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, Kung_Fu_Zizou, Ezek Ix or NeRObutBlanco.

UNDER THE RADAR

Perhaps it’s time for new unknown managers to be unearthed in football, just in general. Today, there isn’t a manager that we haven’t seen rise, fall and get disgraced on the pitch. Or been figured out one too many times and the manager is still reluctant to change because old habits die hard. There also isn’t one top class manager that you can choose from today without listing the many risks and draw backs that come with him, which will make you deliberate on whether you’re willing to accept those risks or not. With more retired players stepping into management, we also need out of the box fellows to step on the managerial scene too. For all you know, your high school gym teacher, tax accountant, deep sea fisherman etc could be one hell of a coach who just needs the opportunity and backing to show his skills. Managers have risen like that in football, i.e Jose Mourinho.

COURTOIS TRUST

Courtois has asked the fans to trust the team to deliver. Well, it’s not trust we lack as i don’t believe anyone has lost trust in the team. Considering we’re not coming off a string of defeats that the Clasico encapsulated. The main problem here is a grave rebellion against learning from past mistakes and it stems from the board to the coaching staff to the players and lastly the fans. Rinse and repeat. The board refuses or are slow to buy certain players at certain crucial points, and further drags their feet with getting rid of certain players. Then the manager gets frustrated and has to make due with what he’s left with. But he tries his best, sometimes it works and other times we’re in many grey areas where we don’t know what perspective the manager is looking at things from. The players go out looking to implement managers tactics and plan, some execute it immediately and others need 6-7 months to properly learn it before they can function in it. Some also don’t get a chance to be on the pitch enough for various reasons etc. Then there are the fans whose patience is far more anorexic than the boards. So we’re rushing to all sorts of conclusions and damnations before mid-season, with majority of them not coming to pass.

INTERIM

I think we can all agree that Ancelotti was a stop gap, and as Zidane said, our club isn’t interested in building something long term. Carlo’s days were already numbered since he first signed. Regardless of what he wins/won.

ICYMI:

Kiyan covers the tactical imbalance between Xavi and Carlo. Jovic can’t keep waiting for chances that will never come.