I don't like Zidane as a manager at all. The weakness of Barcelona shouldn't mask the shortcomings of Zidane... The structure in the buildup phase is disgusting aswell as the offensive structure. One could expect these things to be at a reasonable level in a few weeks. Zidanes has had months to fix these issues and he was unable to do so. Here is an overview on a few highly knowledgeable tactical analyses of Zidane's work: http://spielverlagerung.com/2016/04/07/heckings-4-1-5-0-in-wolfsburg-20-real-madrid/ http://analysport.fr/real-madrid/ http://spielverlagerung.de/2016/04/07/kopflos-statt-freilos-hecking-coacht-zidane-aus/ http://abseits.at/fusball-internati...lyse-probleme-im-aufbauspiel-von-real-madrid/ Especially the videos of the second link are extremely important because they are able to highlight the poor play in possession of Real Madrid. Of course, the individual quality of the squad of Real Madrid is able to overwhelm most of the enemy teams but the quality of the coach should match the quality of the players at his disposal and this is clearly not the case for this Real Madrid. Real Madrid is important to me so I'm happy they have chances to succeed in this season. However, the most important thing for me is to be able to enjoy the beautiful game. I think it is beautiful to maximise the output of given resources. In this season, Real Madrid has been wasting so much talent, I could cry every time I see Casemiro starting in favour of Kovacic, Isco or James. Casemiro is a necessity in this season, this is unfortunately true. However, it was not a clever move of Zidane to start him in the first place. The opposite is true. Casemiros starting role is the evidence of Zidanes deficiencies. In compact, collective and cohesive team Casemiro would not be important. So, Casemiro effectively overmasks the symptoms of certain weaknesses. I'd prefer to remove the weaknesses instead of masking the symptoms...
lol We now have a chance to win trophies and suddenly all these people start showing up out of nowhere.
Its not a bad post per se. The problem is it fails to recognize that coaching is more than just tactics, especially at a club like Madrid. Its about a positive approach, motivation, inspiration, managing egos, dressing room harmony, atmosphere, trust and freedom for the players. These are a lot of intangibles beyond formations and squad selection. Again, nobody claims Zidane is a tactical revolutionary, but he knows football, he knows Madrid players (and they know him) and he knows Madridismo. With a bit of autonomy, he should be able to win some silverware with these resources.
My post is focussing on the weaknesses of Zidane that are very important for me because I want Real Madrid to play a dominant and beautiful football. For me, beautiful football isn't about Ronaldo scoring a long-shot goal but collective structures that maximise the potential of the players. I don't neglect that Zidane might be great at motivating his players, etc. and my post didn't indicate that Zidane has no qualities. I totally understand that you respect Zidane for the qualities that you mentioned. However, my opinion is different: If Real Madrid has the resources to attract managers that possess (more or less) the same "soft-skills" as Zidane and a superior tactical understanding it should appoint these kind of managers. Examples would be: Ancelotti, Sampaoli, Guardiola, Allegri and to a lesser extent (because of their status): Tuchel, Pochettino, Laudrup. Zidanes lack of tactical understanding was obvious even in his Castilla days...
Changing the manager again, because he doesn't fit our idea of the 'perfect' manager is possibly the stupidest thing that can be done. Zidane is here now and overall he is good enough. Even if changing the manager was a possibility (and its not), none of these managers are an alternative; Ancelotti should have stayed but Florentino ********ed up so hes gone, Guardiola should stay as far away as possible from Madrid, and the rest don't have the authority/reputation to replicate Zidane's rapport with the squad. Also, don't forget that the very presence of Ronaldo and the BBC in general because of club politics poses an almost insurmountable tactical problem. As long as it is like that, the team will be unbalanced, and no manager can do anything about it. It is when Ronaldo leaves and we see a midfield that includes Isco or James at the expense of the forward, then the dominant and beautiful football will come.
I largely agree with the BC (Bale & Cristiano) issue. Highest level structures and tactics are impossible to implement with these two individuals in the starting lineup. However, to implement a proper, solid buildup structure and acceptable offensive structures one doesn't have to be a magician despite the presence of Ronaldo and Bale. But again, I see why one would welcome stability in the coaching sector. If stability is the reason for the club to keep Zidane than they should've kept Ancelotti in the first place. I thought the club wants to evolve tactically, not regress.
