Livin On A Prayer: 14 January 2025

Tuesday Edition of The Daily Merengue

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, Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, Juninho, NeRObutBlanco and yours truly, Kung_Fu_Zizou

Real Madrid have been awful this season. One of the most pernicious things I have seen from the start of this season have been the posting of statistics about how many games we’ve lost in the last 12 months as a justification for the horror being visited on us.

Barcelona’s drop in form wasn’t very helpful as it allowed a still mediocre Real Madrid to climb to the top of the table.

This is Real Madrid and there’s always hope. We don’t need to lie to ourselves about the current state of affairs.

A Man for the Big Occasion

Vinicius was born for the big stage. While he’s not his the heights with he Seleccao, he’s almost never missed a big day in the white strip. There’s no reason to belive he’s not going to be there in the future. This season might have problems that are too deep for Vini’s magic to solve but it will not be for the want of trying, not on Vini’s part. #YoungLegend

For My Ambition

“They’re gonna love me for my ambition”

Jude Bellingham arrived as one of the most ambitious players since Cristiano Ronaldo. His ambition was palpable before he kicked a football. He could barely contain his Jordan-esque desire to be the main man.

To his credit the likes of Toni Kroos were declaring him a leader in his first season at the age of 20. This season Jude has reiterated his desire to be the main man, stating that he wants to be a leader which he already is. This suggests that he doesn’t feel he’s being given his due in the dressing room.

Someone needs to sit him down and explain how the hierarchy of leadership works at the Bernabeu. He’s earned the respect of his teammates but they won’t handover the dressing room to him.

On the pitch however, he continues to be one of the very best in the game. The downsides of his role this season are amplified by a thinner midfield and overloaded attack in Carlo’s scheme. If a solution is not found, we will continue to fail in big games this season.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

It is clear that whatever personnel issues Carlo might have are far from insurmountable. Every squad has problems and most of all very few managers have had the luxury of choosing their own problems like Carlo. He chose Mendy and Lucas Vazquez. He chose to have Tchouaméni at CB in lieu of an actual CB. He chooses to play 4 forwards and expose his midfielders to well-coached pressing and passing schemes. Carlo exacerbates whatever deficiencies exist in the squad. He doesn’t have to but he chooses to.

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