It is not very often that an all-time great footballer takes over the second chapter of his career as a manager and makes it great as well. One example is the Argentine legend, Diego Maradona. Debated often as the best player the world has ever seen, the World-Cup winner failed to succeed as a coach with club and country alike.
It was, therefore, a great surprise and a scare for many Zinedine Zidane fans when the French maestro was given the reins at Real Madrid. Zizou has had an illustrious career as a footballer and is considered one of the most intelligent players to grace the game. The Frenchman won it all with club and country as a professional and more importantly played the most crucial and defining role in helping his team achieve success. He was the focal point around which his teams revolved on both occasions when his club and country won any major trophy.
Zidane was appointed by Real Madrid president Fiorentino Perez as an interim manager or a caretaker coach till the end of the season after Rafa Benitez was sacked mid-season for Real’s dropping standards. Given Real’s trigger-happy president’s habit of firing and hiring managers according to his whims and fancies, it left many worried about how he would treat one of the greatest icons of the game.
It has almost been two years since and after 100 games in charge, Real are now defending league champions and two-time and current European Champions League winners. Zizou has transformed the Galacticos into a well-gelled side capable of performing as a team despite having so many superstars on the pitch. He has overseen development of fine youth products like Marco Asensio into first-team regulars and most importantly for Real fans; the man has a superior record in El Classicos as a manager.
However, given Real’s disturbed home form this season, rumours are circling about the Frenchman not staying on the job for long. His team is 19 points behind league leaders Barcelona and should the gap not reduce, Zidane could be looking at an exit from the Santiago Bernabeu. If reports are to be believed, Zidane will not be out of a job and instead could be set to land the hot seat in Paris, his native land.
Paris Saint Germain have formed an expensively assembled team and it is believed anything short of Champions League success would spell doom for their current coach Unai Emery. Moreover, Emery is believed to be less than successful in handling the egos of the superstars in his squad leading to a lack of harmony in his dressing room. Should he face the sack, Zidane is being looked at the strongest possible replacement.
Should Zizou head for the exit, Madrid could be left to rue the departure of the great man, who has shown time and again that he is a winner, irrespective of the job at hand.
