RTÉ soccer analyst Eamon Dunphy believes that Rafael Benitez's inability to win over the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo was the main reason behindd his sacking and replacement with Zinedine Zidane today.
Benitez had only been in charge since last June but rumours of player discontent with his tactics and management style had persisted throughout the season.
“The players now are so wealthy that they don’t really fear coaches,” Dunphy told 2fm’s Game On. “You’ve got to engage them on another level, you’ve got to be friends with them and you’ve got to convince them with your ideas.
“Benitez is from the old school. Steven Gerrard was very interesting about him in his book - Benitez never really engaged with his best player at all.
“I think the younger breed of coaches understand this, there’s a different breed of player out there. Ronaldo, although he scored a lot of goals this season, hasn’t really been the same player for the last few months.
“I saw the match last night [a 2-2 draw with Valencia] and saw them when they lost to Sevilla 2-1. They were not really playing for Benitez and they looked like a demoralized group of players.
Dunphy believes that new Real manager Zinedine Zidane, who steps up from his position as Real Madrid B boss, will need backing in the January transfer market if he is to be a success at the Bernabeu.
“Zidane is very experienced, was a great player and will have a lot of credibility at the beginning,” Dunphy said.
“I think Zidane will have to get money and he’ll have to bring in some players, but there’s never a shortage of money for players at Madrid.”
Real are third in La Liga, four points behind leaders and city rivals Atletico and two points behind Barcelona, after 18 games.
