On the night of last two Sundays, when I saw a news of Real Madrid about to announce Zidane as new manager hours after their league win, I thought it was all another fake news by the media to garner attention but the next day came the unexpected but terribly desired, the official report of Zidane's recruitment and return from a short term holiday.
The French man announced his shocking resignation to the surprise of everyone just after lifting his ninth trophy and third consecutive Uefa Champions League titles in his three stint in charge of the team.
Many questions were thrown his way as to why he had to resign or what might have triggered the thought and all the Frenchman could say was "he needs a rest" and yes, we had no other option but to buy that.
But if you look at it from a closer perspective and as real journalists do, you will find so many pieces and attach together to find a solid fact or truth on why the Frenchman had to resign in the midst of celebrations.
Their talisman for the past nine years and highest goal scorer of the team Cristiano Ronaldo dropped a hint of his departure as well just after lifting the Uefa Champions league with Real Madrid. We took his words and the dust that was raised with it for attention seeking but before the summer ran out, we were left in our pool of tears, reminiscing the great and indelible memories the Portuguese living legend created while at the team. After regaining a bit of consciousness, we remembered our dear Zidane and his surprising resignation again and connected the dots to Ronaldo's departure and went like, "Oh, so Zidane knew a player of his that averages 50 goals per season is leaving so he had to leave first to avoid his image tarnished". Who wouldn't believe this story to be true?? Well that's not all of it.
About eight out of 11 players Zidane used to great effects and won trophies with would turn 30 the coming season and there wasn't a well nurtured back up youth team much to the Frenchman's annoyance.
Also, I did my own share of journalism and I might be wrong but there are dots pointing to Zidane left because President Florentino Perez preferred to keep Gareth Bale over Cristiano Ronaldo but the French coach wanted otherwise and he is damn right if so.
It is true that Zidane and Bale had a sour relationship when he, the Frenchman was still in charge of the team but nothing would justify selling a player that averages 50 goals a season because you feel he will fetch you money and then, you rely on an injury prone distressed player to fill his shoes, watch where it got the team today. As early as March, their season is all but over except mathematically.
Fast forward 10 months later and the French man is back again, without Ronaldo, to the same players that he apparently was running from to avoid being shamed or his reputation stained but guess what, he returned to them after they have all ran till they got tired of running and he is apparently back to get them back in shape as the world look away from them for a while.
Zidane has got a pretty much huge task up his sleeve to work on but he has got all the time in the world. With 9 matches left to play in the league and preseason, Zidane has got enough time to analyze who should stay and who should go, when one should play and when one shouldn't play and the likes. We believe we will get to know of everything as the day unfolds, for now, we will bask in the fun of the Frenchman's return.
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