Zinedine Zidane Raises Pressure on Troubled Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid

Imagine being the skipper of a boat in a storm, doing your best to keep it steady while the wind and waves shake the vessel around. And then spotting a jagged fin in the distance, heading slowly but surely for you.

That must be what Carlo Ancelotti feels like at the moment. The man who won Real Madrid their 10th European Cup is under pressure and Zinedine Zidane declaring that he would love to be Real Madrid's coach is just an additional problem for the Italian to worry about.

The Frenchman is currently in charge of the club's Castilla side but most believe president Florentino Perez is planning to install him as the manager of the first team at some point.

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Barcelona achieved great success with former player Pep Guardiola as manager, and they now have Luis Enrique in the role. Real Madrid would love to do the same with Zidane.

He told Canal+ (per The Mirror): "If the post of Real's coach was proposed to me, I would certainly agree."

Zidane wasn't making an outright assault on the current Real Madrid trainer, and actually reserved some praise for the Italian. He said:

"

There is a coach right now who is doing a very good job. And I'm in a structure and still learning. Am I ready for the job? You are never ready, and even if you're not you still say yes. As a player, I didn't forge my career in two years. Things happen gradually. In coaching, it will be the same. I've learned a lot from Carlo and he knows what I think of him. He is the perfect coach for Madrid, despite what people say.

"

The former Madrid midfielder may well respect Ancelotti, and rightly so, but his comments simply aren't helpful at this moment.

If everything was going swimmingly at Madrid, Zidane's words may be taken with greater humour.

However, with Ancelotti four points behind in the title race and facing a tricky Champions League quarter-final clash against Atletico Madrid, there is a very real possibility he could end up with nothing.

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That would almost certainly bring an end to his reign at Real Madrid. It is widely accepted that had Sergio Ramos not popped up at the death in the Champions League final, he would have found himself on the street at the end of last season.

It's amazing, the fine line between Ancelotti being remembered forever as the coach who achieved "La Decima" and the man who oversaw Madrid being beaten on the biggest stage of all by their bitter rivals.

But Ancelotti's side won and it meant Perez gave him another crack of the whip this season.

However, the president's refusal to confirm Ancelotti would be in the job next season implies that his tenure at the club hangs by a thread. Win the league, or the Champions League again, and Ancelotti stays. Bring home nothing, and the likelihood is that we will see a new manager take the helm in the summer.

Whether that's Zidane or not, we don't know. Perez may feel the Castilla coach is still too raw.

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It hasn't stopped the Frenchman from talking about possible transfer targets, though, telling Canal+ (per the Daily Mail): "When we are talking about a player like [Paul] Pogba, it is only logical Real Madrid are interested in signing him."

Of course, France's greatest midfielder talking about the young man who could possibly take that mantle off him is probably a nice way to turn the Juventus star's head.

And could Pogba resist a move to Real Madrid if Zidane was the one who would be honing his game at every step?

Ancelotti is not stupid and he must know that Zidane will someday be Madrid's manager. The coach must ignore the danger and try to get his boat back on course. If the shark fin approaches later on, so be it.