5 reasons why Zinedine Zidane as Real Madrid coach looks set to end in tears
French football legend Zinedine Zidane has been made the head coach of Real Madrid following the sacking of Rafa Benitez.
The Spanish giants relieved Benitez of his duties after just 25 matches, culminating in a 2-2 draw at the Spaniard's former club Valencia.
With the unpopular former Liverpool boss gone, Madridistas everywhere are celebrating the installation of Zidane, who was promoted from the club's second-string Castilla side.
Zidane's former teammate David Beckham certainly felt that the best man had been chosen for the job:
While Zidane certainly gained extra points for promising to win a trophy, the odds are not stacked in the 43-year-old's favour.
Here are five reasons why his spell at the helm of Los Blancos looks set to end in tears:
1) INEXPERIENCE
The biggest elephant standing in the Santiago Bernabeu is Zidane's obvious lack of managerial experience.
While Real seem to be taking a leaf out of Barcelona's book after their fierce La Liga rivals famously promoted Pep Guardiola from their reserve side in 2008, Zizou's appointment is certainly a gamble for club president Florentino Perez.
Before this, Zidane had been head coach of Real Madrid Castilla for 18 months. He also played assistant to Carlo Ancelotti in the 2013/14 season when the club landed La Decima – their 10th European title.
Even though Zidane has a similar stature as Guardiola when he took over, it should be noted that the Spaniard virtually grew up at Barcelona and knew the club inside out by the time he took over the reins.
The same cannot be said of the Frenchman.
2) GREAT PLAYERS SELDOM BECOME GREAT COACHES
Consider this statistic – till this day, Franz Beckenbauer and Mario Zagallo are the only two men who have ever won the World Cup as a player and as a coach.
Many great footballers have gone into management, only to have their reputation torn to shreds. Just look at Diego Maradona.
While Zidane hasn't even managed a single game yet, the mixed fortunes of past legends before him do not bode well.
3) THE FANS
Apart from being extremely hard to please, Madridistas are infamous for their lack of patience.
Just ask Benitez, whose turgid style of play was poorly-received by the Madrid faithful.
While the fans are onside with Zidane at the moment, the former playmaker will have to beware of the fans' dreaded white handkerchiefs if the team's results continue to stutter.
4) THE DRESSING ROOM
Zidane should know first-hand about the political complexities surrounding the Real Madrid dressing room.
Real Madrid's galacticos might be some of the best footballers on earth, but they also have the biggest egos in the galaxy.
As likeable as he might be, Zidane has a monumental task in taming the temperamental Madrid dressing room.
5) IT'S THE IMPOSSIBLE JOB
Vicente del Bosque, Carlos Quieroz, Jose Antonio Camacho, Mariano Garcia Remon, Vanderlei Luxemburgo, Juan Ramon Lopez Caro, Fabio Capello, Bernd Schuster, Juande Ramos, Manuel Pellegrini, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Rafael Benitez.
These are the 13 coaches preceding Zidane since the turn of the century who have sipped from Real's poisoned chalice and fallen by the wayside.
The scariest thing about being the boss of Real Madrid is that even when things go your way, your job still isn't safe.
Just take del Bosque for example – Real opted not to renew the current Spanish national team coach in 2003 despite landing them the league title.
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