Zinedine Zidane

Í agree with Fennec

Kova knew where he was getting into, he hasn't convinced me so far, he has given the impression to be shy with the ball, playing it safe, he needs to risk more, play upfront and not backwards, he's young anyway hel'll have his chance.

sometimes u need to play it safe. especially when u're a central midfielder (unless u're the deep lying play maker) or dm. last thing i want is kova attempting some foolish pass and it leading to a counter attack with a maniac like ramos at the back, who can just lunge in and get red carded. i expect risk and imagination to come from my front three, since we don't have an attacking mid. its like when flo was bashing makelele for only passing backwards and sideways (not saying kova is makelele), u have others in your team who can take the risks...leave it to them to do so

Notes so far:

- We're playing higher up in the pitch
- We're defending as a unit, and when we lose the ball we press to recover it quick
- We don't press against La Liga teams. We played much better and with higher intensity against Roma.

Overall good job.

guest7 wrote:Notes so far:

- We're playing higher up in the pitch
- We're defending as a unit, and when we lose the ball we press to recover it quick
- We don't press against La Liga teams. We played much better and with higher intensity against Roma.

Overall good job.

I really hope you're kidding, cause this was a very average performance. We only improved when we introduced Kova.

Defended as a unit? I hope you're joking. Kroos ran his lungs to the ground while Benzema was standing still like a statue. James and Ronaldo too were bad at defense.

We struggled in the final third for almost the entire game bar the last 15 minutes where we improved a lot.

Seriously, I'm happy for the win and everything, but playing like this won't win you the CL.

i don't understand the expectations here

sportsczy wrote:i don't understand the expectations here

win a trophy or you're out?

Hapless_Hans wrote:

sportsczy wrote:i don't understand the expectations here

win a trophy or you're out?

Well that... but winning away at Roma, who stand in 4th place in Serie A is not a given by any means. Nobody other than a few of us here were even born the last time we beat a Serie A team in CL

how would you describe Zizou's impact so far, sports?

What has he changed, what is he in the process of changing, what is visible?
Are you satisfied so far with the impact he's had?

Why is he insisting with James on the wing while Jesse/Lucas can do a much better job smh.

sportsczy wrote:

Hapless_Hans wrote:

sportsczy wrote:i don't understand the expectations here

win a trophy or you're out?

Well that...  but winning away at Roma, who stand in 4th place in Serie A is not a given by any means.  Nobody other than a few of us here were even born the last time we beat a Serie A team in CL

Forgive me but I don't know why you're dragging history into this, as if Seria A clubs are the same as they were 15 years ago. Much less a team like Roma.

The performance was average, not necessarily because of Z, but the same problems I saw against Granada and Bilbao were vividly noticeable against Roma. Our front three are incapable of piercing the opposition's defense, and as a result, we end up either praying for a golazo through individual brilliance or making long passes and praying that one of them will somehow find its way to one of ours strikers' feet.

I'm grateful to Z for what he's done. He's definitely a step up from Rafa. But the way we played tonight was very average (not necessarily because of Z). They actually could've scored on multiple occasions but couldn't capitalize.

Tonight, we didn't play as a unit. Some of our players had a brilliant night, that's why it was difficult to see how lacking we were in many departments.

Hapless_Hans wrote:how would you describe Zizou's impact so far, sports?

What has he changed, what is he in the process of changing, what is visible?
Are you satisfied so far with the impact he's had?

More aggressive (higher line and forwards pressing), far better shape, much better use of fullbacks, far better man management...  style wanted is clear and players have bought in.

The issue is that the team isn't in the needed physical shape to execute this and probably won't be for a few more weeks.  I think the personnel isn't well balanced and we lack athleticism and physical impact.

Doing well.  Next year will be far more telling.  This is more of a salvage job for this season.

