Zinedine Zidane - 3 time CL winning manager without a job

NasirTimothy

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It’s not the success at one club arguement at all...it’s the manner and circumstance of the success which make it tricky to assess the scope of the achievement. There is a chance he was in the right place at the right time with the right aura and right message as opposed to a great tactician who executed a master plan.
Utd fans are seeking the later I feel.
This might be a credible argument if he’d won one Champions League title. Not 3 in a freaking row plus a league title. The complete lack of logic in this thread is alarming.
 

Cloud7

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It’s really the hope that kills you. The small sliver of optimism that we might actually do something sensible.
 

InfiniteBoredom

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Most likely bs, yes, but we’ve pulled the same stint before with the Morata-Lukaku deal. Not unthinkable that they sounded out Rodgers and the latter is all too willing to come, but the real prize being worked on should opportunity opens up is Zidane, given how preoccupied they are with the PR aspect. The glamour of a 3 times CL winner can’t be underestimated.
 

Pentagruel

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Zidane could come here and he could fail or he could succeed. There are so many factors in life that it’s difficult to predict. Yet they people that think he’s a bad manager and won via luck at Madrid are insane. The same team Zidane had, three other managers failed with that team, and he won the CL three times in a row, win la Liga, including in his second stint… he’s a top manager and I think if he is really convinced United is the job he will be an amazing choice comparable to Klopp or Pep.
 

Sayros

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United had their most successful period with a manager barely anybody understood, so I don't think the language barrier is as big of a deal as Zidane probably makes it out to be in his mind, but it's not the only issue with this assignment. I think Zidane is one of, if not the best manager in the world, but does United really want a manager that will definitely want to coach France as soon as possible (and that could very well be by next summer)? He would be a stop-gap option, he could set up a team that will be solid to take over from later on, but it will not create much stability in the long run. So it's going to be a lot of work for United to convince him to come in for what's not going to be a long-term appointment IMO.
 

croadyman

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Zidane could come here and he could fail or he could succeed. There are so many factors in life that it’s difficult to predict. Yet they people that think he’s a bad manager and won via luck at Madrid are insane. The same team Zidane had, three other managers failed with that team, and he won the CL three times in a row, win la Liga, including in his second stint… he’s a top manager and I think if he is really convinced United is the job he will be an amazing choice comparable to Klopp or Pep.
Yeah be very surprised if we could persuade him to change his mind about managing in England
 

Bebestation

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Just remembering Ronaldo's and Bale's bicycle kicks in the UCL and Benzema in-between them does make me salivate a bit and think about what he could do with players like Rashford, Greenwood, Sancho, Amad - who knows, maybe even Martial again.
 

yipthatman

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Yes please. Maguire and Shaw can start learning French when they sit on the bench
Im sure Zidane learning English on the job is a better option than Ole trying to learn tactics on the job (which most people were happy with, including me)
 

VP89

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Yes please. Maguire and Shaw can start learning French when they sit on the bench
So he only needs to translate his team talk 3 times? Super efficient
 

Red the Bear

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Or could just use an interpreter like caf favorite poch and bielsa did at first
 

kthanksbye

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If he wants to come here for 18 months till the worldcup, then so be it. Moving forward, we should anyway stop offering long term contracts to managers.

I remember Tuchel saying in an interview that initially he was wary of an 18 month long contract, but then he thought to himself that 18 months or 4 years, his goal would be UCL football regardless, so he just went with it.
 

kthanksbye

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This might be a credible argument if he’d won one Champions League title. Not 3 in a freaking row plus a league title. The complete lack of logic in this thread is alarming.
This is correct. I'm amazed how even after winning 3 CLs in a row people still have doubts about a manager's competence. Can happen only on the CAF, that's how much LvG and Jose have traumatised us.
 

Iker Quesadillas

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When you have Ronaldo, Modric, Kroos, Benzema, (prime) Bale, Ramos, Casemiro in your team bland tactics still win you most of the games.
The problem with this argument is that it's circular.

Nobody was saying, in January 2016, "Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema, Modric, Kroos, Casemiro, and Ramos should win you three CLs in a row, and if you don't do it you're inept."
 

Judas

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I do find it impressive how quickly people dismiss THREE CL in a row. The team was good, but thats mad. That level of hunger, desire and motivation really shouldn't be underestimated.
 

