Zinedine Zidane Talks Cristiano Ronaldo, James Rodriguez, Deadline Day and More

Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane took a shot at Cristiano Ronaldo's critics after the Portugal international scored a hat-trick in the 6-0 trashing of Espanyol on Sunday while he also hailed James Rodriguez's performance.

As reported by Marca's Manu Sainz, Zidane was full of praise for Ronaldo, but he also took a subtle dig at the detractors who seem to voice their concerns every single time he doesn't score in a match:

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We're so used to seeing Cristiano scoring, if he doesn't get a hat trick, people think there's something wrong. ... We’ve got accustomed to him scoring always—in every game. That won’t change because he is a very effective player, he has tremendous ambition and he always wants to score for the team. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t score. Defensively, he did a magnificent job tonight.

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The three-time Ballon d'Or winner has scored five goals in his last three Primera Division matches and pushed his tally to 19 strikes for the season, per WhoScored.com.

But in between multiple-goal outings against Sporting Gijon and Espanyol, the 30-year-old failed to find the net in the 1-1 draw against Real Betis, and that was enough for Sky Sports' Guillem Balague (via Sam Drury) to refer to his 2015-16 campaign as "frustrating."

His outing against Espanyol must have been satisfying in the wake of those comments, and per Infostrada Sports, he set yet another landmark:

Rodriguez is another player who has been the subject of much criticism, and he too found the net against the Catalans on Sunday. The Colombia international received the seal of approval from Zidane, which is significant given what has happened in the past few weeks:

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I'm very happy with how James is performing. He is working very hard and I’m particularly happy with what he is doing off the ball. When he’s not in possession, he is doing a great job, and when he’s got the ball, we all know what he can do. Overall I was very happy with his performance today.

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In January, Alejandro Alcazar of Sport claimed Zidane was already running out of patience with Rodriguez, who was reportedly overweight, didn't work hard enough in training and made headlines for a high-speed chase involving the police.

Zidane's insistence he's happy with Rodriguez's work on the pitch is a sign Los Blancos are putting up a unified front, which can only help the club in the long run. The Colombian remains one of the best players Zidane has at his disposal―if he wants to manage Real for a long time, he will have to get along with the 2014 FIFA World Cup hero.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Turning his attention to the January transfer window, the Frenchman stated Russian winger Denis Cheryshev could still leave the club on deadline day because he believes the player needs consistent playing time to keep developing:

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The most important thing for him is that he gets minutes. He is a hard-working player and he needs to be building up playing time. I wish him the best. If he has the chance to leave, I’d be delighted for him. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.

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Naturally, he was asked about Los Blancos' chances of winning La Liga, with rivals Barcelona opening up a four-point gap over Real with their win over Atletico Madrid on Saturday. The Catalans still have a game in hand, and while Zidane admitted a title challenge will be “difficult,” he also said he still has high hopes “because it's not over yet.”

Real seem to be clicking under their new manager, but Los Blancos did not come across an elite team during Zidane's first month in charge. That will change in February. The first leg of their UEFA Champions League clash with AS Roma will be followed by the derby against Atletico just 10 days later, and fans will find out exactly how good this team is in those two matches.

With Ronaldo and Rodriguez finding their best form, both clashes should be winnable for Real, who won't be happy if they end the season without at least one piece of major silverware. That's a lot of pressure for an inexperienced manager to handle, but so far, Zidane has looked mighty impressive in his short tenure.

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