But I thought they had a great transferwindow with Hazard, Jovic, Mendy, Rodrygo and Militao, and things were looking good for them?
The hullabaloo about their transfer window is based on just the quantum - not the fitment or needs of the squad. Hazard apart, the others aren't even starters for the most part. They will all start behind players who were already in the under-achieving squad of last year - and in some cases, the purchase is a head-scratcher. Mendy, for example. Marcelo is a Zidane favourite - and Reguilon filled in very well last season; they also have Hakimi returning at the end of this season and supposedly rate him highly. Was Mendy essential?
The biggest issues for Madrid last season were in midfield (more on the defensive side to be fair), defence and all across the right flank. Yet, the only defender added is Militao (behind Varane and Ramos, in the pecking order) while Rodrygo will be in Castilla (not a RW anyway) and Hazard plays on the left, where Vinicius was a far lesser issue than most - and where you could argue they already have a few options. I said even in June that I didn't think people were right to call it a successful window for them.
Do people still want him as Utd manager if he gets the boot from Real (IF) we were looking for another manager ?
Even at the time it was discussed, most worries about Zidane revolved around how he'd handle a squad rebuild and transfers. Remember that Madrid are similar to us - in that the manager works with Flo (no DoF since the Jose days) on transfers. It was said when Zidane returned that Flo basically promised to get him all the players he wanted (as the condition for Zidane coming back). Since then, it's been a disaster. Look at what Zidane is doing in pre-season, dispassionately and compare with what we did last season under Jose:
1. He's changing formation to accommodate Marcelo (one of his favourites)
2. He's bashed two expensive players in public - destroying saleability as well as making it a very difficult situation for him if they stay (and it's not like he has options in the positions that James and Bale play either, which makes it weirder)
3. Defence is a mess and his CM + DM is a mess, but he's sold Llorente, loaned Ceballos and wants Pogba - who for all his virtues, will actually make the defensive side even weaker
All in all, he's not (so far) showing the signs of being the right man to lead a rebuild. His return last season didn't even give RM a decent new-manager bounce and on the evidence of pre-season, he's not even clear on how he's going to set up tactically. After so much time and a massive window (by spend), that's horrific. Remember also that buying so rapidly and so early is typically the sign of a club and manager that know what they want and how the pieces will fit. To blame it not fitting just on not getting Pogba is brainless. Honestly, I was quite in favour of our landing Zidane at the time. The more I see, the happier I am with our choice. No way I'd want him here today; may change if he suddenly pulls a rabbit out of the hat, but I really doubt that.
PS: I abhor Barca and have a soft corner for Real (always have) so it's not like I'm relishing this one bit. Would have liked to see Real strengthen and beat those Catalan cnuts, but as things stand, no way this works out and ends well