Zidane Undermining His Own Authority If He Won’t Change Real Madrid’s BBC Attack

Real Madrid remain top of La Liga and are two points clear of Barcelona after Jornada 10, following a hard-fought win at Alaves, even if the final scoreline of 4-1 didn’t make it look as though Los Blancos had too much to worry about.

While three points were expected, Zinedine Zidane’s men had to come from behind to take the win and were given several second-half scares with the score only at 2-1; a pair of late goals from Alvaro Morata and Cristiano Ronaldo gave the end result a more flattering look, but once more Real Madrid’s performance was not without its worries for the head coach.

FT: Alaves 1-4 Real MadridZidane 26 games unbeaten since April.Real beat the team away that won at the Nou Camp & drew at Calderon.

— M.A.J (@UItraSuristic) October 29, 2016

Most perplexing of all was his decision to continue with the underperforming Karim Benzema. While his backing for his compatriot is admirable, Zidane quickly won over the fanbase last season by appearing willing to make the tough decisions and dropping the big names—after all, few are as big as that of Zidane—when required.

He now needs to show that trait again and pull Benzema from the firing line, or else risk undermining his own position of authority and strength that was well-deserved after silverware in Europe, yet can quickly disappear at the top level.

Alaves

Defensive mistakes have hampered Madrid’s campaign so far, and the misjudgement against Alaves came early on and from Keylor Navas. Of course, when a goalkeeper errs, the end result is often a goal for the opposition, and so it was this time as the home side went ahead from close range.

Getting Ronaldo back to full fitness and confidence has been the objective of the past month though, and this game will likely be a watershed moment: A hat-trick for the No. 7, despite a missed penalty, and a large all-round contribution to the team’s performance.

There had been mutterings about the front three’s combination and work rate, their overall performance rather than just their strike rate, and Ronaldo (and Gareth Bale) both put in the mileage against Alaves to put any worries of individualism to the back of fans’ minds. More than once Ronaldo could be seen chasing back in the right- or left-back zones, not really being aggressive and defensive but filling a gap, closing off passing lanes and enabling Madrid to break forward quickly in numbers.

That positional play is the most important part for a wide forward to play in terms of defensive work, as shape can often be more instrumental in denying the opposition than actual …

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