‘The club no longer has faith in me’ - Zinedine Zidane explains reasons behind his Real Madrid departure

The three-time Champions League winning manager said he was “not tired of coaching” following his decision to leave the Spanish club

(AFP via Getty Images)

Zinedine Zidane has criticised Real Madrid and president Florentino Perez over a lack of “faith”, which he said led to his decision to step down as manager last week.

Zidane quit his second spell at the Spanish club following a trophyless season last campaign, after returning to the Bernabeu in 2019. The former Real Madrid player guided the club to the title in LaLiga the previous year and won three successive Champions Leagues in his first stint in charge.

In an open letter in Spanish newspaper AS published on Monday, Zidane went public with his reasons for stepping down and indicated he would have wanted to remain in Madrid if he had been given the right support.

“I have now decided to leave and I want to properly explain the reasons,” Zidane said. “I’m going, but I’m not jumping overboard, nor am I tired of coaching.

“In May 2018 I left because after two and a half years, with so many victories and so many trophies, I felt the team needed a new approach to stay at the very highest level.

“Right now, things are different. I’m leaving because I feel the club no longer has the faith in me I need, nor the support to build something in the medium or long term.

“I understand football and I know the demands of a club like Real Madrid. I know when you don’t win, you have to leave. But with this a very important thing has been forgotten, everything I built day-to-day has been forgotten, what I brought to my relationships with the players, with the 150 people who work with and around the team.

“I’m a natural-born winner and I was here to win trophies, but even more important than this are the people, their feelings, life itself and I have the sensation these things have not been taken into account, that there has been a failure to understand that these things also keep the dynamics of a great club going. To some extent I have even been rebuked for it.”

Zidane also criticised the club for “leaks” which contributed to the continued speculation in the press over his position during his time in charge.

"I want what we've done together to be respected," he continued.

Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane (Getty Images)

"I would have liked my relationship with the club and the president in recent months to have been a little different from that of other coaches.

“I wasn't asking for privileges, of course not, but rather a bit more memory. Today the life of a coach on the bench of a great club is two seasons, not much more. For it to last longer, human relationships are essential.

"That's why it hurt me a lot when I read in the press, after a defeat, that they were going to sack me if I didn't win the next game. It hurt me and the whole team because these messages, intentionally leaked to the media, created negative interference with the staff, they created doubts and misunderstandings."

Real Madrid, who signed David Alaba on a free transfer from Bayern Munich over the weekend, have yet to appoint a successor to Zidane.