I think you would find very few now who would argue that letting Ancelotti go was the right thing to do. It was a ridiculous decision, even more with the replacement in mind, and I still think Florentino should be held accountable for that. But whats gone is gone. With Bale & Ronaldo in the lineup, this is as good as it gets tactics wise IMO. Ultimately, tactics are only one of several criteria; Luis Enrique is nothing special as a tactician, but he won a treble last year and could win a double this one. I think Zidane has room to grow as a tactician too. He deserves to be given time at the coaching post.
Zidane is far from perfect but he was smart and brave enough to play Casemiro which freed up Kroos and allowed Modric to roam more. Fundamentally there are flaws with the make up our squad which somewhat limits the tactics that can be employed. Probably the biggest thing Zidane is quilty of is playing Danilo instead of Dani.
No one will beat the supposed lawyer who came into the Ronaldo thread to "just ask questions," then proceeded to endlessly make book-length posts about Messi's greatness.
I am not going to do the usual me and just bash the guy right away. I do think there's some good points in the post. But why do those reviews and tactical discussions not cover the positives of when we have successfully used our resources? There actually have been quite a few times where this system we have has worked out quite well. It's definitely not perfect, but realize that we are actually having a less than great year and need stability, so I'd be more than happy to claim either a Liga or a CL and look towards next year. Moreover, no one is perfect in the footballing world. Del Bosque won only 55% of his games with Real Madrid, yet we consider him our greatest. We should be happy we have a devoted servant like Zidane; and all those managers you have mentioned have their own issues too. We should support him in this current season and the next and then see if he's as weak as you make him out to be. Just remember the patience Barca has shown with their coaching team, and look how handsomely it has rewarded them since 2004, and look in hindsight and see that individually, our head coaches have probably been better.
Can I just take a second to say how enthralled I am by the work rate of our players under Zizou? Every player going out there like they are the underdog, just fighting for every ball. Not afraid to put themselves on the line. Kroos and Ronaldo are completely different people under Zidane. It's crazy, I tell you! I mean, did anyone see that Indirect Free Kick at the 75th min. against Getafe? Ronaldo, standing in the box trying to defend. That wasn't the only time I saw him coming back to help out in the back. I brought tears of joy to my eyes. The resurgence of Ronaldo happened to coincide with us getting back into these fights for trophies. Zidane really lit a spark under our players somehow, and even Isco and James are starting to buy into his plans even when he throws them scraps. Amazing! If he can motivate us like this for 3 more CL games, I would say we can at least rescue one trophy out of this Rafa Benitez tarnished season. Two would be magical, but I'm gonna stay grounded. At least one trophy will make me happy for the moment.
as i sad before, we need authority. he shouldn't be some mastermind tactic (of course if he is it's even better) but we need coach who will unite player, cause you will fing some big egos in dressingrom and Zidane perfect in this position. He has huge respect for all players, statt and supportets, and when legend like Zidane is talking i'm pretty sure everyone is listening .
Players also know that if Florentino had to choose, he would choose Zidane over certain players. I've posted that when he was appointed. Under Rafa, most of the players knew the blame is gonna go to him, under Zizou it's different. You have to earn your stay, Isco and James are the best examples of this. Everyone was throwing Rafa under the buss for the issues with James, but it turned out he was right. I think that played a part in this revival we are witnessing.
Not to mention the fact that you can't imprint your ideal footballing style when you've taken over a team that had been essentially misused by the previous coach. Add to that the pressure of instantaneous results and the way the team has been playing and utilising the counters is reflective of Zidane's tactical understanding. It's a dumb post.
The part about James is on point. Zidane reinforced Benitez's view of the player; however, Zidane is capable of reigniting the flame under his ass as opposed to Benitez's handling of the whole situation.
What did Benitez do wrong? It was James who fired the shots towards Benitez, much like his mom is doing now with Zizou .
It was more of a statement with respect to each manager's abilities with man management. At least it shows James is scared enough of Zidane that he's getting his mother fire shots at him instead of doing it directly like he did with Benitez lol.
All that shows me is how poorly he behaved under Benitez, and it's not something i will forget lightly. It has nothing to do with man management. James knows that Zidane is more important/loved/valued by the President and the fans than he is. He has to step up his game now, there's no blaming the coach no more.
Meh Benitez mishandled the situation as much as James. Say what you want about James but he's gotten along with every other manager except Benitez. Isco never had issues with anyone else either. Half the team had issues with Rafita, as did the Napoli thing. The guy is just a polarizing figure, just not a guy players respects. Put it thus way, Rafa has had more issues with players than James with coaches.