After the very recent drawn game against 17th-placed Levante, the weariness of Madridistas has rekindled yet again. In fairness, the unrest among the fan base is justified considering many had high hopes for the side that won it all barely seven months ago.
Having secured an emphatic victory over Valencia on Matchday 21, these fans envisaged a possible insurgency from the men in white. The confidence was back. Ronaldo got a brace. Marcelo topped an archetypal performance with a sweet finish.
“Finally, the players played for Zidane,” some said as Los Blancos walked away with a 4-1 victory from the Mestalla. Nevertheless, the false hope that nearly overshadowed the logic of these Bernabeu faithful has been slammed right into the ground perusing what ensued at Levante over the weekend.
Despite going in front in the latter part of proceedings, the party was crashed once again for La Liga’s defending champions with the hosts equalizing at the death. Many have since blamed Zidane for ejecting his star players when the game needed their presence and influence the most.
Glancing at the 21 games Los Blancos have played so far, they have accumulated a win ratio of 52.38%, 28.57% in drawn games and 19.05% in losses. The numbers may seem ok for fans of certain clubs but it certainly is nothing to write home about if you ask any avid Madridista.
In scope, the blame game has been around for a while. Firstly, it is believed that Zidane’s stubbornness and overconfidence orchestrated his downfall long before the commencement of the season.
This is valid in the sense that his eagerness to offload two world class players, Alvaro Morata and James Rodriguez, without asking for competent replacement placed his ambitions for the season in limbo.
It is ok to sparingly give opportunities to the likes of Vallejo, Achraf, Marcos Llorente, Ceballos, et al when the need be. What is rather questionable for a club of Madrid’s magnitude is to have a conventional starting 11 that are under no pressure to compete for their positions.
With complacency setting in at that point, it was a certified recipe for disaster and the rapid crumbling is what fans have witnessed thus far. Certainly, Zidane has no one rather than himself to blame for the club’s dip in form and total loss of confidence after categorically affirming his satisfaction in his squad-depth.
Having already dropped 24 points this season as compared to the total of 21 lost across all league fixtures last season, it is understandable if Madridistas are asking for the Frenchman’s head on a silver platter.
Some key figures in the Madrid dressing room, as well as some former players, have publicly declared their desire to see the former Galactico managing the club for as long as possible.
However, knowing the history between club president Florentino Perez and managers who fail to deliver silverware, will Zizou be an exception should that be the case? In much candor, that is very hard to guarantee.
With La Liga defense becoming embarrassing with each passing day, the surprise eviction from the Copa Del Rey still resounding and the prospect of 2018's Supercopa de Espana non-existent, the French manager possibly has a foot and a half outside Real Madrid’s crumbling citadel.
Although he got the job done in the FIFA Club World Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and the Supercopa de Espana a while back, a short-sighted lens is habitually used to sneak a peek at accolades in a club like Real Madrid.
As a result, it is barely a secret that until the ultimatum of beating Paris Saint-Germain and topping the feat of two consecutive Champions League trophies with a third becomes a realization, it could be “adios” for Zinedine Zidane very soon.
