3 Reasons Why Zinedine Zidane Is Already One Of The Greatest Managers In World Football

An unscheduled press conference at about 4:30 pm IST sent shock waves through the world of football. Just five days following the unprecedented hat-trick of Champions League titles, Zinedine Zidane announced that he will no longer be managing Real Madrid.

It is was an announcement that no one saw coming, but everyone understood. The ride for Zinedine Zidane, despite his European successes, has been far from smooth in the Spanish capital with the press repeatedly questioning his tactics and man-management style.

An example of just how difficult things were getting in Real Madrid is how the man of the match in the final, Gareth Bale, decided to allude to his lack of playing time at the club instead of the most astounding over-head kick in any Champions League final. Then Cristiano Ronaldo decided he wasn't getting the kind of love he deserves and only further dumped on the most impressive achievement by a manager in recent history by implying he might be headed out of Madrid in the summer.

We can only speculate why the Frenchman decided to call it quits at his spiritual home but we reckon the environment at the club and the repeated skirmishes with the players had something to do with it.

Here, we look at why Zinedine Zidane should never have been pushed into a position where he was forced to resign since he has already proved that he is one of the best managers in world football at the moment:

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#3 Big club, bigger egos

BBC

One of the biggest obstacles for anyone who has come in to manage the most decorated club in the world has to be to deal with the biggest egos in world football.

Since Real Madrid are a club built on winning titles, it comes as no surprise that they seek out some of the best talents in the world of football. With great talent, comes greater self-confidence, which can be difficult to manage considering football is a sport that counts on 11 bodies working in unison.

When players command the highest wages in the world, ludicrous sums of money and live the grand life, often it tends to get to their heads. The competitive nature of such athletes certainly doesn't help the cause of team spirit.

In such situations, you need a man who is undeniably worthy enough to dictate to these players. And few in the world football command the respect the Frenchman does.

Zinedine Zidane needs no introduction for the squad to sit up and take notice, neither does the footballing world. The space he's carved out for himself in the game is matched only by a few, if any.

Therefore, when he walked into the dressing room filled with Galacticos, Zidane was heard and his instructions were carried out on the field (something others like Rafael Benitez failed miserably at doing in the Spanish capital).

It isn't easy to command a squad of supremely talented players including the Portuguese megastar and still get them to function as a unit. But the Frenchman has not only got them playing some scintillating stuff, but has also revived the form of the most-known footballer on the planet.

Considering Zidane is only going to go on to manage a club of a similar stature and standing in Europe, he is bound to face the same issues as he manages similarly big personalities. He has shown he is more than adept at holding his own under such circumstances. Can the likes of Klopp or Pochettino do the same?

#2 Prioritises winning titles over the course of the season

Real Madrid Celebrate Winning La Liga in 2017

If you want to be a manager who is able to ingrain his philosophy and style of play in the team, you need to give more importance to the processes than the results. It takes some time for the players and the team to get used to the way the manager functions, and the league provides the perfect opportunity to try and put that into action.

Knockout cup competitions have the added pressure of being vulnerable to an exit, which forces coaches to employ tactics that'll make sure they don't lose, rather than making sure they win. And when this happens, football loses out.

Cup competitions are often decided in the course of 10 matches or less, but in the league, the team needs to contend with nearly 4 times that number of matches.

When a team wins a cup competition they are often vulnerable to judgement that implies that the team got lucky. That is never the case for league champions, as winning a title after contending with 38 matches has a lot more to do than with just luck.

Barcelona have managed to win 7 out of the last 10 league titles while Real have managed just two in the same time. One with Mourinho in 2012 and the other with Zidane just last season. Even Carlo Ancelotti failed to land the La Liga title in his stint as Real manager. So did Rafa Benitez, who always tends to make his mark in knock-out competitions.

Despite winning three Champions League titles, Zidane has repeatedly made his feelings clear - of wanting to win the league more than European glory and that sounds like a man who knows what he is talking about. Of course, he does! It's Zinedine Zidane for God's sake.

#1 The most elusive hat-trick in the game

Real Madrid Celebrate After Victory In The Champions League Final Against Liverpool

That's right. Three Champions League titles all in the course of just two and a half seasons. That is simply mind-boggling. A measure of his success can be glimpsed by the fact that one of the favourites to succeed him, Arsene Wenger, hasn't managed to lay his hands on even one such trophy despite being in the game for over two decades.

Another favourite, Mauricio Pochettino, meanwhile, has failed to win any silverware in his managerial career so far. And yet Zinedine Zidane has three. Not just three. Three back to back. In his first two and a half seasons in his managerial career. That is staggering.

Zidane has managed to lead his side to history and achieve a feat that is probably never going to be matched, let alone be surpassed. A club of the stature of Real Madrid, not so long ago, was crying out for their tenth Champions League title, which had eluded them since the last time a man in the white shirt of Real struck a sweet left-footed volley, back in 2002.

Now, suddenly, their tally is at 13 and Zinedine Zidane is the driving factor behind that becoming a reality. Nine trophies from an available 14 in his time as manager and people are still questioning his supernatural powers of affecting footballing history. Shame.