There is a general consensus in the footballing world that Zinedine Yazid Zidane is one of the true all time greats without an iota of doubt. The 98’ World Cup hero played football with the flair and panache of a ballet dancer, his body movements was magisterial and when he was on the field there was no doubt who the master of the orchestra was.

The 3 time Balon D’or winner had the natural gift of controlling games without breaking a sweat, his teammates relied on him to be the reference point and boy did he deliver on so many occasions. The greatness of the genius can be embodied in a single quote by Sir Alex Ferguson when he said; “Give me Zidane and 10 pieces of wood and I will win you the Champion League”

Zidane called it quits on football after the 2006 World Cup final where his famous head butt on Materrazi remains a dark spot on what was otherwise an outstanding football career.

It did not take long for Zizou to get back to football related activities, In November 2010, Zidane was appointed as a special adviser to Real Madrid's first team in response to an appeal made by then-Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho for the former Real midfielder to work more closely with the team. In his new role, Zidane was expected to participate in Champions League events and functions and was also to travel with the first team on a regular basis and participate in pre-match gatherings, training sessions and meetings with the head coach. In July 2011, it was announced that he would become Real Madrid's new sporting director. In 2013, Zidane was appointed assistant coach to Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid. There is no doubt that Zidane’s pedigree as a player aided his dramatic rise to the top in his management career but that is normal and that by no means undermines his credentials.

He had to start somewhere like any other manager to earn his strips, and it was at, Real Madrid's B team, Real Madrid Castilla in June 2014 where he got a taste of grass root football and man management. It seemed like Real Madrid was preparing Zizou for the Madrid top job, it was his destiny.

As faith may have it On 4 January 2016, Real Madrid announced the dismissal of manager Rafael Benitez and on the same day Zidane was appointed the new manager of the club on a two-and-a-half-year deal. His first match as the club's new manager took place five days later, when Real Madrid beat Deportivo De La Coruna 5–0 in a La Liga match. In his first El Clasico as a manager, held on 2 April at the Camp Nou, with all the odds against him, Zidane led his club to a 2–1 win over rivals Barcelona to end Barça's 39-match unbeaten run. Zidane thus became the first Real Madrid manager to win his first Clásico match since Bernd Schuster in December 2007.

He won the prestigious Uefa Champions League trophy in his first year as a manager (just like Guardiola) of a first team beating Atletico Madrid on penalty shoot-outs. That feat mearnt that Zizou became the seventh man to win the European Cup/UEFA Champions League as both a player and a manager, the second man (after Miguel Munoz) to win the trophy with Real Madrid as both a player and a manager, and the first French manager to win the trophy.

He won the Uefa Super Cup and was second to Barca in the League although he fought with his team to the last day. His team is currently on an impressive run of a single defeat in 32 La Liga matches.

Besides all his achievement in management, there is a shadow of doubt cast on his management skill in the minds of the media and fans alike. Could it be because of his pragmatic style? Certainly one might suspect Zidane the footballer himself won’t enjoy playing in the current Madrid set up. His team does not play with the type of flair and excitement that the player himself once captivated the football world with.

The way he lines up his Madrid team every week pragmatically suggests he had payed close attention to organization and discipline during his playing days in Juventus. Each game comes with its approach, Zidane has taking Madrid back to the basics where less emphasis is placed on tactics but hard work ,precision in delivery and bringing the best out of players.

Like his method or not, Zidane the coach is certainly earning our respect. He is definitely no Sir Alex or Bill Shankly or a revolutionary like his modern day contemporary Guardiola, but he is a pragmatist whose application of common sense, work ethic  and adaptation to exactly what the team needs will drive him to having a very successful managerial career.

Story by Daraja Mutari/ghanaguardian.com