Zinedine Zidane has written an open letter to the fans of Real Madrid, and has addressed the reasons behind his dismissal. The former manager wrote:
“I’m leaving but I’m not abandoning the ship and I’m not tired of coaching.
In May 2018 I left because after two and a half years of so many victories and trophies I felt the team needed a new plan to stay at the highest level. Today things are different.
I’m leaving because I feel that the club didn’t give me the support I needed, it didn’t offer me the support to construct a project for the medium or long term.”
The Frenchman clearly highlighted that he isn’t tired of coaching and doesn’t intend on taking a break from management. However, where exactly he will end up next is yet to be revealed. According to him, Florentino Perez did not give him the support he needed to build something substantial once again.
The Real Madrid that Zidane left for the second time was a club at the end of its cycle. The team needs a breath of fresh air, with the experienced players slowly phased out and replaced with new feet.
Zidane also acknowledged the role of the people working behind the scenes, and the importance of human emotions in staying at a club for a long time:
“At least I had some marvellous lads that would stand with me until death. When things got ugly they saved me with great victories. Because they believed in me and they knew I believed in them.Of course I’m not the best coach in the world, but I’m capable of giving each one the strength and confidence they need at work, be they players, coaching staff or any employee. I know perfectly well what a team needs. In the roughly 20 years I’ve spent at Real Madrid I’ve learned that you guys, the fans, you want to win, of course. But above all you want us, the coach, the staff, the workers and of course the footballers, to give everything. And I can assure you that we gave 100% of ourselves for the club.
I also want to use this letter to send a message to the journalists. I’ve done hundreds of press conferences and unfortunately we’ve spoken very little about football and I know you love football too, this sport which unites us all. However, without wanting to criticise you or give lessons I would have liked it if your questions weren’t always directed towards controversy, I would have liked us to talk more about the ball and above all the players, who are and always will be the most important thing in this game. Let’s not forget about football, let’s look after football.”
Zidane lastly pointed out the role of the press, since numerous questions were posed about his job throughout the season. The 20/21 campaign was a very difficult one for Madrid with the huge number of injuries, and those continuously led to talks of Zidane’s departure until it finally happened.
