as the fact that Real Madrid LITERALLY never won the Copa del Rey at any point between 1994 and 2006.

Of course, Person Z's intended conclusion is that Zidane must be the single biggest reason as to why Real Madrid didn't win the Copa del Rey Final in 2002 and again in 2004. I'm just hoping that Person Z can also offer such a clear-cut, black-and-white, binary response, as to why Real Madrid 1997-98 (i.e., the team that won the Champions League in 1998 and again in 2000) did not win the Copa del Rey at any point between 1997 and 2001??