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 Kung_Fu_Zizou, Juninho, NeRObutBlanco, Felipejack, Ezek Ix and yours truly, Valyrian Steel.
Como are up and running in the UCL.

#shoutout

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 Kung_Fu_Zizou, Juninho, NeRObutBlanco, Felipejack, Ezek Ix and yours truly, Valyrian Steel.
Inter at the Bernabeu.
Well maybe it's not fair to judge based on the number of midfielders missing.

#shoutout #juninho #ezek

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!
Shoutout to the Mods who do a fantastic job, Valyrian Steel, Ezek XI, KungFuZizou, NeRObutBlanco, Felipejack, and Juninho.
Writer's Prelude. The Jose Juninho Era will continue.
"If I'm hated at MM [Barcelona], it's their problem but not mine. Fear is not a word in my DT [football dictionary." — Jose Mourinho
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#mods

The Daily Merengue is a place where you can feel free to d 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, Ezek, Valyrian Steel, Kung_Fu_Zizou, Juninho, NeRObutBlanco and yours truly, Felipejack.
Here we go: Real Madrid signed Oscar Naasei from Granada. The fee is €2M.
At home: Inter, PSV, Leipzig, Lask
Away: **** nal, Roma, Shakhtar, Aek Athens
The calendar of these UCL games will be released tomorrow.

#rmcf #valyrian #juninho

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 you'd totally go swimming with: Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, Kung_Fu_Zizou (AKA KFZ), Juninho, Ezek and, of course… yours truly.
Well well well… Los Blancos come away with a win—a hard fought one at that. Espi is gonna be front page, due to … well, being the savior.
Now, this isn 't quite usual for me, but here it is: I'm already aboard the Espi hype train.
Shifting our focus to a player outside of yesterday's protagonists…
I feel for Trent— I really do. Man's got a point to prove despite being a bonafide superstar of the game. This treatment, as described, is …just bad; low level. We know who he can be and I do believe in the man. Hopefully, he'll be closing mouths this seasons.

#thread #valyrian

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 you'd totally go sunbathing with: Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, Kung_Fu_Zizou (AKA KFZ), Juninho, Ezek and, of course… yours truly.
Well, actual-match-day anyway…
The reported XI by diario makes sense, but…
Uh… Now, about Mourinho and leaked XI's…
I mean, I can see why we would consider changes in personel after such a wave—well, waveS—of injuries. But does anybody know this one?

#thread

It's the day after one of the surprise healthcare stories of 2026.
Moderna (MRNA) shares fell 20% in early trading on Thursday after a stunning 177% gain yesterday on news that the biotech and partner Merck (MRK) notched a big breakthrough in the fight against cancer.
The pair announced that their personalized mRNA cancer vaccine — called intismeran — successfully hit its primary goal in a Phase 3 late-stage trial, demonstrating a meaningful reduction in melanoma recurrence in patients who had already had their tumors surgically removed.
The trial compared using intismeran alongside Merck's well-known immunotherapy drug Keytruda against using Keytruda alone. Patients who received the combination lived meaningfully longer without their cancer returning or spreading.
"It's a home run, maybe even a grand slam," Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel said on Yahoo Finance (video above). "The results are pretty amazing."

#patients

The seconday for the Raiders appeared like it could be in flux this offseason. With the drafting of four defensive backs and the trade acquistion of Taron Johnson, there was a chance things would look a lot different come the season.
The safety position doesn't seem to have changed. Returning starters Jeremy Chinn and Isaiah Pola-Mao seem to have those spots on lock. Rookies Treydan Stukes and Dalton Johnson have not made any real push there.
The cornerback position was another story.
Throughout much of camp, the competition going on at cornerback was fierce. The two rookies Jermod McCoy and Hezekiah Masses were seeing first team reps along with former starter Decamerion Richardson.
Come the game Thursday night, everyone seemed to have a rough outing, but McCoy and Masses had an especially rough go of it as the primary second team cornerbacks. Richardson was excused for the birth of his child.

