Real Madrid club legend Jorge Valdano has heaped praise on current Coach Zinedine Zidane, who he describes as a ‘simplifier’.
Zidane won three successive Champions League titles in his first spell in charge of Los Blancos before returning to the club last March.
Madrid were in a state of crisis due to their inability to challenge for any titles last time out and finishing a distant third in La Liga, however Zidane has now steadied the ship.
The club sit top of the Spanish top flight and are three points clear of Barcelona, although they were eliminated from the Copa del Rey last week by Real Sociedad.
“Zidane is a simplifier,” Valdano explained in an interview with Time, as cited by Marca.
“He believes in talent, he knows that there are better and worse players, and relates to football in a natural way. This is a guy who knows everything but who keeps the essentials of football simple. And he does not get too down by a defeat.
Valdano also spoke with high praise on women’s football: “The women's game has some things that we should learn from.
“For example, that they have such a free relationship with sex. It seems that in the world of men there is no homosexuality , and in the world of women there is. This is just because they have a more casual way of telling society who they are, and (Megan) Rapinoe has done a great job of inserting football into the normality of social dynamics.”
Valdano, who is sometimes nicknamed as ‘The Philosopher of Football’ has assumed a number of roles at Madrid throughout his career including as a player, Coach, sporting director and presidential aide.