Zidane looking forward to season beginning

Zinedine Zidane has denied reports that he has fallen out with Real Madrid coach Vicente del Bosque over where he should play when the season starts this weekend, but admitted no tactics had been discussed before four pre-season friendlies.

Real have had a terrible pre-season campaign, being beaten by Egypt's Al-Ahly, Deportivo La Coruna and Inter Milan and registering uninspired victories over Montpellier and Cruz Azul.

Zidane has not been impressing but insisted that once Real start the defence of their title at Valencia on Saturday, things should improve as he will be playing in his favourite position just behind the front man. "The coach sees me in a position like the one I have in the France team. And so do I," he said.

Zizou went on to explain how the confusion about where he would play had come about. "For the first four friendly matches I played, there still weren't any tactics defined."

"I imagine the coach observed the players positioning themselves naturally but I can't say, 'I'm going to play like this and the others will play like that'. The homogeneity will come with my physical form."

Zidane is likely to head up a diamond formation in a free role with Luis Figo and Guti on either side of Raul, while Claude Makelele or Ivan Helguera, when he returns from his injury, sweeps up just in front of the defence.

He also revealed that contact with his coach had been minimal. "We speak a little bit, but no more than anybody else. We speak mainly about my position on the field, with Claude Makelele as my interpreter. He doesn't speak much, nor do I. But we say what we have to say."