Welcome to The Daily Merengue — 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, Valyrian Steel, Ezek XI, KungFuZizou, NeRObutBlanco, Felipejack, and Juninho.
A Collection of Letters
“I hope one day these words find you.” — [censored]
Writer’s Prelude. Today, I’ve decided to hold off on releasing my Jose Juninho DT as I’m waiting for more confirmation regarding his potential signing. I’ll admit that I’m about
60% sure he’ll be our next manager as of May 1st, 2026 but as we all know “anything can happen in football.” So today will be a smattering to address a few comments throughout the past few days DTs.
To Whomever Will Understand,
Militao. Addressing a post that OutofEyeDiaz asked towards me on maybe Monday or Tuesday, I’ll be pretty direct and say Real Madrid needs to move on from Militao. Ironically, prior to the start of the season, in my season predictions I wrote (or potentially told a friend can’t fully remember) that Militao is no longer a CB that we can count on. This proclamation wasn’t because of his talent, which is undeniably there every time he steps on the pitch. This is a result of his availability (and note that in none of this am I blaming the player for quite frankly an unfortunate chain of events). Similar to a player like Ferland Mendy, Militao has missed a remarkable amount of games and days due to injury. According to transfermarkt, Militao will miss ~618 days (estimating his recent injury which will have him out for the summer) since the 23/24 season. As of this very moment, Militao has missed 133 games for club and country due to injury. This bill of health cannot be central to your defensive plans. Additionally, Militao is 28 years old (so not young) with his contract expiring in 2028. Under more ordinary circumstances, Militao would be tracking for his next big and potentially final contract extension at Real Madrid THIS summer.
So again Militao is super talented, but it’s time to move on. I’m not going to get on a soapbox to say that we need to sell him mainly because I’m unsure of whether we have the funds nor time to buy another more suitable CB during the summer. However, it would really and truly behoove the club to raise funds to fill that positional gap quickly. Dean Huijsen (who a lot of you dislike) has actually had a pretty good season thus far (see comparison below even though I don’t love defensive stats in general). But he surely isn’t enough to carry our defense next year.
Dean will need someone besides Rudiger (who I expect to regress rapidly next year after the WC). So MM — start scouting your favorite CBs. I’ll admit it isn’t a position I personally scout due to the fact that I think there’s like so many contributing factors to whether a CB is actually good or not. Nevertheless, we may need to take a longer look at names like Joan Martin (Real Sociedad), Nico Schlotterbeck (BVB – I don’t rate him tbh), or maybe someone emerges at the WC.
Coaching Carousel Pt. II. Since this is the most exciting news of the week, I guess I’m forced to touch on it again. As you’ll likely read around this time, there’s a growing sense that Jose Mourinho has taken the P1 pole position from Jurgen Klopp in Arbeloa Succession story. I’m not going to go down this rabbit hole of who I think will end up with the job or who’s the best so instead I’m just going to take a second to allow us to reframe a bit of what we’re reading / seeing.
1) The club is a bit directionless at the moment. I feel like after the Cold Hard Truths DTs earlier this week, I won’t have to really re-explain this but it’s also extremely clear from the leaks that the club is currently going through a patch of uncertainty. There is zero real clarity on who we’re pursing and in what order (which imo looks a bit rash compared to Xabi’s obvious candidacy, even Carlo 2.0 who at least we knew the main candidate was Allegri until he said “no”, or even the Lopetegui era). There is little clarity and depending on who you read or if you want to believe Marca or DiaroAS today, Florentino Perez’ favorite candidate may be Mourinho today, Klopp tomorrow, or Pochettino yesterday. I’ve said for a while that there is an internal power struggle and to some extent, I very much believe it’s playing out in front of us via the media. So let’s see who wins.
2) These aren’t simple negotiations or decisions. I think its very important to note that Real Madrid CF and its board are at a massive inflection point. The board has gone 2x trophyless seasons, the star wearing the iconic #7 is heading into his final season without a long-term contract, and Real Madrid’s ability to raise capital has been increasingly stunted due to decreased revenue streams, debt collection, and poor management of salaries (imo). This isn’t a simple decision and with every board member angling for further influence, we’re going to likely see a bit of prolonged discussions and angling for leverage. So yes, it makes sense that Real Madrid would want Jurgen Klopp to first say that he wants to come back to managing before approaching him because (and I said this earlier this week) the board cares about marketing. The board knows they’ll look silly if they send the unemployed Jurgen Klopp an offer and he says “no” because in some ways “no” isn’t far off of Klopp calling the board incompetent and the club a circus. I’m not sure if you guys have really followed even “free transfers” but its rare that Real Madrid receive or PR-wise receive a no. Its always “Real wasn’t actually interested in Upamecano” or “Davies agent just used the club name for higher wages.” It’s never as simple as so-so player or manager just didn’t want to come to Madrid.
Additionally, and note, everyone has witnessed what happened to the hottest coaching commodity after six months at Real Madrid. A select few of you may have thought that Xabi Alonso was incompetent, but note world football didn’t. And world football is currently reviewing Real Madrid in a shaky light. World football is truly questioning whether Vini + Mbappe are compatible. World football is wondering if Florentino Perez is really going to renew Vini and force the next manager to play particular players. World football is questioning whether we’ll sign a CB, CM, and RB. World football needs answers. And a manager of Klopp and to even some regard Mourinho needs leverage and promises. So expect there to be a bit of a rollercoaster on whether a manager is interested or not. I don’t fully expect this journey to end for another week or so. The drivers are jostling for the lead. Tic. Tac.
Cheers,
Juninho
Mourinho and Pochettino are then pretty foolproof safe options in case the board is rejected by Klopp. Mourinho will obviously say yes despite some fans and the board being against him and Pochettino would obviously escape the USMNT. I’d lean to say Mourinho is a higher rated candidate despite his recent spells (which a lot of you are underplaying, yes he went to non-top tier teams but for the most part he’s been pretty successful at each stint. Benfica is currently undefeated in the league and were 5-5 on aggregate in all of 3 matches). Fenerbache wasn’t great but if you follow the Turkish Super League there is currently a huge fixing scandal. Roma he I believe won the conference league or some trophy..etc etc.) I’d also lean on Mourinho being a higher rated candidate because Pochettino doesn’t really inspire the fandom. And if there’s one thing our board wants after 2x trophyless seasons it is to sell hope.
What Are They Saying? Wrong answers only.
Can Franco speak English? Also like Jude I know can speak a little bit of Spanish but idk if he can carry a convo.
Rest Easy GOAT. We await your return.
Cheers,
J
