The Daily Merengue is a place where you can feel free to d 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 best players have been rewarded for their efforts over the past season. And as usual there were plenty of surprises. The Ballon d’Or winner wasn’t a surprise at all but we’re going to witness more controversial wins in future. Rodri and Messi’s wins have paved the way for that. The Ballon d’Or isn’t given to the most talented player but one who has the highest merit by performances and achievements flowing from those performances. The efficacy of of certain players is easily overlooked if their PR isn’t at the required level.
Real Madrid have in their squad multiple future Ballon d’Or winners. In the end it is inevitable that the Bernabeu will add more Ballon d’Or trophies to the existing collection. But for a Real Madrid player to win it, they need to be undisputed in the way Karim Benzema was. They might even have to do it twice to win it once.
There’s clearly a political or PR motive involved in the Ballon d’Or. If you’re not the best in your league how do you finished ahead of everyone in your league in the Ballon d’Or?
Xabi Alonso is settling in nicely in the hot seat at the Bernabeu and learning to deal with questions that will be repeated throughout his time at the Bernabeu. There has hardly been anything controversial during his early reign in the dugout. Fans are always dissatisfied but so far any reasonable lover of the Merengues or football in general should be impressed by how much the team has changed from last season. The manager is building a squad that will be hard to beat. It won’t always be pretty as the manager acknowledged after the comfortable 3 points won over Espanyol at the weekend. It is clear that there are a lot of improvements still to be made while giving everyone a chance to contribute but also to develop in what is a relatively young squad on any given Sunday.
there is no best XI currently. There is arguable a preferred spine of Courtois, Militao, Huijsen, Carreras, the fundamental Tchouaméni, essential Fede and the unparalleled Kylian Mbappe Lottin. The manager will unflinchingy change players around this core without missing a beat and be comfortable that the team will overcome any opposition.
There are nuances and always will be. What are we trying to do with our wingers? Do we need creative players or a creative system?
Up Next Levante…
