Zinedine Zidane explains his reasons for leaving Real Madrid

This is the event of the day in Spain. Ace publishes this Monday morning an open letter from Zinedine Zidane. A message to Real Madrid supporters to explain the reasons for his departure, officially announced last week, when he still had a year of contract left. And it’s pretty clear. “I am leaving because I feel that the club no longer gives me the confidence I need, does not offer me its support to build something in the medium to long term”, he blurted out.

If he repeats that he will be eternally grateful to him for having opened the doors of Casa Blanca to him in 2001, ZZ clearly points the finger at his ex-president Florentino Pérez. “I would have liked that, in recent months, my relationship with the club and the president had been a little different than with an average coach. I wasn’t asking for privileges, not at all, but a little more memory ”, he insisted, stressing the importance of the human being in his management and in his vision of the management of a football club and thanking his players.

Pérez and the press in the viewfinder

“Fortunately I had wonderful boys who were dead behind me. When the going got tough, they saved me with big wins. Because they believed in me and knew that I believed in them. Of course, I am not the best coach in the world, but I am able to give the strength and confidence that everyone needs in their work, player, staff member or club employee. I know exactly what a team needs ”, he added, also tackling the press, who forgot to talk about football.

“There have been hundreds of press conferences and unfortunately we talked very little about football and I know that you too love football, that this sport unites us. However, without wanting to criticize you or give you lessons, I would have liked your questions not always to have been directed by controversy, in order to be able to talk more often about the ball and above all about the players, who are and will always be the most important of this game “, he concluded. The messages have passed.

Zinedine Zidane’s open letter

“Dear Madridistas,

For twenty years, since the first day that I set foot on Madrid soil and put on the white tunic, you have shown me your affection. I always felt that there was something very special between us. I had the great honor of being a player and coach of the most important club in history, but above all, I am another Madridista. For all this, I wanted to write you this card to say goodbye to you and explain my decision to leave my bench.

When I agreed to come back, in March 2019, to coach Real Madrid after an eight-month rest, it was because President Florentino Pérez asked me, of course, but also because you all asked me. days. When I passed one of you in the street, I felt the support and the desire to see myself once again at the head of the team. Because I share the values ​​of Madridismo, this club belongs to its members, to its supporters, to the whole world. I have tried to convey these values ​​myself, in everything I have done I have tried to be an example. Spending twenty years at Real was the most beautiful thing that has happened to me in my life and I owe it exclusively to Florentino Pérez because he bet on me in 2001, he fought for me, to make me come then that there were some people who were against it. I say it from the bottom of my heart, I will always be grateful to the president. Always.

Now I have decided to leave and I am willing to explain the reasons to you. I’m leaving, but I don’t want to stop training, I’m not tired. In May 2018, I quit because after two and a half years with so much success and victories, I felt the team needed a new discourse to stay competitive. Today things are different. I am leaving because I feel that the club no longer gives me the confidence I need, does not offer me its support to build something in the medium to long term. I know football and the demands of a club like Real Madrid, I know that when you don’t win, you have to leave. But here, we forgot a very important thing, we forgot all that I built on a daily basis, all that I brought in relation to the players, to the 150 people who work for and around the team. I am a born winner and I was here to win trophies, but beyond that there are the human beings, the emotions, the life and I have the feeling that these things have not been valued, that we did not understand that we also maintain the dynamics of a great club like that. I was even criticized in a way.

I want people to respect what we’ve all done. I would have liked that, in recent months, my relationship with the club and the president had been a little different than with an average coach. I wasn’t asking for privileges, not at all, but a little more memory. Today, the lifespan of a coach on the bench of a big club is two seasons, not much more. To make it last longer, human relationships are essential, they are more important than money, more important than fame, more important than anything. You have to take care of it. That’s why it hurt me to read in the press, after a defeat that I was going to be fired if I didn’t win the next match. It hurt me and the whole team because these messages intentionally conveyed to the press created negative interference within the group, created doubts and misunderstandings. Fortunately, I had wonderful boys who were behind me to death. When the going got tough, they saved me with big wins. Because they believed in me and knew that I believed in them. Of course, I am not the best coach in the world, but I am able to give the strength and confidence that everyone needs in their work, player, staff member or club employee. I know exactly what a team needs. During these twenty years in Madrid, I have learned that you, the supporters, want to win, of course, but above all that the team gives everything, coach, staff, employees and players. I can assure you that we have given 100% of ourselves for the club.

I also take this letter to send a message to journalists. There have been hundreds of press conferences and unfortunately we talked very little about football and I know that you too love football, that this sport unites us. However, without wanting to criticize you or give you lessons, I would have liked your questions not always to have been directed by controversy, in order to be able to talk more often about the ball and above all about the players, who are and will always be the most important of this game. Let’s not forget about football, let’s take care of it.

Dear Madridistas, I will always be one of you.

Hala Madrid!

Zinedine Zidane“