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Zinedine Zidane says he resigned as Real Madrid manager because he felt the club “no longer had faith” in him.
The French World Cup hero and former Real player left the club for a second time in his coaching career last week after they failed to win a trophy in 2020/21.
Zidane previously managed Real from 2016-2018 before returning 10 months later in March 2019.
“I’m going, but I’m not jumping overboard, nor am I tired of coaching,” said the 48-year-old.
In an open letter to fans published by Spanish media outlet AS, he added: “I’m leaving because I feel the club no longer has the faith in me I need, nor the support to build something in the medium or long term.”
Zidane spoke of how the demands of a club like like Real Madrid mean that if you don’t win, then you must leave.
He also said that his 20 years at The Bernabeu were “the most beautiful thing that’s happened” in his life, and that although he would “always be grateful” to Real president Florentino Perez, he would have liked his relationship with him and the club to have been a little different in recent months to that perhaps experienced by other [previous] coaches.
“I wasn’t asking for privileges, of course not, just a little more recollection. These days the life of a coach in the dugout at a big club is two seasons, little more.
“For it to last longer the human relationships are essential, they are more important than money, more important than fame, more important than everything. They need to be nurtured.”
The former France playmaker, who played for Real from 2001 to 2006, won three consecutive Champions League titles and a La Liga title in his first period as manager.
He secured a second La Liga title during his second spell in charge in 2019-20 and had a year remaining on his contract when he left.
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