Having guided Delhi Dynamos to the Indian Super League (ISL) semi-finals last year, Brazil legend Roberto Carlos is now aiming to jump to the next level as a coach with a move to the backroom staff at former club Real Madrid.
French legend Zinedine Zidane recently took over as the manager at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium and Carlos, who made more than 500 appearances for the Spanish giants between 1996 and 2007, disclosed that he is in talks to join the coaching staff of his former Real Madrid teammate.
“I had a meeting with Real Madrid about my future with the club. Soon I will know how I can collaborate with Zidane’s Madrid,” the 42-year-old said in an interview to Spanish publication Punto Pelota on Tuesday. “I want to learn with Zizou. I would be very happy to learn from him and having contact with the players,” he added.
The former left-back also claimed that he could convince star Brazilian striker Neymar to make the switch to Real Madrid from arch-rivals FC Barcelona. “I can take him to Real Madrid. He’s very young. I am sure next year he will finish even higher in the Ballon d’Or,” Carlos asserted.
Zidane replaced Rafael Benitez as Real Madrid manager around a week ago and enjoyed a successful debut with a 5-0 thrashing of Deportivo la Coruna in a Spanish league match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
“Zidane is a leader in the dressing room. His personality is going to make him very successful. A coach has to befriend his players and Benitez struggled to form a bond with them,” Carlos stated. “The coach of Madrid must be very fond of the players and should not put them under a lot of pressure. (Guus) Hiddink succeeded because he made the workouts fun and did not put them under too much pressure,” he added.
“What I can say is that the atmosphere is great with Zidane now. I think he will be very successful in Madrid. I am sure that he will make history in Madrid since he is a simple man, with players having fun and a leader. I’m sure the players will respect him a lot.”
Welsh forward Gareth Bale scored a hat-trick in the win over Deportivo and Carlos believes that Zidane can help transform the former Tottenham Hotspur winger into one of the best players in the world.
“Zidane can do whatever he wants with him (Bale) and maybe even turn him into a candidate for the Ballon d’Or,” Carlos asserted.
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