Zinedine Zidane Right to Be Worried: The 2nd of Real Madrid's 2 Sides Is Woeful

For the better part of two hours, Zinedine Zidane had watched his side labour, wander, scrap, toil or whatever you want to call it. From the sideline, he'd pointed and shouted, asking for something, anything. 

What he eventually got was not what he wanted, but he did get something. A few things, in fact: a migraine, a sense of exasperation and a good dose of add-five-years-to-your-appearance emotion that has the opposite effect of the Nivea Men creams his club is sponsored by. 

By the end of it, he'd had enough. 

"Playing like this we won't go anywhere," said Zidane after Real Madrid's fortuitous 2-1 victory over Las Palmas on Sunday night. "Las Palmas did very well and caused us a lot of problems, but it is our contribution that bothers me."

He's right: They won't, and it should. But this could easily have been worse, too.

In the first half, Sergio Ramos' opener, a powerful header from a corner, had come against the run of the play; in the second, Madrid basically didn't play at all. Aimless, lethargic and devoid of personality or ideas, the visitors were dreadful. Willian Jose grabbed a deserved equaliser late on; Casemiro capitalised on one of Las Palmas' few errors moments later to see his side escape; goalkeeper Keylor Navas was Madrid's best player. Again. 

"Casemiro prevents the ridiculous," ran the headline to Marca's match report. 

"Las Palmas played the football, Real Madrid won the game," said AS. 

Most damning for Madrid is that watching Sunday's encounter take on the dynamic it did wasn't at all surprising.

All season, the men from the capital have been formidable at home and uninspired away. That was the case under Rafa Benitez, and little has changed since the appointment of Zidane. In the Frenchman's short tenure, Madrid have won 5-0, 5-1, 6-0, 4-2 and 7-1 at home in the league, the only blemish being the derby defeat to neighbours Atletico; away, though, the scorelines have read 1-1, 2-1, 1-1, 3-1 and 2-1. 

Worse is that the opponents in the latter category have been Real Betis, Granada, Malaga, Levante and Las Palmas—sides currently sitting 11th, 18th, ninth, 20th and 15th in the table. 

Going nowhere? Like this, yes. 

On Sunday at the Estadio de Gran Canaria, nearly all of Madrid's issues were on display in a single outing: the inability to prevent opposition attacks, the reliance on Navas, a lack of central control and the disconnect between the midfield and forwards. Admittedly, this was a weakened XI that Zidane fielded, as Toni Kroos, James Rodriguez and Karim Benzema had been left at home and Marcelo had been left on the bench. Madrid's shape was also different, a sort of 4-1-4-1 trialled rather than the familiar 4-3-3. But that shouldn't matter.

Right now, intensity, competitiveness and freshness shouldn't be an issue for Madrid. They've played fewer games this season than their title rivals; building momentum for a European charge is key; ditto for establishing a base, a method, for next season. What's more, this was still third vs. 15th. Behemoth vs. minnow. Star-studded vs. star-less.

And yet, you could have been excused for wondering who was who. 

Continuing their recent surge in form, Las Palmas made more passes, had more touches, attempted more shots and found the target more often, per WhoScored.com. In possession, they were neat and adventurous, the likes of Momo, Jonathan Viera and Montoro excellent; without it, they were tidy and disciplined. 

Only a pair of set pieces undid them.

"Set pieces [are] part of football too," said Zidane in his team's defence, but even he was prepared to admit that's not nearly enough. Not at Real Madrid. Not at all. 

"I'm worried," he added candidly. 

What will worry Zidane most as he looks ahead to consecutive clashes with Sevilla, Barcelona and a yet-to-be-named Champions League quarter-final opponent is the disparity between his side's good and bad. 

Spectacularly two-sided, Jekyll and Hyde-like, a split personality: whatever you want to label it, that's what Real Madrid are/have.

When they're on, they're devastating, capable of convincing you they're headed for the top; when they're not, which is just as common, they remind you, in Zidane's words, that they're more likely going nowhere. 

Follow @TimDCollins