Just who is available and, as importantly, good enough to take over as manager?
Less than a year after Real Madrid’s best season in 60 years, the possibility of Zinedine Zidane, the architect of that success, walking away, is very real.
The Frenchman, as of this moment, is still refusing to commit himself beyond the current campaign, and there is credible evidence to suggest that he is stalling president, Florentino Perez, every time the question presents itself.
Certainly, Real have had a tough time of it in 2017/18, and even if they were to retain the Champions League for a third year in succession — unprecedented in the modern era — it’s possible that Zidane believes that he’s taken the team as far as it can go.
Uniquely at Los Blancos, the coach has been given the choice of when he wants to go. Having earned the respect of board and players alike, Zidane alone will decide when the time is right to depart.
That said, it’s unlikely anyone expected it to be as soon as the end of this season.
With only nine domestic games left, and a maximum of five in the Champions League, Real’s hierarchy have 14 matches in which to identify, pursue, and tie down a new incumbent, or at least have one waiting in the wings.
The ground work needs to be done now because once the season is done, everyone will be in full World Cup mode. But just who is available and, as importantly, good enough to take over?
Former Dortmund coach, Thomas Tuchel, springs to mind as the most obvious candidate. The 44-year-old has been out of work since last summer and has a real vibrancy about the way he works.
Using Dortmund as the yardstick, he had the Germans playing in an expansive, attacking and direct manner, and that style is sure to curry favour at the Santiago Bernabeu. The one drawback is his lack of experience in the Spanish league.
Mauricio Pochettino has the experience that Tuchel lacks, but it’ll be a battle royale to convince him to leave Tottenham Hotspur.
Even if the financial riches are enough to tempt him away from the project he’s been overseeing in north London for the last few years, Daniel Levy will fight tooth and nail to hang on to the Argentinian. He’ll know that if Pochettino is allowed to jump ship, Harry Kane will almost certainly follow.
Aside from those two, there aren’t really any other candidates that spring to mind. Hoffenheim’s Julian Naglesmann is too young at 30, despite his obvious talent on the bench, and Arsene Wenger is potentially too old at 68 and would be more suited to a director of football role.
Former coach, Jupp Heynckes, is enjoying success at Bayern, but it’s hard to imagine the 72-year-old swapping Bavaria for Madrid, given he’d retired for all intents and purposes five years ago.
Could Jose Mourinho, still revered in Madrid and having a tough time in Manchester, make a dramatic return …?
With so many questions needing to be answered, it’s no wonder Real’s hierarchy would prefer to keep the status quo as it is.
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