Back when Zidane managed first time, I always felt Zidane was going to leave the instant Perez bought in Degea. His son is third now - but Curtois will be out next season and if Curtois is replaced, he will be replaced by a goalkeeper in his 30s or Zidane’s son would be 2nd. I know De Gea rumors are always there but the way I see it, De Gea is not coming anytime soon if Zidane is managing Real Madrid.
Technically Kiko Casillas became "third"; although, he left after seeing the writing on the wall (3 x CL winner was backup and the other backup's name is Zidane). But what an excellent observation given this...Zidane: "Today Keylor played, and Thibaut will play too, and we have Luca as third keeper. Madrid need two, three, four great keepers. So the coach always has the problem, but I will count on both until the end of the season, then we will see.”— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) March 16, 2019
No way he will put his son under that kind of pressure, even for being # 2. He should send him to a small league, or hook him up with his BFF Ronaldo team if Valladolid needs a goalie.
"Isco scored and I've liked that we made a lot of crosses and at the end we found a clear shot and we earned the price. When you send crosses there are more chances to score" - He is actually not wrong about this.. The higher percentage of goals in football come from crosses.. But this is what we will continue to see a lot with Zidane which so many people here hated a lot. Just need a better target man - Play Bale as CF - of for the CMs to make runs into the area. Isco was a 10 today with a double pivot formation but when Casemiro is back I am not sure Isco would have a slot.. unless he takes over Kroos. "I don't think the other manager treated them like juveniles. My feeling is that they've always demonstrated how good they are, and I am going to count with them. They showed it today, Keylor, Marcelo, Isco and Marco.. But all, I am going to count with all. At the same time it is the fu*** up job of the coach. I am going to need all, but there are players that would be left out, that won't play" This is what I kept saying and it does not have to be something personal but the players who the manager thinks will contribute less would be left out and not play.. People here think this rotation business while keeping every player happy is easy but here is Zidane telling you all that it is the most difficult part of coaching.. What happens when Vini and Lucas come back? "I don't think about the future, only in the games that are left. Obviously there would be changes. But I can't say anything else. I am not gonna be 10 games to decide who leaves and who stays. We are not in play time" It appears that the players who are coming in have already been decided, Militao, Hazzard? and the ones that would be sold as well... (Bale) - Perhaps there won't be anymore changes?
^Sounds like Marcelo, Isco, Asensio and Navas will stay since he mentioned them regarding players who weren't playing much under Solari. Didn't mention Bale and last line pretty much indicates remaining 10 games is not an audition on whom to sell and keep. I think Mariano will be sold as well. So Hazard, Militao and a No.9 is coming. Dunno if it will be a back up type like RDT or a young player with high upside. If Isco stays, Kroos might have to leave to make a big name signing in midfield. Wonder what ZZ thinks about Kroos.
I don't think Zidane would rather play Isco as CM instead of Kroos - he played today because we were missing Casemiro. .. Kroos will stay.. and Isco will most likely be a bench/rotational player again or get sold. Ceballos or Valverde would go out on loan.
Well if it's 4-3-3 with Kroos, Casemiro, Modric, Hazard, Benz, Vinicius, hope ZZ sees Modric is old and having Eriksen makes a ton of sense both short and long term.
If Eriksen comes it it would become a nightmare for Zidane to try give minutes to Isco and Asensio and Modric.. I am not sure yet if another CM would be brought in but if he does, another player has to be sold and to me the best candidate is Isco. Modric is still our best midfielder.. he demonstrated it once again today and last week.. with his golazo..
Yes, Modric is our best, but we need to start resting him more and play him in tough away games, CL to optimise him next season. I'd sell Isco and sign Eriksen as well. I'd keep Ceballos.
We need refreshing in midfield badly. People need to let go of the past and be open to making the hard decisions
Maybe we should try for Pogba. Manchester United are not going to be competing for major trophies any time soon.
He hasn't lived up close to the hype at Utd. Imo he doesn't have the passion to reach next level and be consistent by himself. A coach like ZZ could be his last hope to push the right buttons to make him world class at club level. Because of ZZ's stature which Pogba will respect and the fact that ZZ wants him to do well on a personal level. But price tag will be too high and probably not worth the risk.
For me a well structured plan would go like this: 2019: Eriksen, Hazard, Militao, Hermoso, Jovic/Felix/Whomever, Rodrygo 2020: Pogba, Hakimi 2021: Mbappe? We would be fortifying weakened spots yearly. By 2020-21 season Pogba can replace Modric if we don't get Lo Celso or Isco/Ceballos don't step up. By 2021-22 we could go for Mbappe if Jovic/Felix isn't producing or/and to replace Benzema.
ICYMI | Zidane's first diagnosis: the problem is not physicalhttps://t.co/AvVOTVjgNh— AS USA (@English_AS) March 18, 2019
🇫🇷 manager Deschamps: "One day Zidane will have a part to play and will take this job. I don't know when. It could have happened before, it could be after. I don't know. But it seems logical for him, like it was for me. But I don't think it's his issue at the moment, or mine."— M•A•J (@Ultra_Suristic) March 21, 2019
I forgot just how important Morata and Asensio were for Zizou in 2017, was just browsing YouTube and came upon this. Good times.
MARCA: Zidane has used 19 different players in his first 2 games already. The 6 players he hasn't used have 3 injuries & one suspension. pic.twitter.com/oJhTO7GGsx— M•A•J (@Ultra_Suristic) April 1, 2019
I’m a big fan of Zidane, but he makes the same mistakes again imo. He completely ignores players like Llorente, Ceballos and Reguilon. What I’m afraid of is how he handles Vini and Rodrygo and also what will happen to Ødegaard. I really thought he would give the youngsters more chances but the only one who plays is Valverde. Hopefully he’s just testing some players because some of these guys don’t deserve to play for us anymore.
He's given Brahim more of a look than Solari did, plus Odriozola played a lot of minutes as well, but yes im bummed about Llorente as well, not worried about Vinicius though, that cat is out of the bag.