He Had No Pace. No Tricks. But No One Could Handle Zidane

He wasn't fast, he didn't dribble like Ronaldinho, and he didn't speak much. But when Zinedine Zidane played, the game stopped. You know, when Zizou was on tune, there was nothing you could do. Unstoppable. People literally used to turn up the Bernabeu to watch him just control the ball. He didn't just play football, he painted it. World champions, Ballon d'Or winners, the best of the best, they all say the same thing. Zidane was untouchable. I was amazed by his quality, by his vision, by his technical ability, football understanding. He's a genius, he's a magician, and the vision, it was amazing. So what made him different from every player we've ever seen? Let's take a look and listen to what football legends really think about Zinedine Zidane. He's not just one of the greatest players that I've ever played with. Just cool. Just cool. You know, without trying. You play him a ball anywhere on the pitch, any height, any level, any speed, he'd bring it down like it was just... People literally used to turn up at the Bernabeu to watch him just control the ball. That's it. That's it. Because it was just like watching a ballerina. Just the way he plays is so elegant. Everything about him, he's elegant. I've met a lot of football, all the best, all the greats, I've met them. Yeah, the ones that are still here. He's got a different aura, hasn't he? Yeah. He ain't even talking a lot either. He doesn't say much, does he? He's just like, almost like, can I talk to him? And that's when you know he's so special, Zizou, because he walks into a room and without even seeing him come in, you know someone's walked in. That's it. You know what you made me to say about Zizou, The guy was a freak, not normal what he was doing. People, I mean, people are actually realized how good he was. There's nothing to say about that. But, you know, when Zizou was on tune, there's nothing you could do. Unstoppable. You couldn't get the ball off his feet. Graceful. He could score the odd goal at times. As you know, vision, forget about it. But just the way his body used to go and being able to maintain and retain the ball and sliding, gliding past people like they were not there. But still keeping that it was it was more than elegant. It's very difficult to do that, run, beat people and do that with your feet. You're not supposed to have that much ability and touch with your feet. We had the opportunity to win stuff together. Obviously, the national team. When he was at Madrid, also, he used to play off the left. Yeah. Allowing Roberto Carlos to go and he used to go inside. All with us or allowing Lizarazu to go. And you will come inside and play. What a player and the stuff that he used to do in training or so. Same thing, you know, like he used to try. Not it wasn't even an invention or try stuff. It just comes. It's a normality for him. It's just normal. The way he controls that ball, the way he dribbles, the way he shoots, the way he goes about it, the way it was just at times unstoppable. Football is an art. And Zizou definitely was a penta. I dream as a football player, play with him. At the end, it didn't happen. When I leave from Barcelona, it was my dream play with Juventus, but it didn't happen to play with him. I didn't speak much with him. So maybe three or four times. But the first impression is incredible person. So, yeah, I admire him. And of course, it's it's really good. This type, this kind of person is in the worldwide, football worldwide. For me, he's one of the best players in the world. Yeah. Yeah, because he's a he's a genius. He's a magician. He play for the team. He play simple. And the vision, it was amazing. And I talk always from Zidane about the about the ability, you know, right and left. It's yeah, it was amazing. The first time that I met Zinedine Zidane was in Juventus and the first year in Juventus. And I found a fantastic player. Zidane was the key for me to change my idea of football because I was used to play always 4-4-2. When I found Zidane in Juventus, I changed my system. We played with a player like him behind the striker because I didn't want to change the position. Zidane, in my opinion, was the best player that I trained. Above all, it was really a pleasure to see him in training session. Maybe in the game was not so tough because the opponent were strong against him. But in training session, he showed fantastic skill, fantastic ability. He was a really humble man, really humble player. Maybe too humble because he was really, really fantastic. I was amazed by his quality, by his vision, by his technical ability, football understanding. And for us to play just behind him, it was easy to play with him. The quality of the ball, you feel like it's not a good ball, but he will look good because of the way that he will touch the ball. He is the greatest. Well, as a player, I was taken aback by Zidane. He was just off the scale in terms of ability and not anything that he would do. You know, it's not like you go and blast a ball in from 30 yards in the top corner every time, but you just pass him the ball. And the way he takes a ball, the way it's almost like it's just on a string. The ball is on a string when he plays. It's always within a certain area, a certain distance of him. When he runs, it's almost like it's part of his body. And if you pass him the ball and he wanted to turn on a certain angle, he could just manipulate a ball