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,
Kung_Fu_Zizou, Juninho, NeRObutBlanco and yours truly, Felipejack.
Tactical analysis
In contrast, look at areas to improve in the final third:
It’s curious that box-occupation is one of these areas to improve. I say curious because we did well in that regard during CWC:
“Xabi-ball Is A Work In Progress”
Very good article by Kiyan Sobhani. I highlight the following:
How many more reminders do we need that Xabi Alonso’s project has just begun? By the time Real Madrid concluded their 4 – 0 win over Valencia, they had officially cemented their best start to a La Liga season in 64 years. Not Zinedine Zidane, not Carlo Ancelotti, not Vicente del Bosque, nor Jose Mourinho achieved the feat — you’d have to go all the way back to Miguel Muñoz, who ran rampant in the 1961-1962 season with one of the best football squads ever assembled.
Again, Alonso’s start to the season is not a definitive claim to greatness. It will be meaningless if it ends without trophies. But the point is this: the truth about Real Madrid is somewhere in the middle. On one extreme it’s DEFCON 1 — a lost dressing room full of egos and a manager who is not respected (false), and on the other end, it’s a team loading its first ever treble. Neither of these scenarios are true.
Sometimes we’re too blinded to see the middle ground, where the truth really lies. Real Madrid have to improve against elite opposition who play with high intensity, and until proven otherwise, they are not on the level of teams like PSG, Bayern Munich, or Arsenal. On the other hand, Alonso has raised the team’s floor, improved the team’s press, has got his attacking stars to buy in to defensive effort, and is building something that will gradually improve over time.