LARulz

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I do find it impressive how quickly people dismiss THREE CL in a row. The team was good, but thats mad. That level of hunger, desire and motivation really shouldn't be underestimated.
If Zidane was going to a rival people would be saying they are getting a winner and we are stuck with a nobody
 

FrankDrebin

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Zidane wont be managing Manchester United anytime soon.

Brendan and Hag are more attainable, though the later would likely leave at the end of his current campaign as Ajax coach going by reports.
 

Gehrman

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I do find it impressive how quickly people dismiss THREE CL in a row. The team was good, but thats mad. That level of hunger, desire and motivation really shouldn't be underestimated.
3 CL's and 2 la liga's in a fairly brief stint is just about as good as it gets.
 

RUCK4444

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I do find it impressive how quickly people dismiss THREE CL in a row. The team was good, but thats mad. That level of hunger, desire and motivation really shouldn't be underestimated.
Yeah I agree, you can't underestimate it. But on one hand it was perhaps the best CL squad of all time and LaLiga is a 2/3 horse race at the best of times, so I'm not giddy about the idea of getting him but at the same time I agree some are writing him off when in fairness to him he's done a lot in the game in a very short period of time.

Who is your pick? I'm still in the Ten Haag camp currently, I think he would be the best appointment and style to transition to but I would go for Zidane as a relatively close 2nd. That's where I'm at.
 

RepardReece

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I do find it impressive how quickly people dismiss THREE CL in a row. The team was good, but thats mad. That level of hunger, desire and motivation really shouldn't be underestimated.
Exactly this. Who cares how good that Real Madrid team was, when have you seen anyone do this? The people saying they wouldn't want him probably said the same about Klopp and Guardiola when there were rumours about them coming to us.
 

JPRouve

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Yeah I agree, you can't underestimate it. But on one hand it was perhaps the best CL squad of all time and LaLiga is a 2/3 horse race at the best of times, so I'm not giddy about the idea of getting him but at the same time I agree some are writing him off when in fairness to him he's done a lot in the game in a very short period of time.

Who is your pick? I'm still in the Ten Haag camp currently, I think he would be the best appointment and style to transition to but I would go for Zidane as a relatively close 2nd. That's where I'm at.
Like all leagues, if anything La Liga is the league where the top 3 teams are the closest and where underperformances matter the most. Also on paper they are not better than Barcelona during the last decade which is demonstrated by the simple fact that Barcelona easily outperformed them in league format. It's also highly questionable that this team is on par with the best Milan.
 

kthanksbye

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Yeah I agree, you can't underestimate it. But on one hand it was perhaps the best CL squad of all time and LaLiga is a 2/3 horse race at the best of times, so I'm not giddy about the idea of getting him but at the same time I agree some are writing him off when in fairness to him he's done a lot in the game in a very short period of time.

Who is your pick? I'm still in the Ten Haag camp currently, I think he would be the best appointment and style to transition to but I would go for Zidane as a relatively close 2nd. That's where I'm at.
If it was the best CL squad of all time then surely you cannot overlook the manager's contribution in making them that, can you?

I'll be very surprised if he was a "3 season wonder", but I'd rather we hire him and then we find out. That's the error I hope we make because of the upside.
 

Gehrman

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Like all leagues, if anything La Liga is the league where the top 3 teams are the closest and where underperformances matter the most. Also on paper they are not better than Barcelona during the last decade which is demonstrated by the simple fact that Barcelona easily outperformed them in league format. It's also highly questionable that this team is on par with the best Milan.
I'd say that Barcelona werent better post Neymar.
 

JPRouve

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I'd say that Barcelona werent better post Neymar.
Barcelona with Neymar wasn't the most dominant Barcelona, that would Pep's Barcelona. In a way you are making my point because Real Madrid only played one season with Ronaldo when Neymar left Barcelona and there is no way that you will argue that post Ronaldo Real Madrid is the best CL squad of all time, before that they weren't the best squad in La Liga.
 

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Zidane could come here and he could fail or he could succeed. There are so many factors in life that it’s difficult to predict. Yet they people that think he’s a bad manager and won via luck at Madrid are insane. The same team Zidane had, three other managers failed with that team, and he won the CL three times in a row, win la Liga, including in his second stint… he’s a top manager and I think if he is really convinced United is the job he will be an amazing choice comparable to Klopp or Pep.
 

