Open Thread: February 6, 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 or Oscnar.

It’s matchday!!

Real Madrid are now in Huesca ahead of their clash on Saturday on matchday 22 of La Liga against the Aragon side. The whites are travelling with a very thin squad for today’s game after Sergio Ramos and Isco were both ruled out with injuries. Zidane didn’t call up Arribas or Blanco for tomorrow’s game as they didn’t pass the PCR test required for the league game. Here is the squad list.

Decisive few weeks for Vinicius.

Marca reported that the next few weeks will be decisive for Vinícius. With injuries on Hazard, Rodrygo and Vázquez, he’s got the chance to start and impress. If he doesn’t, the door for a departure may open this summer.

Hütter: “Jović arriving does not mean we’ll change the system and start with him”.

As covered in an article by Matt Wiltse, Frankfurt coach Hutter in a pre-match press conference prior to the Bundesliga match up with Hoffenhiem, revealed that Jovic will likely continue on the bench. “Luka is a world-class striker who brings extraordinary ability,” Hutter explained. “If we can afford to keep him and Sebastian Rode on the bench because the others are doing well, it shows our strength in depth. I have told Luka that we will know when the time is right to put him in the starting XI.”

ICYMI: Managing Madrid Podcast: Mayoral’s On Fire.

Matt Wiltse and Kiyan Sobhani review another eventful week for the loanees in this podcast. Various topics with regard to our kids have been covered ranging from Borja Mayoral’s red hot form to why Odegaard and Ceballos did not feature vs Wolves.