Rivaldo believes that Zidane should put more faith in players like Valverde, Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo the Brazilian notes that at the start, the Madrid coach did count on youth.
He claims that not playing Vinicius Jr. because he was looking at the phone during one of the talks ends up hurting the team.
"I have always said that the key to managing young talents is to not put too much pressure on them, and I think [Barca's coach] Koeman is doing well [in this regard]," Rivaldo said, as quoted by Football Espana.
"I don’t know what’s behind all this, but Zidane is doing the opposite of what he did when he started and not using young talents like Fede Valverde, Rodrygo or Vinicius Jr..
"I read last week that he could be punishing Vinicius because he looked at his mobile phone during a team talk – those things do not have to be solved like that, by refusing to play a footballer, because then you're hurting your own team. It means removing a footballer who could be crucial in many games for something usually resolved with a fine."
Real Madrid's coach has been sticking to a default line-up in the last few months only making changes to it out of necessity. As for the players Rivaldo mentions, here's how much they've played this term so far:
Valverde 1,034 minutes, 19 games
Vinicius Jr. 1,019 minutes, 22 games
Rodrygo 680 minutes, 17 games
Besides them, the Frenchman barely counts on players like Martin Odegaard, Eder Militao and Alvaro Odriozola.
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