Following Zinedine Zidane as the new Real Madrid boss is both a thrilling proposition but also a near-on impossible task.
How do you go about succeeding a man whose trophy-laden success at the Bernabeu had only added to the already established legend of Zidane, the player?
With great difficulty. Just look at Manchester United and the struggles they have had since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013 after 26 years at the helm.
Zidane’s Los Blancos cannot be compared to that, with the Frenchman presiding over two-and-a-half-years of clinical, winning football.
The Real Madrid job certainly isn’t built for a man to take the reins for over two decades – simply, success is needed quickly over what tends to be a short cycle of a few years. Emphatic knock-out football, or the equivalent to Zidane’s wonder strike in the 2002 Champions League final in managerial form.
If winning the big trophies is not achieved, and the style of football is not attack, attack, attack, you are in trouble given club president Florentino Perez has presided over eight coaches in 12 years.
The infamous white handkerchiefs were certainly evident during Zidane’s tenure as full-time boss in the Spanish capital, following his rise through the assistant coach and then Castilla ranks, but former stars and Madrid-born Madridistas are always afforded extra time by the most impatient fan base around.
Solari and Zidane were team-mates during 2002 Champions League title win.
Santiago Solari, the cultured Argentine winger who was a team-mate of Zidane between 2000 and 2005, is a viable option to be at least considered for the role.
Since July 2016, the 41-year-old has been in charge of Real Madrid’s B (Castilla) side and although consecutive mid-table placings in Segunda Division B have not exactly pulled up any trees, he is set to take the team into a third season should Perez not offer him the top job.
There is no suggestion Solari is a candidate or indeed deserves to be in the reckoning, but like Zidane, he is learning his trade at the club and in the right place to be within a shout given he has earned plaudits for his forward-thinking, open brand of football.
A Champions League winner all those years ago in Glasgow, maybe now is the time to give Solari the opportunity to step up and he is a man who knows the club as well as most at this current moment in time.
Perhaps Zidane himself will have a say in the decision and if he does, Solari should be in the mix.
If knowing the club and history in the Whites shirt is integral in their next appointment, Guti is another man who could potentially be in the frame.
Iconic player: Guti has been coaching Real’s Under-19 side.
Arguably one of the most naturally gifted players of his generation, he spent 15 years as a first-team star at the Bernabeu – many of those as vice-captain, and rose up through the youth ranks.
A popular but brazen individual who has never been shy of speaking his mind or falling out with his managers in the past, Guti has been coaching Real’s Juvenil and Under-19 sides. He was touted to take over the Castilla team from Solari – a job he was reportedly promised by Perez – but now looks set to work with the Youth A team for a further campaign.
The 41-year-old is very much an outsider for the first-team manager’s position given his lack of experience while club icon Raul is currently completing his coaching badges on UEFA’s Elite coaching course at the Ciudad de Futbol de Las Rozas. Former midfielder Xabi Alonso is also set to coach one of Real’s youth sides next term.
Looking out but in all the same, another idol, Fernando Hierro, would immediately be a man to get the fans on board and to help settle the ship.
The legendary all-round defender and midfielder, who played over 500 times for the Whites, was part of Carlo Ancelotti’s coaching staff during his Bernabeu stint and also managed Oviedo during the 2016-17 season. He is currently working with the Spanish Football Federation ahead of the World Cup in Russia.
He is potentially a name on the shortlist, with the advantage of appointing someone who knows the club a way of approaching what is likely to be a tricky transition period to negotiate.
The flip side of all this is obviously going down the route of a big and proven managerial name but why change a formula that in the last few years has certainly gone to plan.
Club legend: Fernando Hierro.
