Open Thread: 27 July 2022

The Daily Merengue is 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, KungFuZizou, Juninho, NeRObutBlanco and Felipejack.

Only a draw vs Club America

Los Blancos are still fighting for the first victory of the season. Check the immediate reaction article, if you haven’t.

I agree with the article - second half was better. In the first half, the team struggled to create chances. Club America was putting a high pressure and our build up quality wasn’t good. The only player that looked sharp enough for me in the first half was Benzema - who is looking to continue his incredible form. Asensio continues not to inspire me - offensively and defensively.

In the second half, Carlo deployed his more energetic team and I really enjoyed watching Camavinga play today due to his incredible ball control and dribbling. Tchouaméni played as the single pivot in the second-half, but I expected to see more from him. Alaba, differently than last game, played as left-back the entire second half, enough to dismiss the rumour that Alaba didn’t want to play as LB and would have said that to Ancelotti. As a final note: I expected less from Hazard. He wasn’t incredible, but he made some sharp touches.

Mayoral to leave Real Madrid

Borja Mayoral has an agreement with Getafe, even though the player’s desire is to stay and that’s why he traveled with the team to US. Before the game vs Club America, work had been done on drafting and reviewing his future contract with Getafe. Only an intervention from Ancelotti will change his situation. Mayoral’s agent has said:

Borja Mayoral will do whatever it takes to STAY at Real Madrid, but we need the club’s approval. We don’t know anything as of now. We will decide Borja’s future after pre-season.

As Mayoral hasn’t played, I think we can expect that he’ll leave.