Why Zinedine Zidane’s time as France manager will be different from other footballing legends | OneFootball

You won’t find too many football fans who aren’t excited about the appointment of Zinedine Zidane as the national team manager of France. We’ve known it’s been coming for a while and there’s understandably a lot of optimism that Zizou can take Les Bleus back to the top of the mountain on the world stage.

Given his success during his first stint as coach of Real Madrid and his legendary status as a player with the French national team, expectations couldn’t be higher for the man born in La Castellane in Marseille. He inherits a team that have been among the best in the world for years but have fallen short in the latter stages of a tournament in recent years.

While his appointment has been met with excitement, he’s far from the first big name to coach a national team after so much success as a player.

Football legends who became international managers

SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA – JULY 25: President of UEFA Michel Platini attends the Preliminary Draw of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia at The Konstantin Palace on July 25, 2015 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

The return of a legend always gets fans excited, but after the dust settles and you see those famous players as a coach, it quickly sets in that playing and coaching are very different. In the history of international football, we’ve seen a good number of iconic players who achieved great things internationally return to coach their national teams. What we’ve rarely seen, though, is legends achieving success as national team bosses, i.e. trophies.

Some of those big names this century who were excellent technical footballers and became coaches were Marco van Basten, who managed the Netherlands at the 2006 World Cup and the Euros two years later. The Dutchman who brought them international glory with a wonder strike in the final of Euro 1988 couldn’t replicate that success as a coach.

Despite boasting a talented Dutch generation with the likes of Arjen Robben, Edwin van der Sar, Robin van Persie and Dirk Kuyt, van Basten failed to win a knockout match in a major tournament as the Dutch head coach.

Other big names this century who coached their national team include the late Diego Maradona, Jürgen Klinsmann and Dino Zoff. None were able to break through and win major trophies as head coaches for Argentina, Germany or Italy. Rudi Völler guided Germany to the 2002 World Cup final. Klinsmann guided the Germans to third place in 2006, while Zoff, who captained the Italians to the 1982 World Cup, was 30 seconds away from capturing Euro 2000 before French substitute Sylvain Wiltord equalised in the final before David Trezeguet’s Golden Goal.

Maradona had a young Lionel Messi (39) at his disposal, Zoff had Alessandro Del Piero and Paolo Maldini, while Klinsmann had Miroslav Klose.

When you look at iconic French players that went on to coach the national team, one might think of Michel Platini. The former Juventus star oversaw Les Bleus at Euro 1992 in Sweden, with his squad featuring Eric Cantona and Jean-Pierre Papin. They failed to get out of the group stage.

Under the legendary French player, Les Bleus were among the favourites heading into that competition, boasting an impressive unbeaten run, to go along with their share of individual quality.

Perhaps the most successful player, with incredible technical ability and a great coaching resume, is the late Franz Beckenbauer. The two-time Ballon d’Or winner reluctantly took charge of the German national team in the mid-80s with the intention of simply calming the storm during a difficult period for the federation. His calming influence and approach made an immediate impact as he got them to the 1986 World Cup final, the Euro semi-finals two years later and their third World Cup crown in 1990.

Beckenbauer, like Zidane, wasn’t regarded as a tactical genius, but when he spoke up, people listened. For players who, as individuals, were so impactful at club and international level, there’s a good argument as to why der Kaiser is the best of that bunch.

Zidane’s tenure as manager of France will be different

French former football player Zinedine Zidane carries the trophy prior to handle it to Real Madrid team at the UEFA Champions League final football match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid, at Wembley stadium, in London, on June 1, 2024. Real Madrid wins the Champions League final 2 – 0 against Borussia Dortmund. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP) (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Though many iconic international players couldn’t deliver as coach of their national teams, Zidane’s time could be different. Besides maybe the full-back positions, Zizou has a more well-rounded team, playing in big clubs and who are at the peak of their game. Kylian Mbappé (27), Michael Olise (24), Désire Doué (21) and Ousmane Dembélé (29) are all big contributors and at an age where they could all still be around and pivotal for the duration of Zidane’s contract with Les Bleus.

When you look at what Platini had as manager, his French squad wasn’t nearly as well-rounded, while some needed more experience under their belt. Same goes for van Basten with van Persie and Robben in the early days of their time as footballers, while Messi was still in his infancy as a footballer internationally before he would go on to become the G.O.A.T.

Beckenbauer had the likes of Rudi Völler, Pierre Littbarski and Lothar Matthäus, who by 1990 had a World Cup tournament or two of experience and were at an age when they were among the best in the world and playing at an incredibly high level.

Zidane has an array of talented players who should still be at their peak in the next four years, and some youthful talent coming through like Junior Kroupi (20) and Adrien Truffert (24), to name a couple.

All those legendary players knew what it took to lift international trophies as players but couldn’t get their teams to that level as a coach. Zidane is different, as he guided Real Madrid to three straight Champions League titles, plus a pair of La Liga titles and many more.

When you manage a side like Real Madrid, you must manage egos and keep everyone happy. Zidane not only did that, but he brought out the best from the likes of Karim Benzema (38) and Gareth Bale while Cristiano Ronaldo was unplayable at times.

Zidane has the success of winning the top tournament at club level that those other legendary players didn’t have. When you put that together with the players he has at his disposal, there’s every reason to believe France will be lifting more major trophies very soon.

GFFN | Joel Lefevre