#come

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 you'd totally go swimming with: Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, Kung_Fu_Zizou (AKA KFZ), Juninho, Ezek and, of course… yours truly.
Los Blancos play Schalke as part of their.. well, good string of friendlies. Let's see what we see from the boyz today. Hopefully, something to have us head into the season with some optimism.
What's your phyche heading into the season? Optimistic? Not?
Well… If we can be patient and nurture the kid, he can go a long way. Should be a worthwhile investment which also covers a specific gap in our roster.

#merengue #valyrian #steel

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, Ezek, Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, Juninho, NeRObutBlanco and yours truly, Kung_Fu_Zizou
Pre-Season was swallowed up by the Club World Cup last summer. This summer it has been disrupted by the World Cup. The desire to continuously invent football matches for eyeballs and revenue will always risk the quality of the game. The players who did not go to the World Cup or those who exited early will all have a decent pre-season. The players who went deep into the tournament not only have a shortened pre-season but will be back on international duty before long. The argument that the players are rich is one I will always find utterly unconvincing. What is noticeable is the decline in the quality of football and footballers in general. Managers desperately trying to reduce the game to automatisms in order to cover-up the dearth of unique individual quality in the game. Stats creating an Americanisation of the beautiful game. I do not know Maradona, Zidane and R9's stats. They're practically irrelevant to the beauty of the game. That aspect of the game is increasingly greyed out and becoming near impossible to access. I digress.. This is a mixed pre-season for Mourinho. He has had a chance to take a look at some of the youngsters and also the likes of Camavinga, Trent, Fede and Arda Guler. What he has not had the chance to do it have a look at a potential starting XI for the season with all his best players available. There are two friendlies remaining before La Liga kicks off for the 2026/27 season and Mourinho will still be intuiting his best XI for the season by then. The names are easy but the balance.. well, that's an entirely different matter altogether.
A true baller..Turkish Delight? The kid is awesome and has surpassed the expectations of many by merely still being at the club given every challenge he has faced every single season since his arrival. Arda Güler is a unique profile in the Real Madrid squad. He is a purely technical player while also having tactical awareness to make up for his physical short-comings.
Arda's story is one of perseverance. It is difficult enough to make it at Real Madrid without major obstacles but Arda has had to overcome injuries and lack of trust as well as rife competition in the squad. He has seemingly come out the other side, looking increasingly like the fabulous footballer we imagined upon his arrival in 2024. Mourinho will have to find a way to use Arda without upsetting the proverbial apple cart.
Thiago was seemingly in the window shop until apparently Jose Mourinho insisted that he remain at the club.

#club #Football

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, Ezek, Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, Juninho, NeRObutBlanco and yours truly, Kung_Fu_Zizou
Mourinho continues to face the same struggles that plague every Real Madrid manager. How to find a balance with limited influence in squad construction. Mourinho has received most of what he asked for but as the opening game of the season nears, it is what he did not get that gets magnified and scrutinised. The coach seemingly wanted an entirely new back 4 and has brought in 3 defenders already. He wanted two midfielders and has been forced to settle the one who does not solve the fundamental midfield problem. In attack he has been able to balance the left-leaning dynamic with the addition of a Diamond on the Right. He also recruited a number 9 with the characteristics of a penalty-box striker to give himself more variation in attack. What lingers though, are questions about a CF who is not a natural CF, continuing as the starting CF along with a lack of cohesion in defensive application on the LW, compounded by an inability to press and have any genuine control on or off the ball in midfield. Where Mourinho cannot resolve these issues with personnel changes, he will need to rigid structure to compensate.
The La Fabrica graduate showed a lot of ability last season. He did not walk into a great team but one that was struggling on and off the ball. He ran tirelessly and constantly tried to play with composure, an admirable feature of his game. Thiago's simplicity on the ball was further highlighted by the typical haphazard play of the established midfielders who simply cannot tolerate or comprehend that a game cannot be played at a single pace or simply the pace that suits the opposition.
"Frat brother, real brother, that brother. We just upped the score, give me dap, brother."

