The Club No Longer Give Me The Confidence I Need, Says Zidane On Real Madrid Exit

Departing Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane announced last week that he will be leaving the Spanish giants after a trophy laden two spells with the club he also had success as a player.

The Frenchman has now opened up on his reason to depart the club, citing lack of confidence in him by the club hierarchy as his reason for calling it quits.

“I have decided to leave and I want to explain the reasons well,” Zidane told Spanish newspaper AS. “I’m going, but I’m not jumping off the boat and I’m not tired of training [as had been previously claimed in prior reports]. 

“In May 2018, I left because after two and a half years with so many victories and so many trophies I felt that the team needed a new discourse to stay on top. Today things are different. I am leaving because I feel that the club no longer gives me the confidence I need, it does not offer me the support to build something in the medium or long term.

“I know football and I know the demands of a club like Madrid, I know that when you don’t win you have to go. But here one very important thing has been forgotten, everything has been forgotten what I have built on a day-to-day basis, what I have contributed in the relationship with the players, with the 150 people who work with and around the team.

“I am a born winner and I was here to conquer trophies, but beyond this are human beings, emotions, life and I have the feeling that these things have not been valued, that it has not been understood that this is also maintained the dynamics of a great club. Even, in a way, I have been reproached.

“I want to respect what we have done together. I would have liked my relationship with the club and with the president in recent months to have been a little different from that of other coaches. I am not asking for privileges, of course not, but a little more memory.

“Today the life of a coach on the bench of a great club is two seasons, not much more. To last longer the human relations are essential, are more important than money, more important than fame, more important than everything. You have to take care of them.

“That’s why it hurt a lot when I read in the press, after a loss, they were going to kick me out if I didn’t win the next game. It hurt me and the whole team because these messages intentionally leaked to the media created negative interference with the staff, created doubts and misunderstandings.

“Good thing I had some wonderful boys who were to die with me. 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 am not the best coach in the world, but I am capable of giving the strength and confidence that everyone needs in their work, be they a player, a member of the coaching staff or any employee.

“I know exactly what a team needs. Throughout these 20 years at Madrid, I have learned that you, the fans, want to win, of course we do, but above all you want us to give everything, the coach, the staff, the workers and of course the footballers. And I can assure you that we have given 100% of ourselves for the club.

“Also take this letter to send a message to journalists. I have done hundreds of press conferences and unfortunately, we have spoken very little about football and I know that you also love football, that this sport unites us. 

“However, without pretending to criticise or give you lessons, I would have liked that the questions were not always directed towards controversy, that we would have talked more often about the ball and above all about the players, who are and always will be the most important in this game. play. Let’s not forget football, let’s take care of the football.”

Dear Madridistas, I will always be one of you. Hala Madrid!

– Zidane

Zidane won 11 major titles with Real Madrid including three consecutive Champions League, two La Liga, two Spanish Super Cups, two UEFA Super Cups and two FIFA Club World Cup.

The Los Blancos are linked with former player Raul Gonzalez, Mauricio Pochettino amidst other managerial options.

Image via Getty