Zinedine Zidane showed an impressive ability to manage Real Madrid’s notoriously fickle fan base during a press conference on Monday.
In the course of the press conference, Zidane was asked to comment on his team’s last performance: a 7-1 win against Celta Vigo. His team may have left victorious, but it wouldn’t have been a Real Madrid victory without some unwanted talking points. Real Madrid’s own fans had jeered the team, singling out Cristiano Ronaldo in particular for abuse.
Zidane defended Ronaldo outright, saying that he wouldn’t sell him and that “I am the coach and I like Cristiano.”
However, Zidane handled Real Madrid’s fans in a more subtle way. He did not criticize their behavior. If anything, he made it seem like they did the right thing.
WHERE IS OUR PERFECTION!?! Photo: @RMadridInfo | Twitter
“I think [the whistling] is the best thing for the players because it helps them improve.”
He went on: "the fans are very important for us. And the fans know that they are important. When they don't see the things they want they whistle a little. That is part of football.”
Zidane knows what he’s doing. Real Madrid fans have a reputation for being spoiled and impatient, and they have had it for quite some time. Zidane can’t change that reality, and that’s why he doesn’t talk down to them and risk upsetting them further.
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A happy fan base makes any manager’s job easier, that why Zidane coddled Real Madrid’s. He makes them sound important and reasonable, a “part of football.” It’s the verbal equivalent of shoving a lollipop in a spoiled child’s mouth and telling them that they were right all along so you can get along with your day. Only in this case, the spoiled child never grows up, and your day is your entire career.
Zidane’s future at Real Madrid is hard to foresee. Madrid seem to be more fluid in attack than they were under Benitez, but they also have shown the same inability to perform in big games (that being said, the victory over 7th place Celta Vigo was very impressive). Zidane needs to win trophies if he wants to keep his job, but no matter how this season ends, his employers will know that Zidane was in charge for only half of it.
Zidane needs to prove himself, and he will have a much easier time doing so with the support of Real Madrid's fans than without them.
Let’s hope he has a lot of lollipops.
Follow me on Twitter: @yetly
