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Everything that is currently wrong with Real Madrid was summed up by manager Zinedine Zidane following the club’s win against Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League last week.
The Frenchman was effusive in his praise of Lucas Vazquez and boldly stated that the Spaniard was an important player for his team. Zidane further urged the club’s hierarchy to renew Vazquez’s contract that runs out at the end of the season.
"He always gives everything for us. I have always valued him and what he gives to us on the pitch," the Real Madrid manager told Movistar+.
Zidane continued in this regard:
"Now he is having the opportunity to show us what he is all about. He was a youth player for us and has Madrid in his heart. I'm happy for him and the team. He is an important player, and the club knows it. I think it will happen that he will renew."
While that was harmless praise by a manager of his player, it also subtly revealed the kind of emotional, rather than shrewd, decisions that Real Madrid have taken in recent months which has culminated in an underwhelming season so far.
Real Madrid's transfer window activity comes back to haunt them
Real Madrid allowed quality players like Gareth Bale, Achraf Hakimi and James Rodriguez to leave despite their known pedigree while others like Vazquez, Martin Odegaard and Mariano Diaz were retained.
On Saturday, the Blancos extended their winless run in La Liga to three games after a loss at home to minnows Alaves.
As Zidane watched on from the bench, every frustrating move Real Madrid made may have reminded him of the poor transfer business of the club he oversaw in the summer. Real Madrid are now left with a bevvy of mediocre players and established stars who are well past their best.
That Vazquez is now Real Madrid's de facto right-back typifies the lack of quality in the team. The Spaniard might be very versatile, but a team like Real Madrid, who want to conquer Spain and Europe, shouldn’t be playing a natural winger at right-back.
Then there is Raphael Varane who hasn’t been at his best in more than 24 months. Nacho, for all his years at the club, has never been good enough to be a starter at Real Madrid while Marcelo is clearly past his best. All of the aforementioned players, though, started against Alaves.
Zinedine Zidane has more questions than answers after Real Madrid's loss to Alaves
A look at Real Madrid’s attack also painted a vivid picture of how the club has spectacularly regressed. From an attack boasting the famous BBC trident, what is left of the Blancos now is an offence comprising of a stalled Marco Asensio, a clueless Mariano Diaz and an injury-prone Eden Hazard.
"I don't have an explanation. Tonight we alternated good moments with bad moments. When they scored a goal after three minutes, things got very complicated for us,” Zidane said following Real Madrid's loss to Alaves, as quoted by Goal.
The Real Madrid manager continued in this regard:
"The other day in Milan, we played a good game and today...It is reality, our reality today. What we have to do is keep working, recover players and change the dynamics. We don't have consistency."
Indeed, Real Madrid currently lack consistency, and that is simply because the team lacks quality. One can count on their fingers the number of world-class players left in the team.
With the Blancos lying in fourth place in the league table, it leaves Zidane with more questions than answers as he looks to salvage Real Madrid's stuttering season.