#game #cannot #season #wanted

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!
Shoutout to the Mods who do a fantastic job, Valyrian Steel, Ezek XI, KungFuZizou, NeRObutBlanco, Felipejack, and Juninho.
Writer's Prelude. We'll keep today short.
Cheers,
J

#daily #rmcf #shoutout #ezek

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ezekiel Alladoh scored the winner in the 97th minute, one minute after Neil Pierre equalized the match, as the Philadelphia Union rallied from two goals down to beat Atlanta United 3-2 on Saturday in stoppage time.
Pierre headed in a pass from Kai Wagner in the 96th minute to equalize before Alladoh finished with his left foot from the center of the box off another Wagner ***** ist in the 97th to seal the win for Philadelphia.
Philadelphia scored three unanswered goals after falling behind 2-0 despite playing with a man advantage for more than an hour.
Atlanta went down to 10 men in the 27th minute when Enea Mihaj was shown a red card, but Miguel Almirón gave United the lead three minutes later.
Tristan Muyumba extended Atlanta's advantage in the 66th minute, scoring from outside the box off an ***** ist from Alexey Miranchuk to make it 2-0.

#alladoh #atlanta #united #goals

Alastair Chalmers missed out on the chance to win Guernsey's first medal at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
The reigning British champion, 26, came sixth in the 400m hurdles in Glasgow.
It meant he could not add to the bronze medal he won in the event four years ago.
Chalmers stumbled over a hurdle with around 200m to go as he challenged for the lead and lost ground he could never make up as he finished in 50.24 seconds .
The race was won by Nigeria's Ezekiel Nathaniel in 48.47 seconds as England's Jake Minshull took silver and Jamaica's ******* inie Wilson bronze.

#commonwealth #glasgow

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!
Shoutout to the Mods who do a fantastic job, Valyrian Steel, Ezek XI, KungFuZizou, NeRObutBlanco, Felipejack, and Juninho.
Writer's Prelude. We'll keep today short.
More on Rodri. The saga continues with more reports regarding Rodri's potential to come to Real Madrid. With the official announcement of Eliot Anderson by City, I think we'll hear real news on Rodri by end of today. Either a true break of chance where Real will not buy Rodri or what at this point most suspect which is a pretty clear statement of intent and almost near official confirmation that the agreement will be sorted. I really don't expect this to take long.
Vini. Only really stating this because of the lack of news but as a reminder allegedly the club and Vini's entourage are supposed to meet regarding his renewal this or next week. There's been really no movement from my understanding + sources + journalists. Let's see if there is a swift conclusion.

#welcome #merengue

The Daily Merengue is a place where you can feel free to d 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, Ezek, Valyrian Steel, Kung_Fu_Zizou, Juninho, NeRObutBlanco and yours truly, Felipejack.
Can we say that there is no surprise in this WC? I mean, the first 4 NTs in FIFA ranking are exactly those in semifinals. It's true that FIFA made the WC bracket with this in mind — the top 4 could only face each other in the semis. What to you think? And who are you supporting to win WC?

Welcome to The Daily Merengue!
THESE ARE YOUR MODS: Ezek XI, Valyrian Steel, KungFuZizou, NeRObutBlanco, Felipejack, and Juninho
Somehow spain got past belgium but now they have france to beat.
Norway have the tendency top shock. so we'll see

