Creating Zinedine Zidane's 2016 Summer Blueprint for Real Madrid
Zinedine Zidane's first game as a manager in the 2015-16 season was against Ebro, a tiny side from Zaragoza who have never played above the third tier of Spanish football and have a home stadium capacity of around 1,000.
The Frenchman's final game of the campaign saw him lift the biggest prize in European club football, the UEFA Champions League, as his team beat local rivals Atletico Madrid on penalties in front of 72,000 at the San Siro, Milan.
It capped a remarkable and improbably early ascent to the top of the footballing food chain for Zidane, but his work is far from over.
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While there's nothing to suggest he won't remain among the top coaches at the top clubs, Zizou need only look at the quick fall of another Champions League winner for motivation to keep working hard: Roberto Di Matteo lifted the trophy with Chelsea in 2012, was sacked from Schalke in 2015 and is now in charge of second-tier English club, relegated Aston Villa.
Zidane has plenty to do over the summer to ensure his side are prepared for the 2016-17 season, as they look to win a first La Liga title since 2012 and only a second in nine years, while also bidding to become the first club in the Champions League era to successfully defend their European title.
Honesty with fringe players
Job No. 1 on Zidane's hitlist has to be to decide, determine or delegate the futures of some of his undoubtedly talented, but largely peripheral, squad players.
Isco, James Rodriguez and Mateo Kovacic have to be at the head of that list, a mere €120 million worth of talent who between them played just 172 minutes of the 480 available each from Real's quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final itself in the Champions League.
They were not central to Zidane's plans at the end of the campaign, though over a whole season and not leaving the league as a secondary objective, of course they would be expected to contribute far more heavily.
It cannot just be about 11 players for Zidane next season if he wants to win the domestic title, and the pivotal point of whether they can wrest back the crown and become Spain's top side will be the depth of the squad.
If he feels the aforenamed trio can be regular starters and game changers for Real, he can by all means keep them in place—though it should also be noted that each have given enough reason to be individually offloaded; Isco with his poor mentality and attitude, James with injuries and inconsistency and Kovacic with disciplinary problems and not finding a tactical role to suit.
Otherwise, he should be honest with them. Any of those players departing leaves more minutes for the rest to play and will also bring in significant sums of money to spend on reinforcements.
Making the big calls
There are also decisions to be made surrounding those who were in Zidane's regular lineups, as some were in without fully justifying their places.
Underperformers cannot be tolerated over months again for Real Madrid, not if they aim to win the title and defend their trophy in Europe.
Toni Kroos was well below par as the holding midfielder and didn't show much better form when moved further upfield. Pepe ended the season as Real Madrid's most in-form defender, a concern given his age, Sergio Ramos being the first choice and Raphael Varane's sliding form and continuing poor fitness. Finally, Danilo, a big-money signing from last summer, provoked both ire and derision for his performances.
Who simply needs better competition, and who needs outright replacing?
That decision has never solely belonged to the head coach at Real Madrid, certainly not under the stewardship of Florentino Perez, but Zidane must at least be given some say in the summer direction.
Real Madrid must learn from their decisions after winning in Europe last time, when they offloaded Angel Di Maria and Xabi Alonso to shoehorn in Kroos and James.
Now that Zidane has found a formula, players who come in or depart must be adaptable in his methods rather than being signed to fulfil economic requirements.
Alternative plans
While Zidane may have found a winning run, even his most ardent admirer couldn't possibly suggest the Frenchman has found a tactical alignment that is anything close to unbeatable.
In the earlier part of the year, Malaga tore through his 4-3-3 midfield—Casemiro was installed to the team soon after—and Las Palmas created enough chances to beat Real several times over.
In the Champions League final, headlines could easily have gone the other way and noted Zidane's team sat off Atletico far too much and failed to dominate the second half had the fortune of penalties not swung Real's way.
Zidane must continue to refine and redesign his tactical setup, not necessarily making sweeping alterations but certainly fine-tuning Real's off-the-ball movement and ability to move as a unit in his preferred 4-3-3 formation.
He also needs a back-up plan for when things don't quite work out, or when injuries take a toll on areas of the squad; Zidane briefly used 4-4-2 toward the end of the season, and it certainly must be in his pre-season plans to utilise this system again, making the most of the high volumes of midfielders at his disposal and the tremendous work rate of Lucas Vazquez and Gareth Bale on the wings.
Needless to say, if another big-money striker arrives at the club this summer, a two-pronged attack in central areas is going to be critical to keep players happy with their game time.
Prepare for failure
It won't always be smooth sailing for Zidane, and Real's fans forget fast and forgive slower.
Lifting a trophy is enormous in the moment, but it will seem largely irrelevant in September if the club suddenly take only one win from four against the likes of Real Betis, Sporting Gijon or Sevilla.
Crisis talks will be suggested, rumours of new managers will surface and online chatter will be filled with talk of his lucky success—all of it mere background noise and largely without foundation.
Zidane has learned early in his managerial career that even when he doesn't control everything, winning is possible. In 2016-17, he'll further learn that when he is responsible for everything, losing can and will also happen.
A steadfast mentality, a belief in his methods and the proper planning ahead of the season will all help ensure Real emerge unscathed from such periods, and the watch will go on to see just how long Zidane can remain and sustain himself among Europe's elite coaches.
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