Opinion: Zidane’s reliance on the Real Madrid old guard could soon see him out of a job | OneFootball

Thursday night’s Spanish Super Cup defeat to Athletic Club showed up Zinedine Zidane’s limitations at Real Madrid once again.

The Frenchman is right to still be lauded for the way he played the game and also the way he steered Los Blancos to a three-peat of Champions League titles.

However, that doesn’t mean he gets a free pass. His judgment should be questioned as much as any other.

His willingness to stick with the players that brought him such incredible success in the early stages of his managerial career is threatening to be his undoing.

Lucas Vazquez was simply awful in the right-back role against the Basques, and gave away the penalty which ended in Athletic’s winning goal.

Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane… it reads like a who’s who from five years ago.

Though all of the players remain of a high level, whether they’re still good enough for Real Madrid – especially when the likes of Martin Odegaard remains as an unused sub – is a moot point.

If the club don’t go deep into the Copa del Rey and begin to haul in their cross city rivals, Atletico, Florentino Perez will likely give Zidane his marching orders at the end of the current campaign.