Zidane

come on mate, you make this too easy. When have we ever spoken about spurs properly

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Except for Lamela being ****

 

I think you are massively underestimating just how difficult it is to manage Real Madrid. What you have to remember is that there are plenty of other clubs in Europe who have similar expectations to Real Madrid, and only 1 club can win the CL. Zidane did that twice on the bounce, something no manager since its been the CL, has ever managed to do.

Yeah he had great players in his squad, like many other sides in Europe do, but those players weren't dominating Europe before he came along.

 

I think you may be underestimating just how important money is in providing success in sport. The big prizes are usually won by the clubs with the deepest pockets.

Of course clubs like Real Madrid, Barca, PSG, Man City can afford to buy the best coaches as well as the best players. And I'm not saying Zidane, Guardiola etc are not great coaches. But if by some miracle Pochettino was able to win the CL with Spurs, that would eclipse anything those others have acheived...

 

Like Mourinho at Porto and Inter?

 

Rafa?

 

Nah, Liverpool were a giant club with lots of money

 

Thought so.

 

For sure.

He may be yesterday's man, but those are two towering achievements no one can ever take away from him.

 

Can't fault his record, anywhere he's been really. Except Real, where he didn't really get much of a chance.

 

Newcastle?

 

I don't think they can have any complaints about Rafa. It's not him letting Newcastle down imo, more like the other way round.

Like Fat Sam did at West Ham, he's done everything they've asked of him so far.

 

Yeah tongue was firmly in cheek there really. Think he could have done better than he has though and there's a section of Toon fans who question his tactics.

Saying that, can't be easy under Mike Ashley.

 

Would you take him at Saints (if there was a vacancy)?

 

Certainly.

I wanted him before Puel, wouldn't be as keen in our situation though.

 

I don't doubt how important money is in football, but as you've just pointed out there are other clubs with deep pockets, and they aren't winning back to back Champions Leagues.

In Zidanes defence too, he hasn't actually spent that much money, it was more the previous managers some of whom failed to deliver the goods with the same players. Mourinho being one of them.

Mourinho is actually a great example of how difficult it is to manage Real Madrid, he could manage lesser players at Porto and Inter, and was able to get them to run through doors for him. But he failed at Madrid largely because he was unable to keep a lid on the player power within the Madrid dressing room.

So I think Zidane did a fantastic job, to go into that Madrid dressing room, and get them all on side, and playing the way he did. It's really not as easy a task as you think. It takes a special character to manage all the egos at Real Madrid. Ancelotti probably had it to a degree, but the likes of Mourinho and Rafa failed miserably.

 

Zidane is recognised and respected world wide as one of the greatest players of all time.

Players respect that far more than somebody who played at Mourinho’s level.

Zidane is the guy who’s been there and done it as a player.

 

True, it certainly hasn't done Zidane any harm being as great a player as he was. I would imagine most players would initially be in awe of him.

But Mourinho's ability as a player, or lack of shouldn't really come into it. Let's not forget he joined Real Madrid after winning the CL with Inter, he was regarded as one of the best coaches/managers in the world. It's not like Real Madrid was his first job, and he's taking over off the back of an average playing career.

In someways a great player like Zidane would still have to do more to win over the players, than a proven winner as a manager like Mourinho.

Fergie wasn't a great player, he was decent but not great, but he definitely had an instant effect on players, because of his huge reputation as a manager.

 

Just the way players are. They respect the guy who’s been there and done it.

Mourinho comes with a rep. Fergie earned his respect the hard way, after reportedly being one game away from being fired back in 1990.

But players by nature have more respect for those who’ve been at the very top of the game as a player.

Having said that, if you turn out to be a total **** you’ll lose that respect pretty quickly. Zizu obviously isn’t as he’s taken them to both La Liga and CL titles.

 

Yeah, he was brilliant at Inter.

 

Rafa is only good at managing smaller clubs, his authoritarian style doesn't work with the very best players.