The Zinedine Zidane era is finally beginning to unravel at Real Madrid.
Out of the Copa del Rey in what has been described as the worst result in their history, unlikely to win the Champions League and well behind rivals, Atletico, in the race for La Liga, there’s little to be excited about at Los Blancos just now.
It doesn’t seem too long ago that Zidane was being lauded for the ‘three-peat’ Champions League winning run, but that was despite the Frenchman and not because of him.
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A supreme motivator of men, tactics has never been his forte, and he was extremely fortunate to have some of the world’s best playing at the top of their game during his tenure.
Not so long ago, there was talk of a youth ‘revolution’ at Real. How the average age of the team would be reduced as the club looked to the future.
However, Zidane has never been able to coach the younger players in the same way, simply because he can’t.
Martin Odegaard is the latest player to want to leave because of getting no game time under the Frenchman.
He follows the likes of Sergio Reguilon, Achraf Hakimi, Marcos Llorente and others who have all gone on to achieve success at pastures new.
Had Zidane managed to integrate them into his side, arguably Real Madrid would have one of the brightest young sides in Europe at this point.
Unfortunately, they’re far from that right now.