Real Madrid – “With the Madrid press, Zidane has become a toreador: he dodges blows”

The scene is so rare that it aroused surprise on both sides of the Pyrenees: Zinédine Zidane got angry. Yes, yes, the placid and so calm Zinédine Zidane. It was after a complicated draw against Villarreal (1-1) and after yet another question about his personal future. “Keep doing your job, and I do mine“, he blurted out to journalists, a little too obstinate for his taste.

“They are quite offensive, and that he does not like too much, confirms Patxi Vrignon-Etxezaharreta, AFP journalist based in Madrid. Recently, he was talked about because he left a press conference by dropping ‘que pesados’. Basically, ‘what the hell are they’. Obviously the microphones were still open so that was the subject of debate the next day on the TVs.This is the daily life of ZZ since his arrival on the Madrid bench: a media gigantism where the slightest flaw is overexploited by programs where debates and controversies occupy a central part, not to say disproportionate.

“Here, the debate around football is not only about football: it is fueled by controversies, arbitration errors, possible transfers, economic questions., explains Jesus Sanchez, working for Marca. In the end, football doesn’t talk much about games here“. In the lot, some channels or shows that make the happiness of social networks (El Chiringuito, for example) but much less that of Zidane when it comes to playing the question-and-answer game.

“Last year the topic was Bale, rembobine Patxi Vrignon-Etxezaharreta. There were press conferences where, out of 15, 20 questions, there were a dozen on Bale. And the guys weren’t giving up. Once he’s answered a question, half said he had nothing more to say on the subject, you have to move on. But they, they insist“. And, sometimes, Zidane goes out of its hinges. Like after Villarreal.

So rare that even Mario Cortegana, at AS, was surprised: “I still have the feeling that it is very occasional, even if some seek controversy. […] On this point, it is the anti-Mourinho. He is in a quiet relationship. That’s also why he represents Real Madrid so well“. “Zidane, that annoys him but he also knows on which bench he is sitting, adds his colleague at Marca. It’s a bit of the flip side to train the best club in the world“.

So much for the benefits of a ZZ master of his nerves in press conference. But… “Sometimes, as a journalist but also as a fan, it’s frustrating that he never says anything, adds the journalist at AS. By dint of mastering the language of wood, he sometimes answers with empty things. . And this is also where we insist again. He looks like a toreador: he dodges blows perfectly. “

A surprise for those who knew the player, with a shy reputation that was not usurped. “As a player he never spoke and that was a problemremembers Patrick Fort, AFP journalist in Madrid at the time and author of a biography on the Frenchman. He only came to a conference once or twice a year and never said anything very interesting. The doubts about his ability to coach also came from there. He was afraid of controversy“.

What happened for Zidane to become one of the managers most experienced in the insane press confessions of Santiago Bernabéu? “He completely changed at the end of his career, he was much more relaxed, says the AFP journalist. Behind, he made specific studies [notamment pour son diplôme de manager général de club, au CDES de Limoges]. His training helped him for public lectures, he is much more uninhibited“.

And it shows. Of all the journalists interviewed, all are in the same direction: Zinédine the shy has become Zidane the clever, making apparently smooth communication a weapon to protect his locker room and move forward in Madrid’s adversity. “I am absolutely not worried about Zidane, he is a great communicator, concludes Patxi Vrignon-Etxezaharreta. When he wants to get a message across, he says it openly. A few days ago, on a banal press conference, he released a big revelation to us by explaining that there had been a meeting with all the coaches. No journalist was aware of this and he clearly pointed the finger at UEFA and FIFA“. Proof that even behind a microphone, Zidane can perfectly dribble his opponents. So, get used to these ready-made expressions which do not say much about everyday life in Madrid. Because ZZ has made fatal weapons to better withstand the pressure superhuman of everyday life in Madrid.