When you begin working for Real Madrid, the moment you walk in through those doors either as a player or an official, your job is never safe. After an upsetting dismissal of club manager Carl Ancelotti in May 2015, players whom have grown close to him and have built trust and a bond between the player and the manager will now have to adapt to a new manager.
The person that was assigned the filling role for manager of Real Madrid was Rafael Benítez, who at the time was not the ideal person for the job but Real Madrid needed someone to work out of desperation. During his reign at Real Madrid as the new manager, he has grown distrust from the players that ultimately showed on the pitch when players were not playing in the right positions, an embarrassing 0-4 loss against Spanish rivals Barcelona at a home game, and then the embarrassing disqualification from the Copa Del Ray due to playing an ineligible player. Hence, after seven months the club president, Florentino Perez had fired him on January 4, 2016 after consecutive draws and defeats in the season.
New Coach Zinedine Zidane
Photo Credit: Real Madrid
Now Real Madrid needed a new manager that can get them on track to winning the season and the Champions League and get the trust of the team. The perfect person for the job was Zinedine Zidane, who was the assistant manager for Real Madrid during Ancelotti’s reign. Zidane is the ideal and the missing piece for Real Madrid’s glory because he was once a legendary player for Real, where he played and won the Champions League in 2002, and alongside Ancelotti he helped lead Real Madrid to win their 10th Champions League Cup. Most of all he knew many players from assisting Ancelotti, and thus gained their support and trust. In his debut game against Deportivo, Real Madrid had played a stunning 5-0 win, which brought back Real’s dominance in La Liga.
The biggest challenge Zidane might face is choosing a starting XI team, those who can stay fit and perform well on big games. In my opinion, he needs a team that can play by his tactics and strategies, not by the Club’s president. As from previous managers at Real Madrid, they used a team selection chosen by the Club’s President, when a player became injured or when the tactics didn’t work out as plan, the team suffered by losing the season and cup tournaments. What Zidane needs to do is to continue being an independent individual that he is, where his managerial skills and strategies for the game can be portrayed on the field when the team is playing right and with full concentration.
Another thing Zidane might need to work on is bringing back Cristiano Ronaldo’s consistency and keeping Gareth Bale fit. Many can agree that Gareth Bale is at his highest peak of his form of his career, according to La Liga stats, Bale had scored 13 goals in his last 15 game. Zidane needs to keep Bale fit since he is constantly getting injured, by resting him and rotating him out of the starting eleven. When he is well rested, plays a key role in the team, and is effective on the pitch, Real Madrid poses as a great threat with power and pace. The presence of Cristiano Ronaldo makes Real Madrid a greater threat to opponents, with his dribbling skills, passing and shooting abilities, there is no doubt he is one the best players of the world. With Ronaldo, Zidane has to focus on getting the right consistency from Ronaldo in every game, where he can score in every game, especially in big games.
With the strength and teamwork from the forward power house, BBC, which consists of Bale, Benzema, and Cristiano, Real Madrid can get back on track on to becoming season title contenders and possibly win tournaments. As the season progresses, many soccer enthusiast and critics are excited to see the types of magic Zinedine Zidane could do while he leads Real Madrid. He has already fulfilled and has set expectations ever since the explosive turnout in his first game as head coach. We’ll just have to wait and see, what he can do to make Real Madrid successful again.
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