Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid success not just down to luck

The fact that he inherited the Real Madrid job without having coached a top-level team in his life; had an arguably easier than average path to last season's Champions League final; won that title in a penalty shootout; and has achieved a few late comeback victories in the second half of last season and the beginning of this one.

A section of the Spanish media constantly uses a combination of the aforementioned elements to accuse Zinedine Zidane of being lucky.

Not that there's anything wrong with luck, but for that handful of newspapers and radio stations, the French manager desperately needs that luck because he isn't really qualified to occupy one of the biggest jobs in world football. And, following that rationale, only because of an amazing sequence of lucky strikes, he's been winning matches at an unprecedented rate -- he just broke Real Madrid's record of consecutive La Liga matches won and tied Josep Guardiola's record when he coached Barcelona.

You may think this line of thinking is nonsensical and shouldn't even be taken seriously, but during last Friday's news conference, Zidane was in fact asked whether or not he considered himself a lucky guy. His well-humoured answer made most of the present journalists laugh: "Yes, I'm lucky, but not only in football, I'm lucky in general. I've been lucky all my life."

Qualified coaches have questioned Zidane's tactical approach to specific matches. Indeed, the French manager is far from a tactical innovator and it's hard to imagine him instilling a very personal, consistent style of football in every team he could potentially coach in the future. Even though it's still early in his career, he does not look like a potential Guardiola.

But Zidane's merit so far is not based on complex tactical schemes. In fact, most players embraced his way of doing things in part because they could not bear Rafa Benitez's constant corrections and obsession with control and tactics. Zidane knew the dressing room well and brought back the fun to training sessions, making them more ball centric and less video-intense.

Since he took over in January, Zidane has established very clear guidelines, and that is probably his biggest asset.

As soon as he started, he felt the team's physical preparation was not right, and acted on it. By doing this, not only he recovered a few of his men in terms of shape, but also sent a clear message: from that point onwards every player knew that being in top form was mandatory.

In a team famous for the President's influence on line-up decision, it has only taken Zidane a few months for the squad to understand that meritocracy is a fundamental element for him to decide who will start. Not only physical shape, but work rate, intensity and will to be involved in the match even as a sub are now more important than the price tag of one specific player.

Finally, in a way that reminds of Carlo Ancelotti, the level of freedom Zidane gives his players on the pitch has become a reason for most members of the squad to speak so highly of him. Rather than spending the whole match correcting positions, the French manager prefers to watch in silence and call one of his midfielders every once in a while to exchange a few words.

Even though he's studied the methods of other top-level coaches, his training sessions won't change the history of football, his in-game decisions won't surprise because of his boldness and it's too early to know whether or not he can lead a smaller team to play great football.

However, he found a broke team and recovered the whole squad in an extremely short period of time. He's been able to maintain an amazing level of competitiveness inside the squad without generating negative dynamics. And helps his players to find ways to win in the most unexpected situations.

It does not look like luck has anything to do with this. And if it did, it feels like well-earned, hard-work luck.

Eduardo Alvarez covers Real Madrid and the Spanish national team for ESPN FC. Twitter: @alvarez.

Dwyane Wade on protests: 'Actions speak louder than the words'

MIAMI -- NBA superstar Dwyane Wade is challenging athletes to move beyond symbolic gestures and rhetoric amid protests to raise awareness of social issues dividing parts of the country.

"Actions speak louder than the words you say," Wade said Saturday. "We have to continue to do things in our communities to try to raise the bar. The great thing about being an athlete today is you can make a stand for what you believe in, and it's OK."

For Wade, that meant spending his Saturday morning pedaling along a 6-mile course in Coconut Grove alongside more than 1,000 other cyclists that included minority children, adults from various backgrounds and police officers from Miami in the D-Wade CommUNITY Bike Ride. The event capped a week of promotional events Wade's foundation held back in Miami before the former Heat icon heads to his Chicago hometown to open training camp next week after signing with the Bulls.

"Actions speak louder than the words you say. We have to continue to do things in our communities to try to raise the bar. The great thing about being an athlete today is you can make a stand for what you believe in, and it's OK."

Dwyane Wade

Wade, who spent his first 13 season with the Heat and won three NBA titles in Miami, has spent much of the offseason engaged in social activism in both cities. He has also been at the forefront in a recent trend of professional athletes who have used their platforms to address police brutality, discrimination of minorities and inner-city gun violence.

Although Saturday's bike event was planned months earlier, it came a day after a shooting spree in Philadelphia left two people dead and two police officers among five others who were wounded. The tragedy in Philadelphia follows other police-involved shootings in Baton Rouge, Dallas, Minneapolis and Miami that have gripped the country in recent months.

"First of all, it's not OK," Wade told ESPN when asked about the Philadelphia shootings. "I'm not promoting that killing is OK. I'm a supporter of my community, the African-American community. I'm a believer in Black Lives Matter, 100 percent. But I'm also a believer that it's not OK for anyone to kill. It's all about communication."

Wade, 34, said all sides need to do a better job of listening and respecting opposing viewpoints.

"I think police need to do a better job of communicating to the community of what they're looking for and what they're out there doing," Wade continued, speaking of the general unrest that exists in some communities. "And it's important for the community to have an opportunity to communicate back to them as well -- to have them explain whatever their problems [are] and how they're handling them -- to be able to move past this terrible epidemic we're seeing. Today, this ride was all about unity."

Wade said his event Saturday was designed to bring everyone together for a positive example of interaction between law enforcement officials and residents of the communities they serve. As Wade moved his bike toward the front of the line to start Saturday's race, organizers motioned for a young African-American boy to join an assistant Miami police chief to both ride alongside the 12-time All-Star.

After the race, Wade spoke to the crowd about bike safety and community engagement before the event eventually turned into a waterfront block party. It's been an emotional summer for Wade, who has spent most of the summer addressing a number of social issues. In July, he spoke at the ESPYS alongside NBA star friends Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and Chris Paul in a plea to police shootings and retaliatory gun violence. Last month, Wade spoke on panel hosted by ESPN's The Undefeated that addressed athletes and gun violence. A day later in Chicago, Wade's cousin was killed as she pushed a stroller down the street in a shooting that was intended for another target.

All of those events have weighed heavily on Wade and his family.

"When something hits you the way it hit us, it becomes [more] real," Wade said. "And the great thing about my family is we come together more and try to be stronger and make more of an impact as much as we can. No matter what shape, size or color you are, you were invited out here today to understand how important community is and how strong we are when we come together."

Wade also said he's been encouraged by other athletes who "have answered the call" the four NBA stars made during the ESPYS show two months ago. Wade has since seen a group of athletes follow San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who has been kneeling in protest during the playing of the national anthem to call attention to racial discrimination in the country.

Count Wade among some NBA players who believe athletes in their sport will continue to find ways to express themselves and their discontent with social issues once the season opens next month.

"If you have something you believe in, take a stand and get behind it," Wade said. "We have this platform. ... We're portrayed as bigger than life because we're on the big stage. But we're everyday people as well. And it's OK to have a voice and express that. We through a call out [in July] to all athletes to use their voice and their platform to do more ... to help the community, whatever race you are, and to stand up for what you believe in. And it's great to see athletes standing up to do that."