Former Juventus defender Ciro Ferrara has claimed that Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo should be intimidated to work under former teammate and French legend Zinedine Zidane at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Zidane was named as the new manager of the Los Merengues after the club sacked Spaniard Rafael Benitez after just seven months at the helm of the club last Monday.
He has rubbished claims made by former manager of Los Blancos Vanderlei Luxemburgo that the new Real Madrid boss could be in trouble if he lets the Portuguese star’s ego get the better of him during his spell in charge at Real Madrid.
The highly volatile nature of the Real Madrid dressing room due to the egos of the superstars or the ‘Galacticos’ is well known all over, but Ferrara feels that the 43-year-old will be able to handle it comfortably.
When Ferrara was asked if Zidane would be wary not to upset Ronaldo, he said it will be the other way round.
"Well, actually I think it should be Cristiano Ronaldo who feels intimidated by Zidane, rather than it being the other way around.”
"Obviously, this is a new role for Zidane so he has to, slowly, match after match, through the words he says to his squad, gain their trust. Even though at the moment he probably already has their complete and undivided trust, something you automatically have after having been a true legend like Zizou,” he said.
The talent at Zidane’s disposal will make the job easier: Ferrara
The 48-year-old Ferrara believes that the former Real Madrid and Juventus legend was not destined to be a successful manager simply because he was an exceptional footballer. However, he feels that the plethora of talent available at the Bernabeu will make the manager’s life much easier.
"Well, I think that this is actually a myth, that great champions all want to become managers," he said. "I have played alongside great champions and I felt like this was actually the case. They are obviously players that like to have responsibilities on the pitch, even sometimes tweaking a certain aspect of their game that maybe eluded their managers.”
"It is up to the players to be able to make these calls, and Zizou has incredible players at his disposal and this is going to be a great advantage obviously for him."
The former Juventus and Sampdoria manager also seemed to pass on some tips for his former colleague as he embarks on his journey as Real Madrid manager.
"I don't think that Zizou will ever go to Cristiano Ronaldo and tell him: 'Look, you need to kick the ball in this way' or go to Sergio Ramos and tell him how to defend. The players already know what to do and it is then up to the former greats to show intelligence, in order to simply help them get better."
" He is going to have to find the right way to transfer his philosophies, maybe not many at the start. Especially because it isn't like in Italy, where managers tend to focus a lot on tactics, in Spain they tend to do it much less. But I'm sure that Zidane will have a few tactical ideas that he picked up during his years in Juventus which he will want to tell his side.
