Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane seems to be living on a borrowed time at the Bernabeau, as it has been rumored that the French manager has been handed an ultimatum for over his future at the club.
The journey of every football coach is like a two-edged sword that goes to war, sometimes it comes back triumphant, sometimes it fails woefully on the battlefield.
In this sense, the duty of a manager is to motivate his players and set them up tactically in other to deliver success. When he fails in his primary duties he faces the consequences and that’s exactly the situation Zinedine Zidane is in right now.
Madrid came back from a goal down to came out triumphant away at Huesca, to calm the pressure that is building on at Real Madrid. The win against Huesca somewhat put an end to their woeful performances in their last five matches in the league.
While the chances of winning a silverware at Real Madrid went begging with their loss to Bilbao in the Super Cup and third-tier side Alcoyano in the Copa Del Rey, plus Diego Simeone led side Atletico Madrid not looking like a team that wants to relinquish their first position on the table.
With Real Madrid in the third position this season, trailing Atletico Madrid with seven-point with fewer games played and leveled with the Blaugrana on the same point, having won the La Liga last season it doesn’t seem Los Merengues are the odd favorite to win the league with their unconvincing performances and form.
With the unstable situation, Los Blancos are in, and for who the club President is, the chances of Real winning a silverware looks slimmer in the league and perhaps in the Champions League.
Florentino Perez might be considering a change for a new manager, who could bring back to the team the fear factor and the winning mentality associated with Los Merengues.
Four potential candidates who could replace Zidane at Real Madrid
- Julian Nagelsmann – (RB Leipzig’s Manager)
Nagelsmann is undoubtedly the hottest manager in Europe’s top-flight leagues right now. The 33-year-old German leads an illustrious list of potential managers that could replace Zidane as Los Merengues’ next manager.
Nagelsman has earned plenty of plaudits for his swashbuckling, expansive, and attacking style of football right from Hoffenheim and now with RB Leipzig.
His tactical know-how and the understanding of the game aren’t just coming to the limelight now, it has been unfolding right from his days at the Rhein-Necker Arena, Hoffenheim.
Nagelsmann is so good that he took Leipzig’s side to the semi-finals of the Champions League last season, with a scintillating style of football that further pushed him up the ladder as one the finest manager around.
According to report, the German gaffer has been contacted in the past to take the job, but he turned down Los Blancos claiming the job came rather too early for him in his career. As it stands if the unconvincing performances from Zidane and his boys continue, the Real Madrid hierarchy might be tempted to look towards the German yet again.
Although the 33-year-old is under contract at RB Leipzig until June 2023, and should the Bundesliga hierarchy consider the interest of Real Madrid in their number one price asset we might be seeing him heading to the Santiago Bernabeu with his expansive and attacking style of football.
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- Raul Gonzalez – (Real Madrid’s Castilla Manager)
Another potential manager for the managerial job of Los Blancos is no one other than Real Madrid’s former striker and legend Raul.
Like Zizuo, his managerial trajectory has been in semblance with that of the Frenchman who started honing his managerial skill with the Castilla before he got arguably the biggest job in world football.
As Los Blancos youth coach, Raul has shown he could deliver on the biggest stage by leading the team to a triumphant outing in the UEFA Youth League. As a matter of fact, with such success, the former striker has been heavily linked with the first-team job.
Raul may not have a similar profile with Zidane in terms of trophies won or even attain the kind of level some of the hottest managers are now, however, the likes of Pep Guardiola, Diego Simeone, and Zizuo were given an opportunity like this to prove their worth early in their managerial career.
Putting the Real Madrid team in the hands of a manager with no top-flight experience could be a huge risk to take, but big things start with a step.
- Massimilano Allegri – (Unattached)
To still see the six-time Seria A winner without a job still baffles the mind really. The former Milan and Juventus manager has been without a job since leaving the Old Lady in 2019, despite being one of Italy’s finest gaffer with impeccable managerial experience.
Allegri won five consecutive Seria A titles during his reign with Juventus, and with the Real Madrid hierarchy attention shifting to be more dominant in the league, the Italian manager might be the suitable candidate for the Bernabeu side.
Considering how he’s been able to prove that he could consistently deliver success in the league, could prove to be a selling point should he be considered by Florentino Perez.
As brilliant as Allegri is in terms of achieving success in the league, sadly his European struggles could be a stumbling block for a move to Real Madrid.
However, Allegri knows the pressure of managing arguably the biggest club in the world. With Juventus, he’s been able to achieve success by dominating the Italian league and also took the Old Lady to Champions League final but failed to win it, but then with such experiences in European football, it shows he’s got the pedigree and tactical know-how to push Los Merengues to a new level of success.
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- Guti Hernandez – (Unattached)
The popular saying in world football that not all great footballers become a great manager might turn the other way for the former Real Madrid midfielder.
Guti may not have garnered enough top-flight experience as a manager, however, he’s been able to hone his managerial skill with Turkish side Besiktas as an assistant manager, Real Madrid’s youth team, and Almeria.
He is also currently without a job having been sacked at Almeria due to poor performance in the league. Should the Real Madrid President consider him, he might prove valuable just like Zidane despite been an inexperienced manager in his first stint before he went on to achieve unbelievable success.
While Guti is one of Real Madrid’s homegrown players with abundant knowledge of the game, that still doesn’t guarantee Los Blanco’s instant success if appointed. Although like Zidane, he would be accorded instant respect from the squad been their legend who knows the club in and out.
Based on the current situation of the team, Florentino Perez might decide to test yet another one of his old players as manager. Going all out to entrust the Real Madrid team to Guti might look risky, even so, it’s could turn out to be the right decision or a bad one in the end.
Conclusion
Apparently, no one knows how things would pan out between Real Madrid’s board and Zidane comes to the end of the season or perhaps before.
Nevertheless, with Madrid still in the race for the Champions League title and a slim chance of still upstaging in-form Atletico Madrid on the league table and win the league could save Zidane’s jobb
Should he fail in both, then Zidane’s days at Real Madrid are numbered with each passing day.
