Rafa Benítez "is gone as Real Madrid manager," according to Gabriele Marcotti of ESPN. That part is not "surprising -- the odds were stacked against him from the moment he took over -- but what is surprising is the timing" and the choice of Zinedine Zidane as his successor. In "explaining the rationale" behind the appointment of Benítez last summer, Real Madrid "did not go much beyond some platitudes" about "organization" and the fact that it was "important to have a Spanish coach." It is not that Benítez "lacked the experience or tactical nous to do the job; his resume speaks for itself." But managing Real Madrid in the Florentino Pérez era "is as much about being a 'Galactico-whisperer' as anything else." When you are handling footballers who are "basically corporate entities with outsized egos you need, above all, man-management and diplomacy." Benítez's relations with superstars "have been strained in the past." And, unlike Jose Mourinho, who arrived in '10 as a treble winner, he did not have "the power or political capital to keep everyone in line." So "what to make of the choice" to replace Benítez with Zidane? There is "no doubting the Frenchman's charisma and status." His coaching resume "is thin" -- he's been coaching Castilla, Real Madrid's B-team, in the third flight -- and "tough to assess, since his main task was development rather than results." But he has been "groomed for a role" since '09, when he was appointed as special adviser to Pérez. Since then, he has had "various roles," working alongside Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti. There are "two main concerns with Zidane." The first "is his personality." At the risk of "delving too far into pop psychology, he was the epitome of the strong, silent type as a player and that hasn't changed much since becoming a coach." The "other legitimate concern is what happens with Zidane if things go wrong." Real has "spent six years grooming him to take over and, when you do, you chuck him in at the deep end with the same poorly assembled team" that cost Ancelotti and Benítez their jobs. As for Pérez, Paco Aguilar, a veteran Spanish journalist for Mundo Deportivo, "said it best." To paraphrase, sacking Benítez "means the Real Madrid president has left himself with no safety net." If things do not improve, "the next head to fall will be his own." He will have "run out of people to blame." And "that might not be a bad thing for Real Madrid" (ESPN, 1/4).
RIGHT REPLACEMENT?: The BBC reported for a man with "no experience of managing at the top level," Zidane's appointment "could be considered a risk -- but he has long been seen as a future Real boss." Prior to coaching Real Madrid Castilla, Zidane was "an integral member of the backroom staff" under Ancelotti (BBC, 1/4).