and do it all in one movement. Just amazingly well, strong, quick off the mark. You tried to get near him and his arm would come out and he'd just push you away and burst out. He was 10 yards away from you. He was really, really good. Top, you know, top class. Zidane has an exceptional coordination and exceptional touch of the ball. And every area, three yards around Zidane, you could give him the ball where you want it. He puts it down in place. That was a very great experience, eye opening experience, because I get to to train beside him. And, you know, like when you train with someone, you're looking at him. Yeah. What is he doing? What is there something special that he's doing, you know? And and you realize that even like geniuses like him, they are very disciplined, very, very disciplined with everything. He was not, oh, I am gifted. And, you know, I'm just better. And you don't feel that ego problem with players like him. Well, one of the very best that's played the game, Silke. People don't give him credit for what an athlete he was, really. You talk about me not being an athlete. He was totally the opposite. He was big, he was strong, he was physical, controllable without a foot. Great pass to the ball. Great goalscorer, header. He could do absolutely everything as a midfield player. It was something you didn't want to play against, because I wanted to play against the best. But you could have avoided it, you would have done. What about playing against him, Dan? I was tough, Mick. Was he your toughest opponent? Yeah. Do you know why? Honestly, people still to this day don't realize how big he was. Yes, he was. You know, when I played against him, I'm quite a small guy. I'm what, 5'10"? I'm really slight. People might think, maybe I look bigger on the pitch. And the best thing when I used to play against Zidane, if I was obviously at club level, I played against him for Ireland. The advice I would get from my friends in Ireland would be, the technical advice they would give me is, just kick him. You know, that was the technical advice. Just kick him. I used to say, you know, he's six foot two. You know, he can deal with that. And I think he'd been sent off eight or nine times. What he was, what I loved about Zidane, he was nasty. Couldn't get the ball off him. He was massive. He was physically strong, obviously technically good, mentality good. He was just the all-round. It was the biggest surprise I've ever had on a football pitch. Or actually, it wasn't even on the football pitch, lining up. We're lining up to go against him, against Juventus. And I just stood next to him, he was just massive. I just thought, you'd see him on the telly and you just thought he wasn't that big. And just, he wasn't an over-physical player, but he just used his body in the right way. And just, you couldn't get the ball off him. His body was unbelievable. I mean, you'd go and try and get the ball off him and he'd always protect the ball. Did you just say that? No, he'd always protect the ball on the opposite side and you could not get near the ball because of his size. And like Giggs has said, he was a fantastic player. Zidane was cool. I remember playing against Zidane and just being in awe of him. You know, because he has this crazy presence. He's bigger than people think. And he was so quiet on the pitch. He didn't really talk that much. He was just like... That was intimidating in itself, I think. Way more intimidating than somebody shouting and yelling. Often they're the people that are most unsure, aren't they? But he was just like, he just had this crazy elegance. And the way he played football was just amazing. I remember once, that Luis thing, you know, where he left it there. But he obviously knew what I was going to do. He knows I'm going to dive in. And I remember he just put this massive leg up, right? And I just ran into this massive quad. And then he just spun the other way. And I remember looking at him thinking like, oh my, what just happened? You knew he got that ball? Yeah, yeah. And then he just looked at me like, give me a little smile. No, Zidane was amazing. When I was playing first time against Tissot, I was in a field, a midfield. He got the ball, he made a movement before. And then the ball was literally like two meters there. His body there. I was here. There was no chance to take away the ball, actually. I don't think I've played against anybody like Zidane. Like you say, who gets their body in between you and the ball as perfectly. Yeah. And the timing of it. And then the motion, the way he played, it was like, it's impossible almost to find the ball and see the ball because he was a big guy as well. And he knows exactly what he has to do next. Like quick thinking, quick brain. Shizu was there. Amazing. Quiet guy with his technique, the way he was so gentle, like the way he caressed the ball without a fuss. Yeah, he was one of the, of course, afterwards he, whatever, same as Cristiano, you take steps in doing your career. So I think he came to a real, yeah, the full Zidane that we all know. But yeah, he's a great player. He didn't need speed. He didn't need tricks. He didn't even need words. With one touch, he silenced stadiums. With one turn, he redefined control. And with every game, he left a mark that can't be erased. Zidane moved like he already owned it. He wasn't just one of the best. He was unforgettable. Thanks for watching. If you like this, another one's waiting right here.