Can Zinedine Zidane deliver

Zidane is a hero at Real but he can’t hope to escape the sack if results don’t go his way

Zinedine Zidane is Real Madrid manager. The Frenchman, an artist when he was a player, has accepted a job which is a poisoned chalice. Zidane’s ardent fans are already fearful of seeing his legacy tarnished. When a fickle man like Real president Florentino Perez wields a reckless axe, results can only be unpredictable. Zidane is a hero at Real but he can’t hope to escape the sack if results go his way. Excellence at football was a child’s play for the World Cup winner but managing a team can never be as easy because the job demands multiple talents.

Zidane has come in at a crucial juncture (it is difficult to think of a juncture which isn’t crucial in football) and he has his task cut out. The Frenchman has received the baton from Rafa Benitez, a true blue Madrid man, and he is expected to hit the ground running at once. Real didn’t bother about niceties in sacking Benitez. There is no gainsaying the fact that he was fired unceremoniously because it’s par for the course at the Bernabeu. Perez dumped Carlos Ancelotti, the best hand for the Real hot seat, a season after the Italian had clinched the club’s 10th European Cup. Benitez couldn’t even complete a season with the club he grew up supporting. He must count himself lucky because the plight of a sitting duck is worse than the slain one.

Having observed the working style of Perez at close quarters Zidane must know what he is expected of him. In addition to mopping up all the trophies, he must also ensure that Real play with regal splendour every match. Zidane’s real problem is the all-conquering Barcelona and not his own club. His appointment is the last throw of the dice from Perez to stop the Barca juggernaut. Both Perez and Zidane have a mountain to climb because the Catalan club are showing no sign of slowing down. When a team can assemble the most potent attacking trident in the history of the game, others can’t do much except looking in awe.

The Real job is a test of Zidane’s character and temperament. He would like to draw inspiration from the managerial success of his French contemporaries, Didier Deschamps and Laurent Blanc, but neither of them enjoy Zidane’s profile and both of them are calmer individuals. Zidane hadn’t been parachuted into the post. Never the one to seek the prima donna status, the Frenchman buckled down to earn his coaching credentials. Maybe he doesn’t want to leave the head butt on Marco Materazzi’s chest as his legacy in football. He is serious about coaching. But the first top-flight club he is assuming charge at are not known to have a truckload of patience. They hardly allow managers to settle down. Zidane isn’t so naive to believe that the popularity he gained as a player will insulate him from criticism in his next avatar. On the contrary, the knives would be out faster than they do for less famous manager.

Football is replete with cautionary tales of great players coming a cropper as managers. Diego Maradona’s diabolical tenure at the helm of Argentina springs to mind. Pele wisely chose to stay away from the dugout and he, too, wouldn’t have fared better than the Argentine. Some people are destined to reach their apogee only in shorts and not in suits.