Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has slammed FIFA’s “absurd” decision to include his children in the list of players irregularly signed by the club.
Speaking at a Press conference ahead of Sunday’s match against Sporting Gijon in La Liga, the Coach was also happy to discuss the fortunes of his current players, plus reported Madrid target Paul Pogba and the possibility of recalling Fabio Coentrao from Monaco.
“[On the FIFA ban], it’s absurd because I’ve been here all my life with my family and children,” he said at a Press conference.
“I think the situation will be resolved, but I have to focus on the game. Still, it bothers me a bit that my children are being talked about because it’s a little absurd.
“I’m calm, even if it makes no sense, and I can’t make any further comment. It’s not only my children, there are more players.
“[Ronaldo] is crucial for the team. I don’t think he’s playing worse than before. He has my confidence.
“If he fails to score three goals in one game, nothing happens [on my part], but Cristiano will always be spoken about, and if he plays poorly for 15 minutes then it’ll be talked about. I hope he scores lots of goals [against Sporting].
“[On his training schedule], on Wednesday, we trained hard, both on and off the pitch.
“On Thursday, we did resistance training, on Friday, we toned down the physicality and [on Saturday], we did a little less in light of the match [against Sporting].
“We do a bit of everything in each training session. There’s physical [training] because we can work on it while we have one game a week.
“We also work on tactics, but towards the end of week, there’s less time to train and more focus on the ball. This is my philosophy.
“[Paul Pogba] is a great player, extraordinary, but I’m only focused on my squad and it’s my players who will allow us to win trophies at the end of season.
“[On the FIFA Ballon d’Or], I have the best player in the world, which is Christian and no-one else.
“[The Ballon d’Or] is only competed by [Lionel] Messi and Cristiano, and this won’t change for a long time.
“[On recalling Fabio Coentrao from Monaco], I haven’t spoken to the club about reinforcements.
“I’m happy with my squad. I have a good feeling about Coentrao and know how he’s playing, but I’m happy with the squad I have.
“[On James Rodriguez], we’ll see if he starts, but I won’t say if he’ll will play from the start or not.
“[On Raphael Varane’s development], he’s getting older, starts for his national team and is their captain, too.
“He’s changed for the better. He knows the difficulty of playing for this club and will start against Sporting.
“[On Sergio Ramos’ absence], he’s feeling a little better and I think he’ll rejoin the squad next week.
“We spoke to the doctor and we don’t believe we rushed him back because he had played for a while with these annoyances. I hope he can train well on Tuesday.”
