#14 - Perfectionists : 14 September 2023

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, Felipejack, Juninho, NeRObutBlanco and yours truly, Kung_Fu_Zizou

UP Next.. La Real Visit the Nuevo Bernabeu

Real Madrid have a very strong record against La Real even though the matches can be very difficult.

Real Madrid have won 22 of the 34 La Liga meetings with 6 losses and 6 draws.

La Real won the last encounter 2-0 at the Anoeta. The loss was part of a collection of underwhelming performances during the 2022/23 season.

This time around expect Carlo’s men to fight tooth and nail in front of the home crowd to maintain a perfect start to the season.

The game will be tough following the international break but if Real Madrid has been good at anything so far this season, it’s been getting the result. A good start to the season

Who would be a manager?

Mr Santos won the Euros with Portugal. It’s a bit like Claudio Ranieri with that miraculous season at Leicester. He’s achieved something that will be very difficult to top. Portugal were really hard to watch especially given the talent at their disposal. I hoped Santos would retire so as to not put fans through that again.

Some banter

Food For Thought

Endrick, Arda Güler and the prospects of teens in the Real Madrid first team

Since 2017/18 when Hakimi and Theo joined the first team as teenagers, the success rate of teenagers who stay with the first team has been very high. We might argue there is selection bias but that’s what scouting is. Selecting those most likely to succeed.

Considering, Fede was 20 but he likely doesn’t develop as well as he has if he doesn’t stay in 18/19 and 19/20. Vinicius and Rodrygo stayed with the first team(circumstances permitted) and they thrived.

Right now, the first team starters Vini, Rodrygo, Fede, Camavinga and Bellingham(4 games in. Lol) are success stories of youngsters being trusted to develop into core players.

Endrick has a long way to go and so does Arda but I think they are likely to thrive if they get a chance to stay with the first team like Vinicius and Co.

I have to sum this up with the claim that if Reinier had stayed with the first team he would be way better than he is now. His physical and mental development would have been much further along simply because he arrived as a teenager.

Is Real Madrid the best destination for teenage talents? Or has the club just lucked out with youngsters recently?

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