Zinedine Zidane has the capabilities and knowledge to be a fantastic manager and a huge success with Real Madrid. Just like his playing days he will prove he is one of the best in the world.
In his prime, Zidane was one of the best in the world during his playing days and the knowledge he gained throughout his career will help him massively during his managerial career.
The current Real Madrid manager has taken on a huge job during the early stages of his career and he is doing quite well, which has come as a surprise to some people, but some people expected it and saw it coming before Benitez was sacked.
It was fair to say Zizou started his coaching career under one of the best managers in the world, Carlo Ancelotti. His assistant manager role at Real Madrid was during a fantastic season for them when they won the Champions League and Copa Del Rey.
He then took a step down to the Real Madrid B team (Real Madrid Castilla) this then allowed him to gain some valuable coaching experience. Madrid were very smart in doing this because he was still learning his role but within the club he would go on to manage.
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Was Zizou always meant to take over at Madrid?
Zidane has been in and around the Real Madrid set up since signing in 2001. Since his retirement in 2006 he has been in different roles at the club and has now been promoted to the clubs First Team Coach. It makes me think that he was destined to take over at Madrid, but was his appointment made quicker than expected?
When Benitez was appointed by Real Madrid it came as a shock to the football world, as he isn’t known for being the greatest manager ever and for a club with the size and stature of Real Madrid it seemed like an odd appointment. However, it now looks like he was just keeping the seat warm for Zidane to come in and take over.
However, with results being so poor under Benitez, I think they pushed Zidane’s start date forward when they sacked Benitez. They felt he was almost ready to takeover and this is exactly what he did and ever since, results have been fantastic and he seems to be getting the best out of a world class team again.
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Zidane has been there, seen it, done it and even worn the t-shirt. A fantastic career, winning pretty much everything on offer and playing with and against some of the greatest players ever. Of course Zidane is quite easily one of the best players ever, but not all great players make great managers. Most great players tend to not go into management or not succeed. However, I feel that Zidane has got the knowledge, leadership and personality to succeed as a manager at the very top level.
His aggression and passion for the game will take him a long way in the managerial game, but his knowledge will take him even further. I expect Zidane to bring trophies back to Madrid for many years to come and continue to showcase some of the world’s best talent on the way.
His experience of playing the game within the modern ‘media era’ will help him massively and give him an advantage over older managers. Zidane will know what it is like to be in the media spotlight and will know the pressure it puts on the very best players.
This will help him engage better with his players because he is able to relate with what they have to handle in the modern game. Of course that head butt gave him more media spotlight than he would have wanted.
Overall, Zizou has got off to a fantastic start at Real Madrid, as his team has scored 23 goals in just six games, including a great 5-0 victory on his managerial debut. In his first six games his team have only conceded five goals, which is impressive for an inexperienced manager. After having the best result in a first game for any Real Madrid manager in the last 57 years, you can surely expect great things from Zidane’s Real Madrid team.