I AM NOT A MAGICIAN, SAYS ZIDANE

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane insists he has never considered himself to be great at his job and stressed he was “not a magician” as he looks to halt a concerning run of form.

Zidane has overseen four consecutive draws in all competitions ahead of Saturday’s away match against Real Betis in La Liga.



The former France international has been limited in what he can do with his squad as the vast majority of them have been away on international duty, but he believes his players have come back with the right mindset.

Zidane stressed hard work would be his remedy with Madrid facing another four fixtures before the end of the month.

“The key for me is to find a solution to why we are drawing,” the head coach said at his pre-match media conference.

“It is normal that you go through difficult moments. I never consider myself as a great coach. It’s my job and I try to do it the best I can to find solutions.

“Anything can happen in this game – you can win the Champions League and think you are the best trainer in the world – the only thing I can tell you is that I want to keep on learning.

“I haven’t invented anything and won’t be inventing anything in the near future. All I can do is give my experience as a player and then our players have to continue with that, working hard.”

Zidane added, “I come in every day and try to learn what I can about my new job, new profession and at times it’s complicated.

“You can have the opinion you want, that’s your job, all I can do is try to change things here, do my job and with my players try to turn things around.

“The players have not been here and there is very little we could have done with them until yesterday, though we have had a good week with the players that have been here.

“The ones who have come back have had a good break with their international teams and scored goals. What we have to do is go out and do everything we need to do to win.

“We have to get back to doing that, doing what we know we have to do and not let the opponent have a chance to play their game.

“It’s a difficult stadium to go to and we are against a difficult side. We will see what happens tomorrow – there is not much more I can say. I’m not a magician. The only thing we have done is work and that’s the only thing I believe in – to work hard and have the players with you.

“When you get that, you produce results. For me it’s sufficient that the players are concentrated on the game. I can’t go into detail discussing every bit of criticism I receive. I even got them when I was a player; it is something you always get and a part of the game. I’m also the first to criticise myself.

“If we’ve drawn four games I am the person responsible for that. Perhaps we have to be more concentrated, intense – everything influences things in games. As I said before I’m not a magician, but my players are very professional.

“It’s true that when we prepare well for the games we do it very well but perhaps we can improve things. It’s normal that there is criticism.”