Welcome to the Real world, Zizou. After an extended honeymoon which saw everyone connected with Madrid falling over themselves to gush about how delighted they were with their new coach, Zinedine Zidane is now fast finding out what managing them really entails.
Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat against Atletico was yet another low point in a season which has already contained far too many for a club of Madrid’s stature, and also made it plain that Zidane’s arrival to replace Rafael Benitez wasn’t the magic wand many seemed to be expecting.
It was a very poor performance, with attacking incoherence, defensive frailties and general lack of energy all too reminiscent of the worst games played under Benitez.
And that’s the most worrying thing for Los Blancos. For everything they have suffered in the last 15 months – last season’s 4-0 drubbing at Atletico; the meek Champions League exit against Juventus; this year’s home capitulation to Barcelona in the Clasico – nothing appears to have changed.
The same old frailties are returning every time that Madrid come up against high-quality opposition, with the fact that they have gained only one point from their five meetings this season with La Liga’s top five (Barca, Atletico, Villarreal and Sevilla) showing just how much they struggle whenever they play anyone decent.
Question now at top of La Liga isn't whether Real Madrid will catch Barça or Atleti. It's whether Villarreal will catch Real Madrid.
— Andy West (@andywest01) February 28, 2016
To improve his side, Zidane must do many things: instil the team ethic which Cristiano Ronaldo’s post-match comments on Saturday showed is painfully lacking; address the glaring gaps in his squad (Karim Benzema is the only centre forward); find balance in midfield, and restore lost confidence.
Perhaps the most important task of all, however, is a fairly straightforward one: get his players to work harder.
Atletico’s goal on Saturday makes horrendous viewing, with Toni Kroos, James Rodriguez, Isco and Danilo all making no effort to get back into good defensive positions before Antoine Griezmann slotted home.
And the impression of laziness is further enhanced by the truly shocking statistic that Atletico’s players cumulatively covered 11 kilometres more than their white-shirted opponents.
With work-shy players, it’s hardly surprising that Madrid lose against good teams. Zidane needs to drop the nice guy act, not worry about upsetting some of his superstars and give them a powerful kick up the backside. They’ve had it too easy for too long.
This is our 19-man squad for Wednesday's match against Levante. ?⚽#RMLiga #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/TlhW6pyMFe
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) March 1, 2016
And he has to do so quickly, because there is still plenty to play for this season. There’s the small matter of the Champions League – although the prospect of them overcoming the likes of Bayern Munich and Barcelona is remote.
More important than that lofty but probably unrealistic aim, Madrid need to secure a top-three finish in La Liga to avoid the embarrassment and potential banana skin of a Champions League preliminary round play-off.
With Villarreal in fine form it certainly cannot be taken for granted Los Blancos will finish third, and the home game against the Yellow Submarine on 20 April could be their most important in the coming weeks.
And with rumours rife in Spain that trigger-happy president Florentino Perez is already lining up his next coach, Zidane will have to act quickly and decisively if he really wants his entry into management to be prolonged.
