Real Madrid He stood up for his coach

For the first time in almost two years, there is doubt about Zinedine Zidane's role on the Real Madrid bench with results and the style of play not as good as expected at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The message from the club though is that the fans need to get behind the coach and star player Cristiano Ronaldo more than ever at the moment as they are the reasons for the recent success.

"He is the best possible coach for Real Madrid. He was born for it," Florentino Perez said in a public vote of confidence for his coach.

He's not the only one who is on that line of thinking and all those with influential roles at the club have spoken similarly. There is no doubt about Zidane, they are simply awaiting a reaction and believe that it will come through the Frenchman.

Zidane faces a new challenge which he is yet to experience in the Madrid dugout. Until now, his job has only been lifting trophies and red carpets, picking up awards and titles deservedly since he arrived in January 2016.

Now the situation is different and the critics have begun to question Zizou. Not everyone agrees with what he is doing and the club want him to feel all the support they can offer.

Constant communication

The communication between the president and the coach is constant. For weeks now Zidane has been sending out messages of calmness and after the draw with Bilbao, the president is doing so too. Logically.

There was no meeting after the game, with Florentino Perez absent from the directors' box at San Mames. Despite that, the dialogue and understanding between the two of them is complete. Zidane has the support of the club and they are ready to protect him and his group.

Analysis from within the squad recognises faults and the delicate moment that the team is in, but they believe in what they are doing and have been doing since August when their wins over Manchester United and Barcelona convinced the world.

Circumstances shows that there were errors in the summer in terms of the signings for the current squad. Not for those who came or went, but for those who stayed.

The winter transfer market is an option which is increasingly close. Usually at the Bernabeu it is a matter of thinking that signings in January are due to injuries or poor work in the summer. In this case, both apply, forcing the team to struggle in attempts to match the rhythm of last season.

An ongoing injury crisis, especially for some key men like Gareth Bale, and others who have not shown the quality that has been expected, has meant that the team have not matched those heights of only a few months ago.