Ah yeah no worries.
Zidane sack watch - 19/20
- Thread starter JoaquinJoaquin
- Start date
Looking back I don't think I remember too many games where I can say Zidane was tactically superior to his counterpart, nor do I feel he adjusted well to them. On another forum I go to I know a Madrid fan who recently shared the same opinion his quote,
"As much as I love him for what he’s accomplished both as a player, and now as our manager (and I obviously hope it continues), I’ve tried thinking back to a period of time during his two stints with us where he tactically outmaneuvered our opponent teams, and I find it pretty astonishing how many times we’ve pulled through despite having our backs against the wall."
I'm not saying Zidane is lucky here, but tactically tweaks isn't something I'd attribute towards him, he does adapt well though and seems to have a lot of respect from the players.
Is he joining the list of world class players who were also world class managers?
Cruyff being the obvious one
Not sure who else actually
Cruyff being the obvious one
Not sure who else actually
He made a tactical tweak in his CL encounter vs PSG in the 2nd leg.
He went with a 442 for the 2nd leg and rendered PSG ineffective the entire game.
Dropped Modric and Kroos for the game.
The thing though is that winning in Europe is so hard. I mean look at Pep G, hailed as the best manager of his generation. Won 2 CL with Barca (arguably because he had the best player in the world aided by the best midfield in the world, and half of the Spanish national team that swept everything in sight), and did feckall despite managing extremely well funded and structured teams like Bayern Munich or Man City.
Mourinho, the other genius spawned 2 CL with Porto and Inter and failed to win with much better squads at Chelsea and Madrid. Hitzfeld won 2, Lippi won 1, Ancelotti won 3 but his league record is abysmal (despite coaching Juve, prime Milan, Chelsea, PSG, Madrid, Bayern etc). Simeone, Conte, Allegri still got none despite being very good at setting up tactically.
My opinion is that CL is a tight competition decided by the finest margins and decided at the deep end of the season where injuries, fatigue and competing in so many fronts can become a huge factor. The league is a better barometer than a cup competition always.
I know in terms of talent, this Madrid side is up there with Bayern, PSG and City, but I think it’s fair to say that this guy is already well on his way to becoming the best Real manager of all-time. Please correct me, Madrid fans, if I’m wrong.
He has 2 La Liga’s and 3 Champions Leagues’ (tentative) in 4 seasons. I really cannot remember a more successful period for Madrid, except for when they won 5 CLs’ in a row. Is he already the 2nd best ever behind the manager who achieved those CL titles?
He has 2 La Liga’s and 3 Champions Leagues’ (tentative) in 4 seasons. I really cannot remember a more successful period for Madrid, except for when they won 5 CLs’ in a row. Is he already the 2nd best ever behind the manager who achieved those CL titles?
I swear everything he touches turns to gold. Real Madrid look miles behind Barcelona in the first few months or so of this season. How they won the title this year I don’t know. If Barca had kept Valverde I think Barca would’ve won. If they win the Champions League he’s a god.
Hope Real can knockout the cheating cnuts out of UCL this season. Come on Zidane, we are all with you
That's actually his biggest strength. Managers that have 'trademarks' are susceptible. The biggest weakness of Pep - as well as Jose - is rigid adherence to their preferred "philosophy". Klopp has only achieved success this season because he's finally been pragmatic. But he too can be frustrated as Atleti showed. Zidane, meanwhile is more Fergie-esque in that he doesn't fixate on a style or formation. He is as happy attacking with free-flowing football as adapting to his opponents and being more "pragmatic". His selections and formations are flexible and he follows a "horses for courses" approach. He's also a phenomenal man-manager and gets every last drop out of every single player.
The same "veterans" that almost uniformly looked "past it" and "over the hill" from August to March, suddenly became "better" after he returned and this season, have rolled back the years. He's clearly very good and players revere him. It's not just what he did as a player and what he did for Real Madrid. There are plenty of club legends who fail. Zidane has that X-factor that makes him a great man-manager and leader.
Flo has ruled out big signings this window and clearly spoken about there not being money for this. Frankly the moment Real Madrid implemented a wage cut for players, it ruled out a big signing. This is also the reason why Man United will move this window for Sancho as there is barely any competition. Wait another year and there will surely be a bidding war.Vini and Mbappé are meant to play together
Honestly we do need cover at RB and in midfield. Pogba would be awesome, but anybody fast and mobile and dynamic would do. Also probably a LB because i fear Marcelo is done
We need Hazard to get fit and be Hazard, and a right-sided forward with goals. Mbappé awesome, if not i'd want us to go for Sancho honestly. But i don't think we'll have the money
Looking at the shambles that is Barcelona, all he needed to do was to deliver a solid campaign. And that he did. His squad has its issues upfront, but compared to Barca's it appears to have a way better structure and composition.
Aged well.
The amount of trophies he has won already as a manager is astonishing. If he was just a manager, he would have already been in the history books with his 3 UCL victories. The fact that he is Zinedine Zidane, an all time legendary football player is just something that can not be described in words. Hope he kicks out city.
Don't get me wrong I'm not implying that Zidane has never made tactical tweaks, just saying I don't believe that's an aspect of his coaching that makes him special as my response to the other poster was.
