The Daily Merengue is a place where you can feel free to discuss all things football. Do not be alarmed by the overt RMCF bias. It’s in the name! Shoutout to the mods who do a fantastic job, Ezek, Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, Juninho, NeRObutBlanco and yours truly, Kung_Fu_Zizou
The gift that keeps on giving. Silly season keeps serving it up. The rumour mill is overheating with explanations and minutiae that would rendered it all insipid on the tongue. Mourinho’s reactions, every frown and laugh or
straight face is a narrated reaction to some rumour or story. This begins to take on the feel of an enormous WhatsApp group which invariably gets left on mute. Alas we need to keep up the goings on at the Bernabeu. Hardly anyone needs a re-cap.
The squad has got rather thick. It is physically better than last season on account of personnel alone. However, the IQ of the squad has barely moved. Most players in the squad have an elite IQ for their specific role but not for the game in its entirety. This means, the team’s ability to solve problems on the pitch has an undesirably low season ceiling. Mourinho will have to limit judgement calls in midfield and rely on rigid structure. This is the limitation you encounter when you are not equipped with midfielders with a vision for the whole pitch, al a Toni Kroos.
Sparkling Yan
Real Madrid completed the move for Yan Diomande to settle a problem so old, we’ve carried it through 2 CLs and 3 La Liga titles; the lack of a pure Right-Winger. Yan balances out the front 3 and allows the team to stretch opponents without being predictable. His arrival will lighten the load on the left side of the pitch and perhaps draw Kylian more towards the right given his tendency to drift towards the ball. All that said, the huge fee for Yan isn’t worth talking about in relation to expectations for a young player arriving at the Bernabeu during one of the worst periods in recent memory. We’re gonna be elated if the kid can just do the basics right..Fortunately for us, he an immensely talented player.
Vinicius to 2032?
Fumble?
While one may argue that the club treated Rodri as an afterthought, it is hard to process these developments as anything by cumbersome. Real Madrid had an easy solution for a key area on the pitch and they dropped the proverbial ball. I doubt that Flo will lose any sleep over this as it was likely an opportunistic post World Cup signing more than anything. Mourinho, however, will not be impressed with the limitations he is forced to deal with when setting up a midfield for the season ahead.
