“Zidane said that the notion of pleasure had to be in all exercises”

David Bettoni has revealed on the show After Foot de RMC Sport several of the ideas that captured Zidane in the trainings of the Real Madrid. The one who was Zizou’s assistant during his time as coach in the white team has highlighted that the basis of everything for the French legend was “playing to maintain the notion of pleasure.”

On the departure of Zidane from Madrid, Bettoni, revealed: “At the end of the season, when Zizou confessed to me that he wanted to take a step back, he said: ‘You have to go for it, you are prepared and the players know it. ‘ I decided to start my career as a head coach. I am ready to take a first division team, in Ligue 1 for example. I am open to all championships but I am French and I know the French championship very well. “

Bettoni was asked what Zidane said to the players before each training session, to which the former French footballer replied: “We were talking about the principles of the game, how to get the ball played, different organization of the team … But, above all, the phrase that always came to Zidane’s head was: ‘I want the notion of pleasure to be in all exercises’. He also added that he wanted the players, when they got home, to want to go back to training. It’s the first word that marked me from Zizou. “

Regarding the analysis around the figure of the Zidane coach, considered in France as an experienced player management coach and not a tactical strategist, Bettoni He added: “I can simply say that what I have experienced with him is reality. It is true that Zidane is an atypical coach, is not someone who talks a lot to the media. And this is because he is like that and does not play a role of being a character playing the discreet. He has always been like this. Afterwards, we also felt that he was someone who had been a great player, who had been trained by great coaches and who told himself that he wanted to be a coach, so he prepared a lot for it. He had a knowledge of football that made him make decisions, the tactic was reserved for his staff and the players. “

About Cristiano: “With Cristiano Ronaldo, you had to be clear and precise. He had to know the reasons why he was doing a specific exercise. I have an anecdote. When we played Bayern, I told him not to focus only on Neuer, but on strategic targets in the exercise cages. I wondered why I was saying that to him. “

About Benzema: “We had a good relationship because we spoke French. I think that, without being in his head, he wondered why he was not going with the national team. From the moment in which he does not go with the French team, he added more work. We saw him transform physically. He became an exceptional leader after the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo. He knew how to take the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo with a lot of personality. He played much simpler with Cristiano, but when he left, he assumed leadership in a less winning Real Madrid. He loves to talk to the players one-on-one ”.