Open Thread: November 23, 2021

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: Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, YoSnail, Ezek Ix or NeRObutBlanco.

More about the Granada game

Kiyan wrote a nice article about tactical points from the game against Granada. It is worth reading.

Updates ahead of Sheriff.

Hazard, Valverde, Bale and Ceballos are out for the game against Sheriff. As Bale got injury during a FIFA international break, if he stays out for more than 28 days, FIFA will pay 25,500 euros daily to Real Madrid.

Real are worried about some coach movements. Pochettino has been linked to Manchester United. If he leaves, Zidane is PSG’s top priority and Real is worried that Zidane as PSG’s coach would be an asset for them to keep Mbappe, at least until the World Cup.

Candidates for the FIFA men’s best player award.

Sadly, Cortouis is not among the nominees for the best FIFA men’s keeper (Alisson, Donnarumma, Mendy, Neuer and Schmeichel). Public voting is open in FIFA website until 10 December. The three finalists for each category will be announced in January 2022.