Former Real Madrid boss, Vanderlei Luxemburgo is confident Zidane Zinedine will do well at the Santiago Bernabeu but warns that Cristiano Ronaldo shouldn’t prove obstructive to his success at the club.
He told Omnisport: “Zidane was a leader in the dressing room when he was a player, so Cristiano Ronaldo will have to understand that there will be a person with leadership and with great knowledge of football there. The dressing room belongs to the players up to a certain point. From then on it belongs to the coach. If Cristiano Ronaldo thinks he’s the coach it’s difficult. He has to understand he’s a player and not a coach. The coach is Zidane.
He continued, “If you can make those things clear it doesn’t matter if it’s Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi. Barcelona is giving a good example that Messi is just a player. He was a player with [Pep] Guardiola and is still a player with Luis Enrique. He’s a star but is still a player. That’s his limit.”
Luxemburgo who coached the club for 11 months in 2005 also added that Madrid president Florentino Perry should be allowed to preside over the affairs of the dressing room.
“If it was another president things would probably not have gone this wrong. Luis Enrique was questioned when he left Neymar on the bench. But he left him on the bench to adapt. At Real Madrid, if the coach leaves Ronaldo on the bench, Florentino Perez goes crazy.
“There’s a big difference between Real Madrid and Barcelona in that respect. The head coach at Barcelona is in charge. At Madrid, it’s not like that with Perez.”