Gehrman

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Barcelona with Neymar wasn't the most dominant Barcelona, that would Pep's Barcelona. In a way you are making my point because Real Madrid only played one season with Ronaldo when Neymar left Barcelona and there is no way that you will argue that post Ronaldo Real Madrid is the best CL squad of all time, before that they weren't the best squad in La Liga.
Never did argue that post-Ronaldo that Real madrid was the best CL squad of all time. I think after Neymar left that real were better. There is always a lot of factors at play as to why one team wins the league but underperform in other competetions.
 

JPRouve

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Never did argue that post-Ronaldo that Real madrid was the best CL squad of all time. I think after Neymar left that real were better. There is always a lot of factors at play as to why one team wins the league but underperform in other competetions.
The point was about the best CL squad of all time though. I don't disagree with your statement in isolation but it's irrelevant to the point made by Buster or myself.
 

RUCK4444

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Like all leagues, if anything La Liga is the league where the top 3 teams are the closest and where underperformances matter the most. Also on paper they are not better than Barcelona during the last decade which is demonstrated by the simple fact that Barcelona easily outperformed them in league format. It's also highly questionable that this team is on par with the best Milan.
Yeah I'm not underplaying it, just pointing out that on the whole it's the big two and sometimes Atletico Madrid if they are in the mood. I agree overcoming Barca during that period is perhaps one of the most impressive things he's done.

Like I say, I'm not purposely underplaying his achievements, just pointing out what many may take as reasons to not respect him enough as a manager. As I said I think he's achieved a huge amount in a short period of time and I have him as my personal 2nd choice behind Ten Haag. I would prefer a hands on coach as the main trait in our next manager and Ten Haag's style is one I would like to see United transition to in the coming years, I think that would put us in a better position.

I'd have that Madrid team ahead of any CL squad, the spine of that team was the best we've ever seen in the CL imo. World class players with elite mentality for that competition. But it still needs management to achieve what they did under Zidane.
 

matsdf

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Are there any suggestions out there to why Zidane doesn't want to coach in England?
 

Rightnr

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I do find it impressive how quickly people dismiss THREE CL in a row. The team was good, but thats mad. That level of hunger, desire and motivation really shouldn't be underestimated.
Not only that but no one else has defended the CL to date. He's the only one to do it not once but twice.

And he's won the league AND walked away from Real Madrid twice AND they still love him.

The case against Zidane reminds me of people doubting Pep after his Barca stint, especially the not PL proven nonsense.
 

DWelbz19

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Its on?
If Ronaldo manages to help get this one over the line, his signing will have been massively paid off for. I’m surprised he hasn’t used his status in a stronger suit to try and get Ole gone earlier, to be honest. I guess the respect for Ole/SAF runs very deep.
 

spiriticon

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If we had to sack Ole tomorrow, Zizou would be my choice. I don't think he's interested though. He's never really had a thing for English football.
 

JPRouve

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Yeah I'm not underplaying it, just pointing out that on the whole it's the big two and sometimes Atletico Madrid if they are in the mood. I agree overcoming Barca during that period is perhaps one of the most impressive things he's done.

Like I say, I'm not purposely underplaying his achievements, just pointing out what many may take as reasons to not respect him enough as a manager. As I said I think he's achieved a huge amount in a short period of time and I have him as my personal 2nd choice behind Ten Haag. I would prefer a hands on coach as the main trait in our next manager and Ten Haag's style is one I would like to see United transition to in the coming years, I think that would put us in a better position.

I'd have that Madrid team ahead of any CL squad, the spine of that team was the best we've ever seen in the CL imo. World class players with elite mentality for that competition. But it still needs management to achieve what they did under Zidane.
Be honest, you were absolutely underplaying winning La Liga. :lol:

And you would have Real Madrid's spine over prime Piqué, Dani Alves, Abidal, Mascherano, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, David Villa and Messi or the later version including Neymar, Suarez and Alba? There is no way that it's true, to me it's clear example of revisionism that isn't supported by how each teams played in the league or with different managers.

Just to give you examples of why it makes little sense when you put it in context, Casemiro wasn't established before 2016, Carvajal is still not particularly rated and Bale was already injury prone, his last full season was 14/15. Real Madrid defense was a massive question mark up until 2019.
 

Gehrman

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Are there any suggestions out there to why Zidane doesn't want to coach in England?
Maybe its strength of the squad if anything. Our midfield is pretty weak.