Zinedine Zidane has revealed he resigned as Real Madrid manager because he felt the club no longer had faith in him.
In an open letter published on Monday, Zidane went into detail about how he felt the Real board had lost confidence in his ability to manage. Real finished trophyless for the first season since 2010, losing out in La Liga on the final day to Atletico Madrid and being knocked out of the Champions League by eventual winners Chelsea in the semi-finals.
"I'm leaving because I feel the club no longer has the faith in me I need, and doesn't offer me the support to build something in the medium or long term," the Frenchman wrote in the letter published in the sports daily AS, starting 'Dear Real Madrid fans'.
"I am a born winner and I was here to win trophies, but beyond this there are human beings, emotions, life and I have the feeling that these things have not been valued, that it has not been understood that this is also how the dynamic of a great club is maintained," he added.
"But everything I built on a daily basis, what I brought to the relationship with the players ... has been forgotten.
"I'm leaving, but I'm not jumping ship and I'm not tired of coaching."
It is the second time that Zidane has resigned as Real manager.
The 1998 World Cup winner and Real star first took the helm in January 2016 and guided the club to the 2017 La Liga title and an unprecedented hat-trick of Champions League titles before abruptly quitting on May 31, 2018, saying the club needed "a different voice".
He returned in 2019 after Julen Lopetegui and Santiago Solari were sacked as managers in quick succession, guiding the club to another Liga title in 2020.
Zidane added: "For more than 20 years, from the first day I arrived in Madrid and wore the white shirt, you’ve shown me your love. I’ve always felt that there was something special between us.
"When I accepted the offer to return to Real Madrid after a break of eight months it was, of course, because President Florentino Perez asked me, but also because all of you asked me every day to do so.
"I share the values of Real Madrid; this club belongs to its members, its fans and the entire world. I’ve tried to follow these values in everything I have done, and I’ve tried to be an example.
"I understand football and I know the demands of a club like Real Madrid. I know when you don’t win, you have to leave. But with this a very important thing has been forgotten, everything I built day-to-day has been forgotten, what I brought to my relationships with the players, with the 150 people who work with and around the team.
"I want there to be respect for what we have achieved together. I would have liked my relationship with the club and the president over the past few months to have been a little different to that of other coaches. I wasn’t asking for privileges, of course not, just a little more recollection.
"These days the life of a coach in the dugout at a big club is two seasons, little more. For it to last longer the human relationships are essential, they are more important than money, more important than fame, more important than everything. They need to be nurtured.
"That’s why it hurt me so much when I read in the press, after a defeat, that I would be sacked if I didn’t win the next game. It hurt me and the whole team because these deliberately leaked messages to the media negatively influenced the squad, they created doubts and misunderstandings. Luckily I had these amazing lads who were with me to the death.
"When things turned ugly they saved me with magnificent victories. Because they believed in me and knew I believed in them. Of course I’m not the best coach in the world, but I’m able to give everyone, whether it’s a player, a member of the coaching staff or any employee, the strength and confidence they need in their job."