When I look at his RM, they've finished second in the 3 group stages in CL in 3 of his full 3 season two of which we saw Dortmund and Spurs topple him. In KO around I remember certain encounters where his side has benefited from opposition teams lack finishing, recently Barca V Roma comes to mind where Barcelona won 4-1 but the scoreline flattered them, as Roma missed a ton of chances in the first leg, Ramos and Ronaldo clutch moments, I mean Madrid have had some of the most iconic clutch moments in this period, followed by a few favorable decision, it's not just RM I can tell you every team in the CL in the last 10 years has had a few calls they benefited from.
Now I'm not saying he's lucky, but just CL runs haven't really tell me much about him on a tactically level, not something I'd attribute towards him at the moment. CL sometimes can be right place right time, or the stars aligning up for you, I mean look at this season, City should've end the tie, but due to there poor finishing this game is still alive, the break has allowed alot of RM players to recharge esepcially the old guards and they look better now, with the league finishing RM now can focus and go all out in CL, had covid not come in it would've been a bit difficult as RM would've had to keep an eye on the league as well, now there no distraction, Zidane has everything falling for him in favorable positions.
Bayern Munich in 2017, first leg. Atletico Madrid 2017, Juventus 2017, PSG 2018
Underrated coach honestly.
PSG I agree and to an extent Juve as well, but the other games were more down to Ronaldo then it was tactically tweaks by Zidane.
Zidane wins yet another trophy as manager and apparently it's not down to tactics or anything managerial at all!!
His record is insane, it's clear he does what's needed to win games.
His record is insane, it's clear he does what's needed to win games.
World class player, world class coach. What a career, bless him.
I wanted him as a caretaker last season *sigh*
I believe what sets Zidane apart from other managers is his holistic approach to the game. People often make the mistake of thinking that football is all about tactics and philosophy, forgetting that at the end of the day you are dealing with humans with complex emotions, motivations, and so on. I believe Zidane has hit the sweet spot in that he manages each aspect of the game to a sufficient degree. The tactical aspect, the human aspect, and so on.
A good example is his half time speech in the CL final against Juve. Its on YouTube, give it a listen. It is really unremarkable, and that makes it remarkable.
A good example is his half time speech in the CL final against Juve. Its on YouTube, give it a listen. It is really unremarkable, and that makes it remarkable.
Tactics are obviously critical but if you don't have the personality to make your players buy into them then it becomes a bit moot. Footballers aren't a CNC machine, where you can just program tactic X and get result Y.
The best managers are tactically brilliant and have a personality to match it.
I actually think that it's pretty remarkable because he left his players alone for most of it, he let them recover instead of feeding them informations that they wouldn't be able to immediately assimilate but when he actually spoke he gave them simple and clear instructions.
Is he the most underrated manager?
His record is incredible and this time he did with Madrid side that looked completely out of shape and when Barca looked clear favorites to win the league. Fantastic manager.
His record is incredible and this time he did with Madrid side that looked completely out of shape and when Barca looked clear favorites to win the league. Fantastic manager.
That was achieved by three different managers.
Barca have Messi though. And Hannibal, and Griezmann...
With a great manager they'd still be a truly great side. Their structural issues are far from something that can't be overcome. Their downfall is that they somehow have the mentality of a mid-table club.
And anyways, yes, barcelona were no great side. Yes, this looks like a down year at the top of european football with no real great side beyond the 3 truly great ones. For all that, other than manchester city, which league had a better 2nd placed team this season?
Same could be said about City this season and Liverpool winning the league...
Zidane has done a great job
Only a Real Madrid manager could win 2 titles and 3 CLs, already cementing himself as probably their best manager ever but still rightly have a sack watch thread. Trophyless season next year and I’m certain he’s gone.
Pretty sure all he does is rock up at training and go "Lads it's me, Zizou." Then pulls out a fonzy-esque "c'monnnnnn" and they all fall in line.
What do you mean by that?
He is averaging 1 trophy in every 19 matches as Madrid manager. Ridiculous ffs.
Ah alright. Should be him then.
Not really. In Munich the whole came out of the second half firing, and we were well in control even before Cristiano got Javi Martinez sent off. Against Atletico it was a masterclass. We demolished them physically, mentally and tactically.
But i think you're focusing way too much on the tactical aspects alone. And even there you're looking at the macro(never Zidane's forte) instead of the micro(where he shines)
From what I've seen of Madrid this season them winning the league must surely just be due to how rubbish the opposition was
That being said still a remarkable accomplishment and Zidane keeps up his insane trophy haul
That being said still a remarkable accomplishment and Zidane keeps up his insane trophy haul
They fall to pieces faaaar too easily. When everything's well they're great, but the moment something goes wrong they turn into puppets. They're the ultimate front-runners, but have zero ability to cope with adversity
I mean. Barcelona collapsed post lockdown but we're still talking about a side that's better than Inter or Dortmund(or chelsea, etc)
Oh I don't doubt but in his first stint he had undeniably the best side in the world, compared to that side his current one is distinctly average and needs a lot of money spent on it to get back to those previous heights
If Madrid can turn around the UCL tie against City maybe I'll start looking at them more favourably
I see what you are thinking about but I wouldn't describe it as a midtable mentality, I'm not even sure midtable mentality is a thing. But there is a problem with Barcelona, there seems to be too much internal politics and too much pandering to Messi instead of thinking about Barcelona as a team, as a football club. Even when they are good there is something wrong behind the scenes that is aired publicly.
They are a worse version of the FC Hollywood.