This Real Madrid is "going nowhere"

It was George Bernard Shaw that proclaimed in ‘Man and Superman’ that, “He who can does, he who cannot teaches.”

By the time Zinadine Zidane brought the curtain down on a glittering career there wasn’t much he could be taught in terms of ‘doing it’ whenever he played.

Unfortunately for him, his career to date as Real Madrid first team boss proves that when it comes to teaching and talking football, he has an awful lot to learn.

He is now swiftly, and somewhat uncomfortably, finding out that teaching the game is a completely different kettle of fish and that the art of football management frequently depends not just on what you can do, but also on how you motivate or persuade or cajole or whatever the others to do it.

And in the hyper sensitive world that is professional football where every word, intonation, nuance is analysed and deconstructed, it also frequently relies on what you say, and – more importantly perhaps – how you say it.

So when he announces at a press conference following a very fortunate win against Las Palmas at the weekend that, “Playing like this we are going nowhere,” then don’t expect to hear an impromptu round of applause coming out of the Real Madrid home dressing room.

Effectively true of course, and certainly the view of his boss, Florentino Perez (more on him later) but certainly not something you announce in public to an already doubting and growingly incredulous media.

What you are telling them in fact is, “Don’t blame me mate, it’s the players.”

There are so many clues coming out that Zidane is new at this game and this is just one example of his managerial naivety. There is nothing wrong with criticism, except that you also need to be prepared to take your share of it.

The implication is that the players are not up for the fight, almost uninterested. Most worryingly it’s a trait also being shown by players coming off the bench with a lot to prove, like Mateo Kovacic who contrived to make the mistake that led to Las Palmas’ equaliser.

In fact it was only after Las Palmas equalised in the closing stages that Real Madrid decide to get involved again and try to win back the ball, which indicates what preceded it demonstrates a lack of commitment bordering on the criminal.

But once again Zidane needs to stand up and take his fair share of the blame here.

He constantly talks about more running, more effort, better ball retention and pressure high up the pitch and we get none of it, and the reason for that it is that I’m not sure that Zidane actually knows what he wants himself.

The question has to be asked. What has Zidane got to do to make the team better, or perhaps more appropriately, what is he NOT doing, because one thing’s for certain – this team is getting worse?

Talk from inside the camp is that he doesn’t correct enough, there isn’t enough tactical work, a lot of the physical preparation is outdated, and what is clear is that, to date, he hasn’t imposed his style – whatever that might be – onto the team.

But the attitude shown is an indication of a deeper malaise at the Santiago Bernabeu; problems identified by previous manager Rafael Benitez that cost him his job when he tried to address them, and that have now been taken on board by Zidane himself.

I’m talking about things like the need for stability with workmanlike players like Casemiro, Lucas Vazquez and even Kovacic rather than the indulgent deployment of superstars.

The identification of the fact that James Rodriguez and Isco could not play together and that James was not strong enough either physically or mentally, and that Isco simply fails to pass muster as a Real Madrid player.

What we have now is a team completely lacking in leadership. By his own admission ZZ says he doesn’t know if he will be at the club next season. Much may well depend on what happens in the Champions league and besides that it’s difficult to imagine who is out there that would go for the job at the moment

The players know the league has gone but they are also aware that potentially they just five games away from winning the Champions League. A ‘switched-off’ approach similar to that shown against Las Palmas is as dangerous as it is foolhardy because it isn’t always that easy to revert back to ‘switched-on’ mode.

Off the pitch there is the usual chicanery and internal politics in the battle to be the top man at the Bernabeu with elections planned for Summer 2017.

With much of the crowd baying for the President’s head, gathering forces are already beginning to encircle the encampment and, rest assured, they will do all they can to bring elections forward.

But a minimum qualification requirement of 20 years (it used to be 10) as a Real Madrid season ticket holder and an ability to guarantee – without any third party support – 15% of the club’s enormous total budget of around 600 million euros means that there are not exactly a huge number of potential candidates for the job.

These were changes to the constitution, proposed by Perez and accepted by the club members, before the 2013 elections; changes that – funnily enough – contrived to exclude three of his potential rivals for the post, including his predecessor, Vicente Boluda

That said, it’s fair to assume that this story, and all others emanating from the Bernabeu both on and off the pitch have a long way to run; watch this space.

Not least of course the future of Zinadine Zidane, truly one of the greatest players ever to have graced the game and certainly a man not lacking the ambition you need to become a top coach. Unfortunately, at the moment, it is an ambition not matched by either the experience or the expertise necessary to achieving it.