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.
Quantum: So why all this talk about this moderator Juninho? I thought he retired or something last summer?
GreatestClubRM: …wish he stayed retired.
malomalomalo: Val convinced him to come back… Juninho is a one-man team who through his flexibility has saved many MMers who would otherwise be considered nuisances to Coral authorities. However, there are also those who have stayed in the shadows because of his existence. The MM balance of power would have collapsed.
Some days I feel like Gojo…most days I feel like Toji. Through heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one.
Apathy. I must admit that for the first time in a long time, I’ve found myself apathetic about Real Madrid, our illustrious history, our uncertain future, and the myriad of debates that we meander through to maybe understand each other or in most case just to hear our own voice. Maybe a post to just prove to the world that we still exist? Idk it’s just been a bit hard for me to be excited about much of anything…this season just is what this season is. It’s been improper squad planning, absolutely lack luster play, coaching mistakes, executive incompetence, potentially a collection of the most unlikeable Real Madrid stars, the eternal facade of a Pintus mask and a medical staff hiring, injuries, a tantrum, and just enough racism (and quite frankly anecdotal excuses for it by Madrid friends and soon turned foe) to make a Real Madrid fan like me debate whether it’s best to simply turn the TV off.
And yet despite all of these valid reasons (as well as a million external reasons), the TV remains on. I still evaluate the game film of Thiago and hope that either through relentless success or the seemingly bottom-less pit of failure, growth and better days will come to Real Madrid. I guess this week and maybe for the week’s to come my first message is for you all to hang in there. Enjoy life and this game for whatever it is. Better days will come one way or another — I think.
Rodri. Now, I know there is a contingent of MM that is waiting for me to curate the almighty “I Told You So” MM DT about this season and how it’s played out since quite frankly the Atletico Derby if not El Clasico, but I’m sorry to disappoint but I lack any real appetite to rehash the past. I firmly believe that as we approach the rest of the season, I’d prefer to stay more focused on the future. So let’s quickly begin with Rodri.
There is more than enough news regarding Rodri and his signing for all Madridistas to start preparing for his summer signing. Sources as well as now more reputable journalists have started to opine that if Rodri remains relatively healthy for the rest of the City season, he will likely be signed by Real Madrid. The City tie also comes at a relatively good moment as a final showcase to the club executives on whether to permanently bring the Spanish Balon D’Or winner to the Santiago Bernabeu.
Personally, I’m not entirely sure that I want Rodri or think that he would be a successful signing. Well, actually let me be clearer. I’m against this signing depending on the transfer price, wages, and salary years. IMO Rodri is and at times can be a brilliant player that could very well serve as the metronome of our team. He is very much the piece that we’ve been missing in our buildup play and is nuanced in his ability to either partner with Tchou or simply replace Tchou / Camavinga as a 6. No longer will you see Arda or a player of his ilk being forced to drop into the depths of the midfield to receive a pass. Rodri alone could very well revolutionize our style of play.
However, Rodri comes with a lot of baggage which makes this signing in my opinion extremely risky. The age and ACL injury worries me and is only doubled after looking at the incompetence of our own medical staff. I mean seriously, ask yourself — do you trust Real Madrid to keep Rodri healthy for the majority of the season? My answer would be vehemently, no. I’d be worried that his season would look quite frankly a lot like Trent’s thus far. Moments of brilliance in between moments on the sideline. Rodri also could be a looming issue in our locker room, which I’ll admit some of me welcomes while some of me believes this could be a major concern. I’m not entirely sure how Rodri x Vini x Jude will work after the Balon D’Or snub. I’m not entirely sure how the board proceeds from skipping the ceremony due to that snub to now welcoming the same player to the club. TBH, even Rodri’s welcome to Real Madrid video would be somewhat awkward. Are we just not mentioning this incident or the words that were said between both parties before and after?
I’m happy the club appears (key word: “appears”) to be recognizing their mistakes with UEFA and our midfield composition. However, I’m not sure that this particular player is the right one. Again, and I’ve been stumbling into this issue myself. If we do want a DLP to potentially provide us defensive stability at the 6 role while being at least tempo nuanced….who else really is an option? I love Kees Smit but that isn’t him. Eliot Anderson is a name that’s popped up but looks to be going to City / Arsenal. Adam Wharton isn’t exactly that role? Also are we willing to spend the cash when we have holes in so many other areas? Idk.
