Zidane not going to ask for a striker despite Madrid goal woes

Zinedine Zidane insists he will not put pressure on the Real Madrid board to bring in attacking reinforcements before the transfer window closes.

Madrid have been quiet since the market re-opened and the 0-0 stalemate at Real Sociedad to kick off their LaLiga title defence in underwhelming fashion suggested Zidane might have to seek solutions beyond his squad.

However, despite allowing creative talents such as Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez and Brahim Diaz to leave, the head coach told reporters ahead of Saturday’s match against Real Betis that he will not be pestering Florentino Perez to get the chequebook out.

“This is the squad I have to work with, I’m not going to ask for anything more,” he said.

“But I know that anything can happen between now and October 5.

“I think the best thing for all managers is that the transfer deadline comes and goes.

“I think I have the best squad and I’m thoroughly behind my players.”

 Zidane: “We are hoping to put in a very good performance against @RealBetis_en and keep on improving.”#HalaMadrid | #RMLiga pic.twitter.com/xLvIO5qCa1

— Real Madrid C.F.  (@realmadriden) September 25, 2020

Perhaps Madrid’s more recent attempts to spend big and bolster their attack are serving as cautionary tales.

Eden Hazard is still building up match fitness and unavailable, the stop-start nature of his underwhelming first season at the Santiago Bernabeu apparently playing on a loop few take any pleasure in watching.

“He’s okay, that injury isn’t a bother anymore,” Zidane said of the damaged foot that required surgery last term.

“But he needs to get training sessions under his belt, he needs to work for the team and go slow.

“In a short time, he’ll be with the squad. What we want and what the player wants is to be part of that first-team fold and playing.”

Luka Jovic was again an unused substitute in San Sebastian but Zidane maintains the former Eintracht Frankfurt favourite has a role to play, perhaps even in tandem with first-choice striker Karim Benzema.

“They can play together. But we’ve got a lot of games coming up and there are lots of different playing styles and formations. Every game is different,” he said.

“We also have to take into account our opponents. Also, like I said, every game is different and you have to choose players accordingly.

“I’ve never said Karim and Jovic can’t play together up front. I can see it, definitely.”

Zidane added: “Last season we won two titles, so we obviously had no problem scoring and winning titles

“You go through periods where sometimes you struggle to score and put those chances away but it’s something you work on to improve.”