Zidane berates Real disorder

Zinedine Zidane has blamed Real Madrid's wretched start to the season on a lack of cohesion within the squad.

The £48 million midfielder scored his fourth goal in as many games, but that was not enough to prevent Real slumping 4-2 at Las Palmas and losing their third domestic game of the season on Wednesday night.

Zidane hobbled off after picking up a thigh strain which may rule him out of France's friendly against Algeria on Saturday.

He joined his international team-mates at their Clairefontaine training-camp on Thursday morning - and wasted no time in shedding light on his frustrations at the Bernabeu.

"Even if I score in every game, it's not much use if we lose. I would prefer not to score and the team to win. I want to play better because I know I can," he said.

"I have little spells during matches when I'm good but it's not yet for the 90 minutes. The team are not very well organised yet. I think it's a question of my physical form and also my position on the pitch."

"A lot is expected of us and of me and it will come. I'm not worried about that. I came to Madrid to win things and I signed a four-year contract."

"There is no crisis. We won three matches in the Champions' League - without me - but we won them. It's a bizarre feeling to lose two or three times like that. We've only played six league games and we're not yet playing the way we want to."

"I have no regrets about leaving Juventus, even if we did have a great squad there and I had five marvellous years. But we had a great team spirit and of course I miss that."

Zidane went on to play down reports of a fall-out with coach Vicente del Bosque. "He doesn't speak much to anyone but we do communicate. I think we will show that we we are a great team," he added.

Zidane admitted last month that he was not on top of his game. He said: "I am not in good form. I am concious that I am not playing as people and I expect. I am not at 100 per cent but I am trying."

After that, Barcelona forward Rivaldo - as well as coach Charly Rexach and Valencia president Jaime Orti - accused Real of making a mistake in signing Zidane.

"Real didn't need to sign a star as they already had a championship-winning team who reached the semi-final of the Champions' League," said Rivaldo.