The Frenchman won his third Champions League and the specialists highlight his management skills while the Colombian successes in Germany. What did not work?

Real Madrid, led by the French coach, has just won his third Champions League in a row. The merit of Zinedine Zidane is that he has managed to deal with a squad full of egos that should not be easy to handle.

At the moment, in the staff of the club there are three Latin American athletes, which have become fundamental pieces in the scheme that raises the French.

Leer en español: Conozca las razones por las que James no pudo triunfar en el exitoso ciclo de Zinedine Zidane

Why did James Rodriguez not triumph alongside Zidane?

James Rodríguez was a year and a half under the command of the French coach, in which he won two Champions, a League, a European Super Cup, and a Club World Cup. However, the Colombian player did not receive the leading role he expected and decided to leave Chamartín.

From the beginning, there was a glimpse of a bad relationship between the coach and the midfielder. However, beyond a relationship that was not good from the beginning, the main factor that influenced James could not succeed in Zidane's Madrid, was that he could never feel comfortable in the field.

Zidane came to an already defined team with a 4-3-3. This scheme allowed that a year and a half earlier the team won the Champions League. The French coach chose not to modify the scheme but to balance the team giving confidence to Casemiro and to manage the squad well.

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Under this 4-3-3 scheme, James had no place in his natural position as midfielder and had to share the end position with Bale, Ronaldo, and Isco. In addition, after the incorporation of Lucas Vázquez, and Asensio, men who were ahead of the Colombian in Zidane's plans, James had the battle uphill.

On other occasions, the Colombian had to get used to the indoor position in which he competed with the immovable Kroos and Modrid and sometimes with Isco and Kovacevic. In these positions, the Colombian player, although he did not do everything wrong, he never felt comfortable. It demanded a wear and a defensive withdrawal, which made him play very far from the rival goal, where he was less dangerous and less decisive for the offensive game of the team.

Latin Americans who succeed in Zidane's Madrid

• Keylor Navas has stood out despite always being in the eye of the hurricane with constant rumors about his departure. With Zidane as a strategist, he has remained the undisputed incumbent in Real Madrid.

• Marcelo, the second captain of the club, has become the oxygen valve for this team. When the games seem difficult and locked, he always appears with his runs on the right side giving key assists and even getting to score authentic goals.

• The Brazilian Casemiro, received all the confidence of the French coach and took hold in a midfield full of stars like: Isco, Kroos, Modrid, James, among others. Although this decision of Zidane was very questioned at the beginning, time gave the reason to the French and Casemiro has been erected as the balance of this team.

Although the merengue players of Latin America have triumphed and have become a kind of backbone of the club. There is a Latin American star that could not succeed at the side of Zidane despite having quality to spare: James Rodríguez.

Latin American Post | Daniela Escalante
Translated from “Conozca las razones por las que James no pudo triunfar en el exitoso ciclo de Zinedine Zidane”