OPEN THREAD — Dear Rotations: 18 Dec. 2025

Welcome to The Daily Merengue — 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!

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A Collection of Letters (Prelude)

“I hope one day these words find you.” — [censored]

Writer’s Prelude. This week will simply feature letters as we discuss Real Madrid. Maybe they’ll matter and maybe they won’t. It is what it is. It’s just how I felt those days.

Dear MM,

Today’s letter will be a short live reflection of our Copa game. 

First Half. Alright so it’s currently HT after a quite frankly good if not great 1st half. Overall, the team has collectively put in a decent and hungry performance with several goal-scoring opportunities. Since the camera angle is a bit prohibitive for in-depth analysis, here are a few individual performances and things that I’ve found worthwhile:

Castilla Fullbacks. So far, I’ve liked what I’ve seen from David Jimenez, and I’d like to add that I also liked what I saw from Valdes against Alaves. Offensively, both fullbacks seem relatively comfortable on the ball and good at assessing when to break towards the channels or circle possession. Whatever Arbeloa has been teaching these Castilla kids, it seems to be in sync with our current styles of play. David is a bit on the small size which is a cause for concern aerially but thus far I’ve only counted one particular moment where he looked a bit stranded while covering a forward with Dean Huijsen (who at times seems to forget about his height). So far so good from the kids and I hope to see more. TBH both look 10x calmer than Fran.

CB Pairing. Under these circumstances, I’m willing to forgive Xabi Alonso. We have little to no healthy CBs, Asencio has a fever, and Tchouameni just needs rest, so it’s ok for now. However, Carreras needs to be stop being inserted as a CB. He quite frankly isn’t good at it. I think he’s fine in a pinch when surrounded by two other CBs so it’s a 3-CB system but his diminutive frame and reluctance to be aggressive on aerial passes / sometimes in general in the middle of the park, is a massive liability for our structure. I’d be happy to see this experiment end.

Ceballos / Arda. Quick sentence because the second half is starting. Well done. The former has been a maestro in the midfield dictating our buildup. The latter delivers some masterclass progressive passes.

Second Half.

Endrick. So Endrick imo just made the best pass of his career to which Mbappe simply waste lmao. Thank god this game is psychologically over. Now there will likely be a long debate about Endrick and how Real Madrid has handled his development. And I’m here to say that it’s been a bit poor but also understandable. Endrick arrived to our club at the same time as Kylian Mbappe…of course that’s going to raise issues. I mean additionally this year it’s been hard enough for his Brazilian compatriot Rodrygo to get off the bench so I’m not surprised by the issues here. Additionally, Endrick is truly a raw player with at times questionable decision making. Even during his goalscoring stints last year, he’d often shoot when he obviously needed to pass and yes it sometimes worked…but often his teammates looked baffled by the decisions. It’s hard enough with the team coping with Vini. Endrick on top of that could be a catastrophic mess.

I think a fair share of Madridistas are sad about him being loaned out but tbh I’m excited by this. Endrick needs to play. He needs to consistently play in an environment where he’s allowed to make mistakes. And this loan will finally give him that opportunity. Today, we often all clamor for Nico Paz. It’s Nico Paz this and Nico Paz that. I think it’s plausible to question whether Nico Paz of today would be wanted by Madrid fans if he had stayed. Nico would’ve likely been stuck on the bench (or even worse in Castilla) waiting for that one opportunity which may or may not come. We’d then base the entirety of his ability off at most 10-15 min cameos. Some of you may say that’s not true…but that’s exactly what it is. That’s what happened to Rodrygo this entire season. That’s what happens to Brahim. That’s what happens to Gonzalo Garcia. You have one absolutely random game to start with zero rhythm and at times a mix match group of players and then you get maybe a 20 min max cameo where you need to prove that you’re the second coming of R9. I’m not excusing anything or saying this is unfair…it just quite frankly is what it is. So I’m happy Endrick now has the opportunity to do exactly what Nico Paz / Odegaard / Kubo all wanted — to play.

one other thing — Mbappe. I’m happy he scored today and helped with the OG. I assume he’ll get MOTM again too (last game shouldve been Jude imo). But I really don’t understand why he’s still playing in this game at the 79 min. I’m giving Xabi the benefit of the doubt that he isn’t that dumb tbh and that this is something the club + Xabi / meds / Mbappe have agreed so that he has a good chance to break Cristiano Ronaldo’s calendar goal scoring record. Hold on one second. Talaveres just scored.

Ok — I’m back. Mbappe has score again lmao. Anyway, I’m not stressing about this game. I know a lot of you are going to be like OMG WE CONCEDED 2 GOALS. I mean yea…the team did it’s job and checked out before the 90 min. We can learn off this, I’m not particularly worried.

WELL THAT’S ALL FOLKS

Cheers,

J