Lemon Merengue: 17 November 2024

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

Arda Guler has played more minutes for Turkey than he has for Real Madrid. He’s not a poor player. He’s not unrecognisable amongst his Real Madrid teammates in terms of technical ability or work rate or commitment. He is, however being reminded by Carlo that he should have left in the summer.

The argument that Carlo is there to win and not give minutes suggests that playing Arda Guler is akin to forfeitting a game. It is a rather untenable and pernicious argument which doesn’t say what it means and intentionally avoids logical implications.

The other insincere argument is, “Who should be benched for Arda?” The answer is simple. Who gets benched for Modric, Ceballos, Brahim Diaz etc..

January Transfer

The idea of Davies arriving in January seems far-fetched given it’s the middle of the season. Furthermore, it isn’t clear that whatever issues Carlo is facing will be resolved by the Canadian fullback.

Under the Bus

Who done it? First the injuries, then the players, then Carlo, then Pintus and now it’s Flo.

The reality is that both Carlo and his overlords failed to appreciate the reality of the defence over the summer. They played it casually and were relatively smug a out it. Zero urgency to have alternatives to Yoro or strengthening the fullback areas given the age and vulnerability of Dani and the fact that LV is not a natural fullback or that you need more creativity from LB for ball progression and chance creation.

What’s worse is that these issues have been around since Marcelo and Ramos slowed down.

We can blame Flo but he’s far from alone in being complacent.

Incident Over Design

Eduardo Camavinga is one of the finest midfield talents we will see this decade yet you’re liable to forget that under Carlo Ancelotti. Carlo’s approach to the game has a visceral disdain for certain types of players particularly young players. This is of course easy to bat away by pointing out the case of Jude Bellingham until you realise how exceptional the case is. That was a €100m signing and a hail mary to try and offset the departure of Karim. Beyond that you see very little patience from the Don. For a manager to reference Buffon as evidence of his appreciation of young talents is very telling.

Camavinga is a player of such tremendous potential you shouldn’t hesitate to be patient with him.

Carlo rewarded Camavinga’s performances against City by benching him against Bayern in the semifinals. This after what Camavinga did back in 2022. Perhaps Carlo wants Camavinga to knock on his door.. Perhaps he needs to see that personality to say, “Play me boss. I’m better!”

But from what we see it looks like utter disdain from the Don.

Hope springs eternal. The resources at Real Madrid are significantly more than any other club at any given moment to the effect that excuses are seldom tolerated if entertained at all. All clubs have all kinds of problems, many with far less resources at their disposal..

Food for Thought

Who remember what the talk was surrounding Carlo’s sacking back in 2015?