Creating Zinedine Zidane’s 2016 Summer Blueprint for Real Madrid

Zinedine Zidane’s first game as a manager in the 2015-16 season was against Ebro, a tiny side from Zaragoza who have never played above the third tier of Spanish football and have a home stadium capacity of around 1,000.

The Frenchman’s final game of the campaign saw him lift the biggest prize in European club football, the UEFA Champions League, as his team beat local rivals Atletico Madrid on penalties in front of 72,000 at the San Siro, Milan.

It capped a remarkable and improbably early ascent to the top of the footballing food chain for Zidane, but his work is far from over.

While there’s nothing to suggest he won’t remain among the top coaches at the top clubs, Zizou need only look at the quick fall of another Champions League winner for motivation to keep working hard: Roberto Di Matteo lifted the trophy with Chelsea in 2012, was sacked from Schalke in 2015 and is now in charge of second-tier English club, relegated Aston Villa.

Zidane has plenty to do over the summer to ensure his side are prepared for the 2016-17 season, as they look to win a first La Liga title since 2012 and only a second in nine years, while also bidding to become the first club in the Champions League era to successfully defend their European title.

 

Honesty with fringe players

Job No. 1 on Zidane’s hitlist has to be to decide, determine or delegate the futures of some of his undoubtedly talented, but largely peripheral, squad players.

Isco, James Rodriguez and Mateo Kovacic have to be at the head of that list, a mere €120 million worth of talent who between them played just 172 minutes of the 480 available each from Real’s quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final itself in the Champions League.

They were not central to Zidane’s plans at the end of the campaign, though over a whole season and not leaving the league as a secondary objective, of course they would be expected to contribute far more heavily.

It cannot just be about 11 players for Zidane next season if he wants to win the domestic title, and the pivotal point of whether they can wrest back the crown and become Spain’s top side will be the depth of the squad.

If he feels the aforenamed trio can be regular starters and game changers for Real, he can by all means keep them in place—though it should also …

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