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Zinedine Zidane was hired as Real Madrid's manager once again, after nine months of his departure from the Spanish capital. In those nine months, Real Madrid sacked two coaches- Julen Lopetegui and Santiago Solari- and were knocked out of the Champions League and Copa del Rey.
It goes without saying that Zidane's first stint with Real Madrid was extremely successful, which is why he was brought back. The French legend won everything there is to win with the club except the Copa del Rey and notably made history by winning three consecutive Champions League titles.
After winning two games on his return, Zidane lost his third game against Valencia. While it may seem wrong to criticize the squad after one loss, but the team hardly looked convincing even when during their victories. Los Blancos sit third in the LaLiga table and are 13 points behind leaders Barcelona after they endured their ninth loss in the LaLiga this campaign.
Just like last time when Zidane took charge, Real Madrid desperately need some changes. The fact that Zidane and Florentino Perez are planning to bring world-class reinforcements speaks volumes about how abysmal the current season has been for Los Blancos.
Without further ado, let us evaluate three reasons why even Zidane may fail to win something with this Real Madrid team.
#1 Lack of Match winners
After the key exit of Real Madrid's record goalscorer, Cristiano Ronaldo, Los Blancos' stars failed to step up in times of need. Barring the exception of Karim Benzema and occasional sparks of brilliance from Vinicius Junior at the start of the year, most of the stars failed to be in their usual form.
While the midfield trio of Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Casemiro played a crucial role in three consecutive Champions League wins, the trio was dominated by opponents in most big games. Luka Modric and Toni Kroos seemed indispensable a year ago but the current Ballon d'Or winner and the German midfielder looked far from their usual selves.
Moreover, the likes of Gareth Bale, Marco Asensio, Isco and Mariano failed to perform and provide brilliance in the crunch moments. As for the rearguard, plethora of stars like Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane, Thibaut Courtois and Keylor Navas did not look convincing for the most part of the season.
#2 Lack of hunger and motivation
Mentality played a crucial role for Real Madrid's unprecedented success in the past few seasons. Whenever they were counted out, the players stepped up, pushed back and eventually, snatched wins at the last junctures of the game. The hunger for more glory was evident while the indomitable will to never give up made them inch closer to numerous silverware.
Yet the stars looked devoid of hunger and will to win in the current campaign. It is not possible for so many world class players to perform poorly at the same time. Barring the departure of Ronaldo, the team almost stayed the same but somehow, failed to show the determination to grind through the tough moments and win.
The standards of Los Blancos hierarchy is always sky high. Despite the numerous accolades they won in the past three seasons, there is no place for complacency or the time to switch off. The current Madrid squad did just that which led to a slow start combined with a severe lack of hunger which made them lose matches at crucial stages and made them lost all motivation.
#3 Absence of fresh faces
The backbone of Real Madrid team which won numerous accolades are all in the wrong side of 30s. Cristiano Ronaldo departed last summer when he was 33 and his former teammates like Karim Benzema, Luka Modric, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo are well over 30 and look past their prime.
While these are still world class stars, Real Madrid missed the pace, energy and intensity throughout the season. Ronaldo, Modric, Ramos were the leaders of the attack, midfield and defence respectively but the current stars at Los Blancos look well past their prime.
The fact that Real Madrid hierarchy is looking to revamp the squad with some fresh faces depicts the absence of youth in the lineup. While there is no shortage of young talents with the squad, they are arguably not ready to lead the team and propel them to glory in such a short time.
