Quitting at the top

Zinedine Zidane’s shock resignation as Real Madrid coach is proof that success isn’t all that matters

When Real Madrid won their third consecutive UEFA Champions League title in the Ukrainian capital Kiev on the night of May 26, one could have been forgiven for thinking that former French midfield maestro and World Cup winner had cemented his place in football lore as a manager; he had already done so as a player. Yet, while there were some murmurs that Zidane’s time in Madrid was drawing to a close, it seemed impossible. Real Madrid, the most successful club in Europe, had won the title they most craved yet again under Zidane’s leadership. Apparently, there had been backroom issues, particularly given Real Madrid’s failure to win the Spanish League, losing to their fiercest rivals FC Barcelona yet again. Zidane’s fate was apparently sealed but his Press conference to announce his departure was good-humoured and apparently mutual and the smart bets are on Arsenal’s former coach Arsene Wenger taking on the Real Madrid job leaving some fans tantalised what the arch-socialist of the football world will achieve with a team with a seemingly unlimited budget. Zidane himself seems likely to take on a job with a national team, some predicting that he will replace his former teammate and captain of the title winning 1998 French World Cup team, Didier Deschamps in case the French side perform poorly in Russia in the coming weeks.

However, by leaving after his latest success Zidane has displayed that in sport one should leave while at the top. And there is the other philosophy, sometimes retreating is the smartest strategy. In the sporting world, in business and in politics, quitting while at the top allows an individual to escape from what might be an impending disaster. In Real Madrid, there are huge problems behind the scenes with their star player Cristiano Ronaldo quite obviously unhappy and the rest of the squad getting old. Zidane perhaps realised that he is not the man to fix this mess or to rebuild, and while some might think it selfish to leave at such a time, others would say that the only way a system can be changed is by an outsider. Perhaps, Zidane is also aware that he inherited a team at its peak and was effectively just a figurehead and needs to burnish his credentials if he is to be spoken of in the same breath as Manchester City’s coach Pep Guardiola, widely considered the best football manager in the world right now.

Of course, none of that precludes a return if things go wrong. Several players, coaches, managers, executives and politicians have returned when things get pear-shaped, the most amazing example being Mahatir Mohamed in Malaysia right now. Zidane is not done as a coach, maybe the last chapter in his Real Madrid story has not been written as yet. But by leaving on a high, as of now, he will always be a hero for Madridsta’s.