Zidane: "I've never seen myself as untouchable at this club"
Zinedine Zidane admitted in his pre-match press conference ahead of Real Madrid's tricky trip to Sevilla on Saturday, that himself and his team are going through a difficult spell.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of Real Madrid's tricky trip to Sevilla on Saturday, under-fire head coach Zinedine Zidane spoke about dealing with a tough spell and what he feels he can do to get out of this current situation.
Recent criticism
When you don't win it's normal that you get criticism. It's not going to change nor will it change how I think of my players and the job I do on a daily basis. There are clearly difficulties in this job. We're going to continue regardless.
Sergio Ramos
We're not going to risk everything. I don't want a player who has a niggle and then to aggravate that injury. We'll see how we'll tackle tomorrow. Either way for any injured players, we want them to fully recover before they play.
Lopetegui prioritised this game over Chelsea
I expect Sevilla to be competitive as always. Each coach has their own way of preparing their teams and tomorrow they face us and we'll see tomorrow who he'll start.
The confidence of the dressing room
In the end you guys always try these things. The players want to compete and play. The most important thing is that we're going to get the most from ourselves. The history I have with this club, at times I dont know things and the players will be the ones displeased. We have to stick to our guns and I think we'll do better moving forward.
On defensive issues / new system
It's not how we approach things. When we don't have the ball we have to be focused on the defensive side of things and to defend. We haven't conceded a lot of goals. Yes the other day we conceded two goals from counter attacks but we've also had our fair share of clean sheets and we'll try to do that tomorrow and of course, score goals too.
Difficult times as player and coach
Yes this is more diffcult as a coach, we've had difficult moments in the past and today is the same, but yes maybe it's more complicated this time. I don't think of these things. I focus on the positives and tomorrow is a good chance for us to prove how good we are. These players have done this before.
Score more or concede less?
Both. we don't want to concede. It's fundamental to stop your opponents and at the other end you have to create chances to score. We had a lot of chances the other day, especially in the first half so tomorrow, well hopefully it goes in.
Have you lost your status as being untouchable?
I've never seen myself as untouchable at this club, not as a player or as a coach. Never. I'm here for a reason, and I'm living this thing until the final day.
Three big games ahead
We'll see what happens, we have a game tomorrow. We think about tomorrow and the other games can wait. We have to win all three points tomorrow. That's what matters to me.
Strength to turn this around
Yes we've had difficult times in the past and now we're in the present and it's more difficult now but I feel strong and the players will give us the possibilty to get through this tough spell. I feel ready to find a solution for this.