Zidane: “If you don't win one of four games, something's wrong”
The Real Madrid boss was less than enthused by his side's pre-season tour of the US, which reaped two draws and two losses.
Zinedine Zidane spoke to reporters after Real Madrid’s match against an MLS All-Star side and gave his thoughts on his side’s pre-season tour of the US, which reaped two draws and two defeats.
“The feeling isn’t good,” the Real coach said. “There have been good points, but the overall feeling… no. We can’t be satisfied. We have four days to prepare for our first competitive game. We have to do better than we have been.”
Zidane: issues "more general than specific"
Asked what he thought the problem was, the Frenchman said he felt the side’s lacklustre performances in the US were due to “more general issues than anything specific.”
“We started off badly and we know how it is. The bad run is now four games long. We want to get ourselves out of this. We have to go back [to Madrid] and think about it. We have very little time before August 8 [the European Supercup against Manchester United] and we have to rest and get ready for that.”
Zidane did not blame the effects of travel or the climate for his side’s slump but did explain his policy of rotation, which saw the Real boss use plenty of youth team players in the absence of some first team regulars, including Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I wanted to give everybody some pitch time. Marcelo, Gareth and Karim played a lot. That’s why I gave them a few minutes [against MLS], it wasn’t the idea that they would play so much here. We have a title to play for next week and that’s more important.
Zidane on Mayoral: "Anything can happen until August 31"
The Madrid coach also spoke about goalscorer Borja Mayoral, who will act as back-up to Benzema in 2017-18 after the departure of Álvaro Morata, unless there are any movements in the transfer market between now and then.
“I’m happy for him, this is his home. He knows how everything works and I’m pleased with how he played. At the moment he is with us but anything can happen until August 31.”
