Monday 28 November 2016 17:18, UK
Zinedine Zidane has won the Champions League and steered Real Madrid to the top of La Liga. But do his critics have a point? We take a look at the debate...
Zinedine Zidane won the Champions League four months after taking over at Real Madrid. He followed that up by beating Sevilla to lift the UEFA Super Cup in August.
This season he's guided his team to the top of La Liga, where they're six points clear of the competition. Real are unbeaten in 31 games in all competitions and they're into the knockout stages of the Champions League.
And he has managed to do so despite some key injuries this season.
Left-back Fabio Coentrao has missed 10 of Real's 13 league games. Defensive midfielder Casemiro has missed eight. Keylor Navas has missed five, while Sergio Ramos, Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Isco, Marcelo, Pepe, Alvaro Morata, James Rodriguez, Toni Kroos and Raphael Varane have all missed game time, too. Plus, he's now going to be without Gareth Bale for a couple of months.
Most managers would love to achieve the feats he has in their entire career, let alone in under a year of managing a big club.
Yet, in Spain, there is still an impression Zidane has been a little fortunate, that he is mostly about managing egos and isn't the best of tacticians.
Zidane may keep things more simple than the likes of Pep Guardiola - but he has made some important changes to his team to get the most out of them.
Against Atletico Madrid recently, he changed the formation from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-1-1. Benzema was recovering from an injury, so Zidane played Ronaldo as a centre forward with Isco in a free role behind him. Bale and Lucas Vazquez played as traditional wide players.
It was a huge success, with Real winning 3-0 at the Vicente Calderon, despite missing Pepe, Ramos, Casemiro and Kroos.
Zidane found a way to get the most out of Isco. The Spaniard thrived as a No 10. He tied Real's attacking play together, completing 91.7 per cent of his passes, despite his advanced position.
On the flanks, Zidane convinced Bale and Lucas Vazquez to track back with Atletico's wide players when Real didn't have the ball. Only Nacho made more interceptions than Bale. Only Varane made more clearances, while Vazquez came up with three important tackles for his team.
It was a fine example of Zidane's ability to get his players to buy into what he wanted them to do, for the good of the team.
Meanwhile, up front, Ronaldo did what Ronaldo does, scoring a hat-trick to become the top scorer in Madrid derbies.
However, there are still questions over how Zidane reacts within games.
Despite making two changes at half-time at home to Eibar last month, he couldn't find a way to break the 1-1 scoreline. Previously, in Dortmund, he changed Rodriguez for Mateo Kovacic when Real went 2-1 up but couldn't hold out for the win. The same thing had happened in the game before at Las Palmas, with Real Madrid being pegged back for a draw.
Their record this season could have been worse if it wasn't for the six goals they've scored in the final 10 minutes of games to salvage results. They beat Celta Vigo and Athletic Bilbao in La Liga with late strikes, grabbed a draw against Legia Warsaw and twice beat Sporting Lisbon with last-gasp goals - two of them in the 2-1 win in Portugal!
When that happens, when changes of personnel do not make much of an impact, it is sometimes because the team relies on individuals, not so much on collective answers.
For instance, Real Madrid only have the fourth-best possession stats, retaining the ball less than Las Palmas. They are also taking more shots than any other team in the league, as opposed to building up their play slowly, in a careful, considered way.
Often the team has started games poorly, lacking in intensity, something admitted by players and the coach himself. Their win over Gijon at the weekend was something of an exception. They've scored just six goals in the first 15 minutes of their 18 La Liga and Champions League matches this season, while three of the last five goals they've conceded in league games have come inside the opening 27 minutes.
Zidane is still learning. And the lack of fluidity in the game might be down to injury problems. A third of those were muscle injuries, which experts say happen when something has been done incorrectly in training.
But his record so far is remarkable, considering that in 20 games he's been unable to use his best 11.
Zidane has got more points than any manager in La Liga history after his first 33 matches - 86. Former Real Madrid boss Manuel Pellegrini had 83 at this stage. Jose Mourinho 80.
Real have also scored 132 goals in his 47 games in charge - they are entertaining their fans.
Of course, what those supporters truly crave is the La Liga title and even more glory in the Champions League. If Zidane can deliver that, no one will be doubting his ability. But until then, he still has some doubters to prove wrong.
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