Amid the other players of his caliber (there was a dozen of those at best) the nature gave Zidane probably the least. Slow, prone to fatigue, incoherent and weak defensively – it’s even not the full list of his shortcomings. For most of the players such deficiencies means the end of professional career at the very beginning of it. Some of them are turning into mediocre footballers, very few are achieving a star status. And only the sole man became one of the most decorated players in the history – naturally it was Zidane. But something amazes even more: Zinedine’s elegance, his wit on the pitch and rare football intellect were of such degree that the major part of fans even didn’t notice the Frenchman’s weaknesses. In his coaching role Zidane looks very much the same. Real under his guidance even in the best of days were vulnerable without the ball, didn’t have a strong defence and have been prepared physically on an average level or even worse. The team with such serious shortcomings along with the coach at the helm of it usually are doomed – the modern history of football teaches us this lesson. But in the Frenchman’s case those obvious minuses hardly affected the ultimate result. Or even didn’t affect it at all. They simply left in the shadow of coaching brilliance – Zidane’s greatness is mostly determined by his ability to rise above the weaknesses...
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