Zidane’s Real Madrid
Just a day after winning the 29th league title for Real Madrid in 2003, winning 8 trophies including 2 Champions Leagues in 4 seasons, Vincente Del Bosque was let go. The reason, not winning the Champions League, precisely not being able to defend the trophy, an act which caused outrage in the footballing community at that point of time. Fast forward to the present and we now see the same ruthless attitude common amongst club owner across Europe and fans alike. Win or perish, some of the best manager in the world today, being let go from their positions for not winning and some even being pressurized to retire. In a way Real Madrid has been ahead of the curve in realizing such key trends in football, the high spending transfer policy, the ruthless expectations from manager and players, the importance of having high status players and managers, being a few of them
Winning trophies has been the only way managers could not just make a name for themselves but also secure their jobs. But there have always been some whose style and tactical approach made more name than their trophy hauls. These were the ones who created legacy teams, teams which shall never be forgotten for the football they played and the glory they achieved. This was the pinnacle, everything that football fans wished for from their teams and what managers dreamt to achieve and so has been the case for a long time now
When speaking about football managers, especially ones who have created legacy teams, one tends to speak about the football they played, and it was this style which lies at the root of these legacy teams. They are credited for the tactical innovations which enabled them to dominate world football. The other things that one would find common amongst these managers is their unshakeable faith in their playing system and their fanatical control over their squad. This it seems was the winning tact for a long time now
Enter Zinedine Zidane, a legendary footballer, an epitome of beautiful football, a being as poetic as a human could get with a football at his feet and with relatively no managerial experience* won the Champions League back to back in the first 2 years of his managerial career, something that even the best of modern day managers haven’t achieved. But when trying to identify the tactical innovation behind Zidane’s success, there are no words to add, its true that they have played some of the best football one has seen these days but the same doesn’t follow into a certain style that is unique to the team, as if theres no reason to forget but nothing to remember except for the glory. The only explanation one seems to find is the stardom that the team carries which remains unmatchable on the pitch, a bunch of superstars, technically so superior that no team stands a chance implying money and transfer policies as the root of Zidane’s success
But thats an unjust criticism of potentially the worlds greatest manager. There was a certain innovation in his approach, just not the one, one would look for. When thinking of innovation one tends to only search for answers in the tactical spheres or the technology space since that has been the root of success for all legacy teams which enabled them to play technically superior football and develop players beyond what traditional techniques allowed. What we miss is the philosophical approach to management, which one assumes must be a rule of the iron fist, a technique with its root in fear enabling managers to push players perform beyond their skills and experience in search of glory. And this simple change of approach which goes missing in analysis lies at the core of Zidane’s Real Madrid
The shift from a fear based system to a relaxed and fluid system unleashed in the players a state of trust and freedom which can be seen by the confidence in the way Real Madrid play their football now. Although expectations remain astronomically high at the Bernebeu, the same is lesser on the players shoulders under Zidane’s rule and this expectation of glory has transformed into an inspiration to achieve greatness thus replacing pressure with desire. The rule of fear and fanatical control has made room for a relaxed and a softer touch, leading to a dressing room of a team who enjoys playing and winning together than one fearing to disappoint on the pitch. A change from the tactic of pushing players into roles that benefit the team to one where the players now seem motivated to take up roles which are in line with their thinking and suitable for their personalities leading to players growing in their roles rather than trying to fit in. And most importantly the shift away from the age old practice of forcing players to fit into the tactics to tactics that fit the players instead, allowing players a sense of independence and room to grow and perform beyond their own imagination, a change that has seen players discover their best self than meeting the standards set by their managers. Lastly, the trust and faith in players even when the fans and the club management had turned on them, something that seemed to be lost in football these days but pertinent for the creation of a team that’s willing to go above and beyond for each other and their manager
Simple philosophical changes which go unnoticed for the tactical eye but changes that enabled a rookie manager conquer success which even the most experienced managers failed to achieve by giving up the fear regime and updating it with a relaxed and fluid system which is designed around the players enabling them to reach their best self, changes that enabled his players to hunt for greatness than to perform under the fear of failure, lessons in leadership that every manager needs to adopt as management and the players under him evolve
