Zidane is easily misunderstood with his Spanish getting worse (Marca)

Zinedine Zidane expresses himself in Spanish with short and blunt statements. His sentences come across as strong and harsh when read in black and white, as happened in Houston with his comment about wanting Gareth Bale out of the club by the next day.

This week, his post-Real Valladolid comment about wishing his side had "kicked the ball the hell out of the way" has caught the attention.

Those close to him say that his Spanish is getting worse instead of improving. Zidane speaks in French in his house and with his coaching staff.

While his Spanish is more or less good, it's clear that his messages require some interpretation instead of being evaluated exactly based on the words used. With Bale, he simply wanted to say that he wanted a solution as soon as possible and ended up uttering a fierce quote. On Saturday, his comment was nothing more than the coach being perplexed at the way players with such experience weren't able to see out the final minutes of the match at their home stadium.

Anyone who takes these phrases literally is missing the point. He was simply making a criticism of his team and himself. He wasn't taking about playing long balls, but about being focussed until the end and not giving anything away. He was simply talking about competing until the final whistle.