was Zidane doing the talking. Zidane understands his talisman’s need
for praise like few others. “If I were in the same team as Cristiano,” he
said last season, “he’d be the star, without doubt.” For his part,
Ronaldo is “ecstatic” with Zizou as “he sees football differently to
other coaches”.
“No coach has got on better with Cristiano than Zidane,” confirms
Marca journalist Jimenez. “He’s made him evaluate his career better- to rest and rotate.”
Between March 18 and May 17, Ronaldo didn’t play in a single away
game in La Liga. He didn’t even travel. Zidane and his coaching team
realised that such is the beast that lurks within the former Manchester
United forward, sitting on the substitutes’ bench is no kind of rest. He
wants to come on if things are not going well. At home, he can watch
the match, devoid of that same stress.
It helped that, during those games, Isco and Marco Asensio came to
the fore – the former’s two goals at Sporting Gijon the definitive proof
of Zidane’s rotation policy in action. It didn’t even matter that Bale got
injured (again) in April’s Clasico defeat.
This was a relentless winning machine, one which the manager
had cultivated since his very first press conference. He’d done so by
using the youth team to give first-teamers a breather. Fifteen years
earlier, Perez’s Zidanes y Pavones policy – Galactico stars supported
by youth team graduates – had failed because the coaching structure
wasn’t in place. Now, Zidane’s spell as Castilla coach has established
that route.
“I see talent every day at Valdebebas,” he told FFT in 2013. “There
are players there who are going to make it, but 80-90 per cent will do
so away from Real Madrid. I’m here to try to change that. You can’t be
a phenomenon in 10 minutes. There has to be continuity.”
Morata, Nacho, Llorente, Lucas Vazquez, Dani Carvajal and Mariano
and had all come through and were vital to winning a first La Liga title
for five years, finally secured with a 2-0 victory at Malaga.
“I’d like to get up here and dance,” Zidane said after the final
whistle. “I’m not going to, but on the inside I’m very, very happy.”
In the October of 2016, Real Madrid recorded 6-1, 5-1, 7-1 and 4-1
victories, all with different starting XIs.
When Isco started against Atletico the weekend after the November
international break – Benzema, Sergio Ramos and James Rodriguez
were all rested – eyebrows were raised. Given a free role, the diminutive
playmaker was fresh and excelled between the lines of Atletico’s rigid
defence and Real triumphed 3-0. It was, said Marca, ‘un baño tactico’
- literally ‘a tactical bath’. Zidane had effectively tucked Simeone up
in bed with a cup of cocoa.
“The key is the relationship he’s got with his players,” believes
Derik. “They are superstars, but Zidane knows when footballers are
at their best moment and when to rest them, so they play the most
important matches in the best condition. And they all accept it
because of this.”
The system wasn’t, however, without its problems. Post-Christmas
tinkering resulted in defeat to Sevilla, ending a 40-game unbeaten
run, and a Copa del Rey exit to Celta Vigo.
‘Doctor,’ screamed the front page of Marca, ‘this is serious.’
It remains Zizou’s worst month in charge, with faceless club
directors appearing in the press denouncing his experiment with a
back three against Sevilla, in particular. A 3-3 home draw to Las
Palmas resulted in some similar headlines. Eventually, with fewer
changes made each week, confidence and wins returned.
“At the beginning, I didn’t think it was good for the team,” Modric
later said. “When you play and then don’t play, you think you’re going
to lose form. In the end Zidane showed us how important they can be.
“Now I think they’re good, but it’s also helped with how others have
come in. We’ve won games because of them. Later, everyone has
been talking about the ‘A Team’ and ‘B Team’ but we don’t look at it
like that. We’re Real Madrid. One team! Any player who plays can do a
good job.”
No player benefited from the rotations more than Cristiano
Ronaldo. Returning from winning Euro 2016 the previous summer
with an injured knee, the Portuguese sat down for a meeting with
Zidane. He told CR7, 31 at the time, about his rotation plan, and that
Ronaldo would still feature prominently but that it would help him
prolong his career.
Zidane reasoned that, instead of reaching the end of the campaign
drained – chasing La Liga’s Pichichi trophy for top goalscorer – Ronaldo
would peak at the season’s climax fresher and be more able to affect
the key fixtures, rather than the limited impact he had on the 2016
Champions League Final.
“Listen to me and we’ll make history,” he said. “It’s because we need
you that I want you to not play sometimes.” CR7 only listened as it
OLEG BLOKHIn
The Soviet Union’s star striker
of the ’70s led Olympiacos in
the early-90s (where he won
the Greek Cup), then bounced
around the Greek Superleague
for a decade before taking the
Ukraine job in 2003. He guided
them to the quarter-finals of
the 2006 World Cup, but in his
second stint failed to get out
of the group during Euro 2012.
BOBBY CHARLTOn
The attacking midfielder won
almost everything as a player,
but he couldn’t follow that up
with managerial glory. Bobby
grabbed the reigns at Preston
in 1973 but his first campaign
ended in relegation to the old
Third Division. Failure to go back
up after his second season and
a slow start to the third meant
he left Deepdale under a cloud.JOHAn CRUYFF
When Cruyff returned to Barça
as manager in 1988, La Masia
prised physique over skill and
waved goodbye to any decent
teenagers who wouldn’t grow
to at least 5ft 9in. Lionel Messi,
Andres Iniesta and Xavi are all
5ft 7in. In the 89 years before
Cruyff, Barça won 40 trophies;
in the 29 years since they’ve
collected 48. ‘Nuff said, really.STAn LEY MATTHEWS
The first recipient of the Ballon
d’Or moved across the Potteries
to lead Port Vale in ’67. Expelled
from the Football League over
financial irregularities – owing
Stanley £7,000 in the process –
the Valiants needed to use the
former wideman’s good name
to get re-elected back into the
league. Utterly disillusioned by
it all, he never managed again.ALFREDO DI STEFAn O
The Blonde Arrow guided both
Boca Juniors and River Plate to
league titles, as well as winning
La Liga and the European Cup
Winners’ Cup while at Valencia.
He was less successful at Real
Madrid, finishing runners-up in
five competitions in 1982-83
including La Liga, the Copa del
Rey and the Cup Winners’ Cup
to Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen.“nO COACH HAS GOT On BETTER WITH ROn ALDO
AT REAL THAn ZIDAn E. HE’S MADE HIM EVALUATE
HIS CAREER BETTER – TO REST An D ROTATE”
ZIDAn E