Probably going to get fired unless we make CL semis... but who is an option to replace him? We've already hired and fired everyone

Why will he get fired? He only just got hired and Perez said he would get full autonomy in the summer

Hans has been trolling about Zidane from the moment he was given the interim title (probably because Sports made him out initially as the next coming of Pep). To say that Zidane has to win CL or be fired is simply wrong. Zidane was the best choice and thus far he has improved the team significantly both in team fitness, tactics (notice particularly the space between lines vs that under Rafa) and most important of all from my perspective is he is using entire squad. they all seem to have confidence now and are ready when called upon.

but let's not loose touch of reality here. this team has flaws and no coach can fix them at this stage of season. we still are a top 5-10 team, but we lag severely behind Barca. i say on a given day, we can handle most of the remaining contenders in CL except Barca.I was thinking maybe Bayern and Atleti as well, but after last night, Atleti can be beaten and most of you say we could on a given day handle Bayern. i have my doubts but I will go along with the majority at this point. i do like our chances of getting at least to semis given what I've seen thus far in CL.

So in conclusion, I see no reason why Zidane doesn't shed the interim title for next year. definitely we should discount anything Hans puts forward. he should get Rafa, he thinks he is so good!

I see the Wolfsburg defeat as another stage for him to prove his coaching credentials. If there is one coach madridistas want to succeed, it is Zidane.
Let us hope for a dramatic ending in our favour.
The Wolfburg tie lacked appeal; Zizou was meant to breeze through it, and guess what? no one would have made a fuss about it.
I guess he has learned a number of valuable lessons in his short stint and if he can pull a comeback, we should arrive at the Semis a much mentally stronger team who just overcame a herculean task rather than strolling to the Semis.

***bump***

How about we talk about the transformation, Zidane is making with this same squad that performed so badly under Rafa.
First off he solved most of the balance problems with the insertion of Casemiro.

Then there was a never give up attitude instilled in players.

Plus let's mention how he immediately implemented a program to get players in shape, which somehow was ignored before.

And now this season, he is somehow getting his entire squad to step it up, improve, contribute, basically feeling important to team. We have already seen most of the reserve players contributing (Kiko, Danilo, Varane, Nacho, Kova, Lucas, Morata, Asensio). Just waiting on James and Isco! ... And Coentrao.

For a rookie coach, that's very impressive.

Time will tell, how well this turns out, but we should give praise to what he has achieved in just 6 months.

Shadowing the top successfully gave him a good reference to work with.

Having said that, despite his CL winning 6 month tenure, this current season is still unknown. having said that, a Euro super cup always helps. Too soon bill. I would wait until december.

I did say "time will tell".

What I'm opening up for discussion is his handling of the bench strength, something that neither Carlo nor d***head never did.

He's had the best 6 months of any manager in recent memory that I can think of.

Until he shows signs of inexperience or poor management I can't really fault him. He has been great overall imo.

It's impressive that he's taking the risks that he is... benching Isco and James for guys like Vasquez, Asensio and Casemiro took huge courage.

I have a feeling he's going to turn Morata into a successful player too.

For the first time in forever... we have a manager that is actively making most of our players better. The team is evolving.

Exceeded my expectations and that was hard to do, believe me

^^^ exactly what i think too

He is making sure that everyone are on their toes in order for us to be able to rely on them when the time comes. His mosy bold decision yet was to start Mayoral in some very tough games despite him only having Segunda B experience. If that was any other coach that we've had they would have preferred playing a midfielder up top than an actual striker

there is a press conf in 10 minutes and apparently, according to most madrid journalists, he is leaving

I thank Zidane for everything. long may his reign be remembered.

I think I will take a break for a while...

Where is this club headed..?

Genius move from Zidane. He knows Ronaldo is declining and next season is going to be rocky for whoevers next

Absolute legend. We have all given him sh*t at one time or another, but you have to admit he has achieved over expectations as a player and a manager. I understand why he would step down, yet it’s still hard to believe. Respect ZZ and good luck with the French NT- which he will probably do brilliantly- much more suited to NT management tbh.

Wtf have i woken up to i just can't believe it.