The Open Thread/Daily Merengue is a place where you can discuss anything and everything related to football. Feel free to discuss the topics presented here, or start your very own discussions! The Open thread will be posted every day by one of the mods you’d love to go camping with: Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, Kung_Fu_Zizou (AKA KFZ), Juninho and, of course… yours truly.
Let’s Start with the Positives
Los Blancos are the best men’s club. And why the heck not! We may be having a bad period, but Real Madrid are coming off a great season.
✨ Real Madrid are named the Men’s Club of the Year at the Ballon d’Or.
No one from the club shows up at the ceremony as they all support Vini Jr. pic.twitter.com/IFAKnRor6J
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 28, 2024
And that’s not all; Don Carlo, our legendary eyebrow, has won the best coach award! The man’s oozing class even in tweets…
So, it Happened As Reported
A new day has dawned and Vinicius has not won the Ballon D’Or. Rodri did. Therefore things have transpired as reported – to everyone’s surprise – hours before the ceremony. Said reports were the reason Real Madrid refused to be present at the ceremony. Can’t say I’m too surprised but, given the fronts Real Madrid are dealing with, there were gonna be weird unfair moments. Still, this is just odd.
Now, don’t get me wrong if I’m sounding kind of dazzled. I really really like Rodri. Great player in my opinion and, well, I’d say objectively as well. In fact, I’d like him at the club, (even though I’m not too sure about the structural changes and starter-sub dominoes that would fall). But No1 in the world, in my humble opinion… well, no. Still, congratulations and, at the very least, it’s being established that a player need not necessarily be a forward to win the award. But does the award have much credibility? I’d say no.
Now, I try to remain classy, but I just can’t shake the feeling – my bad, I mean the common sense that this is just weird. I mean, give it to Dani Carvajal if you want to base it on accolades and performance for both club and country.
Clarence Seedorf: “Vini Jr. deserves to keep this award. I think problems between Real Madrid and UEFA should be kept separated from an award the player deserves. It’s a SHAME.” @TNTSportsBR pic.twitter.com/e4acAKr5gF
— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) October 28, 2024
Oh and get ready, because diving and shenanigans are probably the reasons people are gonna mention when defending Rodri’s win.
Aftermath
The Ballon D’Or ceremony is probably gonna be THE hot topic for the coming days. That’s until the next groundbreaking or horrible performance; you know how it goes. What we should really care about, at the moment is Vini’s reaction to this – and I dare say it – mess. It’s been a common occurrence for unfairness and insults to get into Vini’s head. The man himself has declared that he will try more and do his talking on the pitch apparently, which is what every fan should hope for.
Keep on dancing, Vini. We’re with ya.
