There were several things that irked me about Real Madrid’s Champions League victory last weekend.

For starters I am getting pretty sick of this Spanish dominance of European football. I don’t mind a nation having a purple patch, but the Spanish have been kicking butt for eight years now, winning 10 of the 16 European trophies available in that time.

It’s getting very tedious.

Secondly, I actually wanted Juventus to win. Partly because of said Spanish dominance, partly because I have a thing for the underdog in neutral games and partly because Gianluigi Buffon deserves to get his hands on a Champions League medal before he hangs up his gloves.

But the biggest reason Real’s victory made my teeth itch is because it has created a new football management messiah for the sporting masses to worship – Zinedine Zidane.

By winning Europe’s most prestigious competition and adding it that to the league title, the Frenchman instantly became the best thing since sliced bread. Or sliced Pep if you prefer.

Although he did win last season’s Champions League, he only took over the club in January so it wasn’t entirely his own work. But retaining the European title has got the international media gushing over his talents.

I’m not suggesting for one second that Zidane isn’t good. He may well turn out to be one of the greats. But in our desperation to create a new managerial messiah we are losing sight of one crucial aspect – the players at his disposal.

He didn’t take over Sunderland and turn them into world-beaters. He took over Real bloody Madrid with players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema, James Rodriguez, Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. He then added little signings like Alvaro Morata.

True, having a squad full of brilliant players may not guarantee you success. But it does make it considerably more likely.

Prior to taking the job at the Bernabeu, Zidane’s only other managerial experience was with Real’s B team, where expectations are non-existent and pressure entirely absent.

Yet he still waltzed into a position where only an utter muppet could fail to achieve some degree of success. And somehow that makes him a managerial legend? It’s like the Pep Guardiola story all over again – another manager who has started at the top, will only ever manage at the top and will never have his talents truly tested.

Contrast both those two with Sir Alex Ferguson, if you will.

After a decent but not particularly remarkable playing career he took over as manager of St Mirren, who he led from near the bottom of the second division to division one champions.

Another manager who has started at the top, will only ever manage at the top and will never have his talents truly tested

He then moved to Aberdeen and managed to break the Celtic/Rangers hold on success by wining three titles, four Scottish cups, one Scottish league cup and the European Cup Winners Cup.

And then we all know what happened at Manchester United, who he turned from underachievers to the dominant force in English football for two decades.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a legend – a manager who not only knows how to maintain a successful team but also how to create one.

I’ve got nothing against Zidane. As a player he was utterly mesmerising, and he seems like a decent enough chap.

But he simply doesn’t deserve the adulation he is currently receiving.

And if, as I suspect it will, his managerial career follows Guardiola’s path of stage-managed appointments where trophies are a given, he will never earn the right to be compared with true coaching legends like Sir Alex.

Diego, going, gone

Chelsea have apparently informed Diego Costa that he is surplus to requirements.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I don’t like the Spaniard, mostly because he spends too much time diving, feigning injury and trying to get opponents sent off.

But that doesn’t make this move by Antonio Conte any less courageous.

I’m not suggesting Costa won Chelsea the league last season, but telling a player who scored 26 goals in 46 games he can find a new club is pretty unusual.

And it’s not as if Costa is old or coming to the end of his career. At 28 he is at his peak, in fact, a time when most clubs would be desperate to keep hold of a their leading striker.

I can only assume Conte wants his own man leading the line.

Either that or the Italian has merely done the maths and worked out that the introduction of video trials for players accused of diving or feigning injuries means Costa will only be available for one game in three from next season…

When the Saints go marching north…

What is it about Southampton players that Liverpool seem to find so irresistible?

Central defender Virgil van Dijk is the latest to feature heavily on the Anfield radar and, although the deal now seems to have fallen through, it doesn’t change the fact that Liverpool seem inexplicably drawn to players from one particular club.

In the past three years they have snapped up Rickie Lambert, Nathaniel Clyne, Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana and Sadio Mane, paying Southampton nearly £100 million in the process.

Yes, they do buy players from elsewhere. But it is undeniable that St Mary’s seems to be their first port of call when they are looking to strengthen the squad.

Could it be something logical like Liverpool have identified Southampton as having training and education methods that match their own, allowing players to assimilate more easily? Or could it just be that they know Southampton are a selling club and it is not a case of whether they will part with a player but merely haggling over the price.

Who knows?

But I do have one suggestion that should save Liverpool a stack of cash in the future: stop buying Southampton’s players and poach their entire scouting team instead.

Teach a man to fish and all that…

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade