Derby Day: 8 February 2025

No Time For Conversations — Focus

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, KungFuZizou, NeRObutBlanco, Felipejack, and Juninho (the “shadows”).

Author’s Note: Today’s DT is a continuation of yesterday’s brief discussion in the comments.

Derbí Day

And here comes the day. Derbi Day where Real Madrid faces Atletico in a game to decide 1st place in La Liga. Personally, I think we all more or less know what to expect in so far as the lineup (and maybe the game itself). The lineup more or less picks itself. Whether we like it or not, realistically Mendy + Lucas Vazquez are playing, Tchouameni will play at CB, and the only real toss up is Ceballos v. Modric. I’d prefer Ceballos to start, but he has surprisingly only started against one of the top 6 teams and failed to start in the Super Copa final against Barcelona. So don’t be shocked if you see Modric or Camavinga in the lineup.

More Business?

I know we’ve been talking about transfers for the past two days (especially a potential Vini to Saudi transfer) and I’m still comfortable with the sale. However, I’ll be honest that I don’t love rumors like the one from L’Equipe. I’m not here to say that the rumor is untrue (where there’s smoke there is likely a fire) as I’ll need to take time to evaluate the source on my own. I just don’t love the potential incoming character assassination that seems to surround many potential Real Madrid sales especially as it relates to quite frankly a polarizing player such as Vini. I rarely talk about his attitude only because (and I could speak on this for days) there is a thin line of behavior we seem to accept from other players but then advocate against when it comes to him. I’m pretty sure I made a similar statement over the summer in terms of Mbappe v. CR7 (which started an uproar) but I at times think its applicable here too. Anyway, take that for what its worth.

Separately, and a hotter take, I feel as if we’re slowly being trained by the club / media for a summer Saudi sale. There’s far too much discussion surrounding Saudi / Real and from a variety of sources. Just as this season continues here are my tips for evaluating rumors. First, consider the source and geographically where the rumor is coming from. Second, assess who the rumor benefits (club vs. player). Then at this point, you can likely determine where the rumor was generated and assess some of its credibility.

In the case of these below, it feels as if this is coming from the club. It’s also odd how with one player these Saudi rumors have been allegedly immediately shut down whereas they linger for the other…but that’s all I’ll say for now.

A Quick Poll

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“good luck”