Real Madrid players to blame for form, not Zinedine Zidane, says Graham Hunter
Monday 3 October 2016 17:58, UK
Real Madrid players must look at their own performances following four straight draws for Zinedine Zidane's side, according to Graham Hunter.
Real were on the verge of breaking the La Liga record of 17 straight wins just under a fortnight ago, but have since been held by Villarreal, Las Palmas, Borussia Dortmund and Eibar.
Zidane was brought in to replace Rafael Benitez last season, winning the Champions League and pushing Barcelona for the La Liga title, and Hunter says the players, not the Frenchman, are to blame for the lack of intensity.
Speaking with Sky Sports' Spanish pundit Guillem Balague on Revista Bitesize, Hunter said: "Who is to blame for the lack of intensity? Over our careers we have seen instances where a coach just doesn't fit with a squad, and the lack of intensity is a conscious of subconscious evidence of the players saying: 'Yeah boss, yeah mister, okay,' but not really trying.
"Can that apply to Zidane? He walks in, wins the Champions League, almost wins the title, wins the Super Cup. No, it doesn't apply to him at all!
"Players, look at yourselves! It's undoubtedly the players, but are they full culpable?
"But I'm going to pose an argument. If a team is built to feed this huge machine up front, the BBC [Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo], and they're 11 goals short of where they were last season, and they're not fully fit. A principle flaw, given the way they are set up, is that the BBC are not functioning well."
Real have had 13 managers this century, and though speculation has not heightened surrounding Zidane's future as yet, there are still doubts about his experience as a coach.
Hunter hopes Real president Florentino Perez does not bring the axe down on Zidane as he has with previous bosses, and insists the club knew they were bringing in an inexperienced manager.
"Zidane is a junior coach. He may be one of the finest modern-era European footballers, for sure. He brought the magic wand into a situation last season and galvanised everybody. There was better form, the players looked sharper, the younger players got a chance.
"We are using a microscope to watch the first small forward steps as Zidane as a coach, and there will be errors and there will be a learning process.
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"All I'd argue is that I don't want Florentino Perez or Real to tire of him before he has undergone that learning process. They appointed him knowing he doesn't have that 10 years of experience.
"If this mad club consumes him, chews him up and spits him up, I'll be disgusted."
