Zinedine Zidane’s skills are often underestimated, according to Joe Cole. The former midfielder speaks on English television with praise for the Real Madrid coach, who on Tuesday with his team achieved a draw in the semi-final of the Champions League against Chelsea (1-1). “He’s not getting the credit he deserves,” Cole said BT Sport.
Cole even makes a comparison with Johan Cruijff. “If you look at his performance as a player and trainer together, you are talking about the same allure as Johan Cruijff,” said the former Chelsea midfielder. Zidane indeed has a bulging trophy cabinet, just like Cruijff. As a player, Zidane won the Champions League, the World Cup and the European Championship, while he won the Champions League three more times as a trainer. Cruijff won the European Cup I as a player (three times) and trainer (once) and became national champion fourteen times (ten times as a football player, four times as a coach).
“I don’t know who has accomplished more than he,” Cole continues about Zidane. “If he manages to win the Champions League with this group of players, it would be really unbelievable. He deserves more credit, a fantastic coach.” Cole gets acclaim in the TV studio from Steve McManaman, who played two seasons with Zidane at Real Madrid at the turn of the century. “He has had a lot of criticism in the Spanish media this season, but the press there as we all know is quite unreasonable.”
“Zidane has also won the Champions League once as assistant to Carlo Ancelotti. took over from Julen Lopetegui and Santiago Solari. He has done a fantastic job. Maybe if he worked in England he would get more appreciation, because we really do honor our great managers. “
When McManaman teamed up with Zidane, he did not expect the Frenchman to become a great trainer. “To be honest it was pretty quiet. He didn’t speak Spanish at the time, only French and Italian. He wasn’t a great communicator telling everyone what to do. He was quite calm and reserved, he let his feet speak.”