NEW Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane is targeting the Champions League title this season, despite admitting he is not “fully prepared” to manage at the highest level.
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Rafa Benitez has wished his Real Madrid successor Zinedine Zidane well and says his time at the club was “an honour”.
Former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola was contacted by Real Madrid to replace Rafa Benitez before his was sacked as coach of the club.
Earlier in the day, thousands of fans had turned out to watch Zidane take his first training session with Real’s current “galacticos”, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Bale and Karim Benzema.
Zidane’s first game in charge of the first team will be Saturday’s clash with Deportivo La Coruna at the Bernabeu. They are in third place in La Liga, four points behind leaders Atletico Madrid and two points behind eternal rivals Barcelona, who have a game in hand.
“Guardiola is Guardiola. I will do all my best”.
“Yes, I will play with the three attackers… that is the idea of course. As of now, you are the coach of Real Madrid and, for me as president, it’s a source of pride to have you by my side because I also know that for you the word “impossible” does not exist”.
“But he wants to be there that’s the latest I have heard from him”. This was a very interesting quote about his coaching style.
But former Real manager John Toshack said it was a risk, claiming: “Zidane was a terrific player, but his managerial experience is zero”.
You worked with Mourinho and Ancelotti, what’s your model as a coach? Fans were left lukewarm by Benitez’s more defensive approach. It has to be offensive football, balanced, and nothing else.
“El Guardiola de Florentino”, wrote the Sport daily. The most important thing for this team is to play football and my concept for that is to try and play fast, possession football in the opposition half.
David Beckham, a former teammate of Zidane from Madrid’s group of “galaticos”, backed the move that some in Spain deem risky. “We have to work hard to be the best we can on the pitch, that is my message to the players”.
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Zidane will certainly give his best, but he will likely need more than that to succeed at a club with little patience.