Nevertheless, it seems like Rodri (+ Nico Paz) are coming to the Real Madrid midfield for 26/27.
Money. I’m not going to break down this post below with the necessary depth that is needed but I very very much encourage the entire of MM to reread this thread as I’ve seen some lackluster conversations regarding Real Madrid’s recent financial statements. I don’t have time to really dissect this thread and then quite frankly distill it into words that everyone without an accounting or finance background can understand but I’ll just say the following really quickly:
Real Madrid doesn’t fully have a money issue aka we aren’t broke. However, it is becoming tougher and tougher for us to raise cash quickly as revenue streams dry up and debts are called to be paid. This leaves us with 3 major options to raise finances quickly to fund lets say new players: 1) increasing our debt (i.e., taking out loans); 2) making large players sales; and 3) changing our model from a socios model to a fund shareholder model.
I’m not going to really really really dive into each one of these topics at the moment but I just want to lightly touch on this as we slowly march to the summer transfer window.
First, I wouldn’t expect many if any large summer transfers. I would not expect any galactico signings. IMO there’s a reason why you’re starting to hear the name Konate (who is free again). We will likely see smaller purchases that are more market friendly, so maybe a Konate (sadly a player I dont think I want), Rodri if the price makes sense (another player I dont want lol), Nico Schlotterbeck (if the price makes sense and someone like Rodri falls through — also another player I dont lol), and then a Nico Paz / Jacobo Ramon / Chema return.
Second, I’d expect a big sale — and if you want me to be super honest — I’d expect it to be Vini / Arda / Camavinga. Yes, contracts are set to expire of Alaba, likely Carvajal, maybe Rudi and someone else I’m forgetting but that doesn’t entirely reset and quell the potential growing issues with our wage budget. This is further evident with a player such as Rodri and Konate (who would arrive for free) likely demanding an above market wage to consider coming to Madrid. Therefore, it may also be extremely poor timing for a player of Vini’s ilk to be demanding an excessively high wage. I quite frankly don’t see the club being in a position where they will raise their current offer on the table and if Vini continues to maintain some semblance of form under Arbeloa — I don’t see why he himself would lower his demands. This stalemate makes Vini a prime candidate for a sale or if you just want to talk cash: a capital raise. I could also see Arda Guler getting sold simply because one could make a fairly easy case that Nico Paz is cheaper and may be able to provide similar production. Arda Guler likely on the free market could be sold for at least 70M — so why not? And then Camavinga’s tenure at Madrid has been a bit rocky behind scenes for the past 2 years so I could also see him sold if his friend Vini decides to leave.
Prepare for this to be the summer of departures (players / staff / and potentially an individual on the board…)
Dawg, MM ain’t seen a mirror in years — reflection’s probably crowded already. DT grew so much slower than the rest of us — was supposed to have flowered already. Words mostly tastes sour — you speak about how our, connection was lost and who accountable. Some might say it was me. I could see a few things that I would’ve did different undoubtedly. But make no mistake, my makeup didn’t come from no powder room, the weight didn’t come from Greek Yogurt calories. Tryna deflate these inflated alts + personas ‘cause otherwise, we just conflatin’ realities. Ya’ll scream, “this mod’s tyranny”. I can’t do them great Pyrenees things Javz and them pharaohs that showed, ain’t no barrels of gold gon’ go with you when die in them DT pyramid schemes. Set fire to my spirit and dreams if it means that I sleep on myself, Catch me breathin’ that hardly I’m thinkin’ more Kyky, if we ever speakin’ on wealth. I’m feelin’ Chris Farley, we look at the world gettin’ dumber and dumber, I seen it myself. By definition, These verses depositions, I already subpoena‘d myself. Hop the fence, the grass was greener, y’all lied. We not so Vini wise down here. It ain’t too many guys ‘round here, But new accounts pop up when shit arise. Make it a potluck, they bringin’ sides. This DT is not luck, I be divine. Sometimes you gotta re-remind MMERS. Watch them now try to reword what you already defined. I just want my tributaries streamlined. How come all these tacticos visionaries seem blind? Don’t think lack of decisions carry no weight. Protect your neck, MM watch your screen time. I slap they neck, they still can’t catch my dreams, huh.