The Las Vegas Raiders are set to start training camp within the next month, and as they gear up for an interesting 2026 season, a few players and/or position groups can really make or break the season. The Raiders added a plethora of talent over the last off-season, with the Raiders likely to only return starters at left & right tackle, tight end, runningback, and one wide receiver on offense. Defensively, they likely return 3 starers on the defensive line, one at safety, one at corner, and none at linebacker. Needless, to say the Raiders are turning over the roster with talent, and for a roster that has been void of young talent in previous years, that was crucial.
I've also already broke down the offense, and special teams. Those links may be live when you read this, and if not they will be soon.
No matter how much talent the Raiders have on defense, it will all come down to Rob Leonard. Leonard's scheme is still an unknown, and after spending time with Patrick Graham, Mike MacDonald, and Brian Flores it's likely he'll adapt each system into one culmination. I'd expect the versatility of MacDonald, aggression of Flores/Graham (yes Patrick Graham's defense was aggressive in terms of blitz rates, havock plays, etc), and similar coverage tendencies to Graham. Leonard is the true wildcard, he's shown an ability to be a leader of men, is clearly a player focused coach, and he's preached aggression, effort, and attack on defense. If the Raiders can put together a quick moving, aggressive defense, that is able to deconstruct, work through ******* ignments, and play consistent the unit can elevate quickly. However, aggressive and complex defenses can also fail, and Leonard will be tasked with a lot in 2026.
The Raiders added an influx of talent into their secondary this year. The core remains with CB Eric Stokes, who enjoyed a massive breakout season for the Raiders and arguably played at the level of a top 15 corner in the NFL. Additionally, the Raiders will keep safety Jeremy Chinn, who will work in a variety of formations, styles, and overall defensive fits to allow the Raiders flexibility in the secondary. Taron Johnson comes over from Buffalo in a trade, and while Johnson is likely on the decline he'll work in a secondary that allows him flexibility across the nickel, free safety, and slot cornerback. In addition to those three, the Raiders also return Darien Porter who played well as a rookie, but has a ways to go in his development as well.

Porter played roughly 50% of the Raiders snaps, and he'll be pushed for that role this year by rookies Jermod McCoy & Hezekiah Masses. Porter has good ball skills, moves well, and is fluid in coverage with good instincts. He's still learning the position, technique is rather inconsistent, and he's a poor tackler which could really limit his chances in this defense. McCoy, if healthy, has a chance to be the Raiders best overall cornerback. His knee will be the biggest question, but all signs point to him

One of the most noteworthy developments in the Las Vegas Raiders' recent mandatory minicamp was that fifth-round pick Hezekiah "Zeke" Masses worked some with the first-team defense in both days of the camp.
He rotated with 2025 third-round pick, Darien Porter, both days. At his end-of-the-offseason press conference, Raiders' head coach Klint Kubiak noted that Masses, a Cal product, worked well in the offseason and he must continue it when the pads come on in training camp.
Thus, it looks like, Masses, at least, has a chance to become a starter this season. I don't think many people anticipated that when he was drafted.
So, what happens if Masses plays well in training camp and in the preseason and earns a starting job? Well, if he's ready for it and he plays well, it will be a huge boost for the Las Vegas defense.
It would really lengthens this cornerback group. If fourth-round pick, Jermod McCoy, is able to play (which the team anticipates) and Masses is ready for a starting role this cornerback group will be set up well for now and for the future.

The Daily Merengue is a place where you can feel free to d 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, Ezek, Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, Juninho, NeRObutBlanco and yours truly, Kung_Fu_Zizou
The Real Madrid garage sale is likely underway. Real Madrid players tend to not want to leave. The club itself has been rather soft on players it might deem surplus to requirements. While some people might wish to characterise the club as being ruthless, the reality is that the club is rather accepting of players running down their contracts. Where some clubs would isolate a player and make them miserable enough to seek refuge away, Real Madrid will listen to offers and wait for the player to decide.
The Real Madrid midfield has always been under intense scrutiny. When the team is successful, they are the best in the world. When the team loses a match, suddenly almost any midfielder not already in the squad is just as good if not better.
The young frenchman has been unfortunate to be injured so frequently and has failed to really fight for a place in the XI.
Arda’s trajectory has been the opposite of Camavinga’s. The talented Turk’s journey has been more of a struggle than a comfortable ascent. This does not tell us much about what will happen in the future but it might suggest to us that Arda will be in the mood to earn his place in Mourinho’s team. The kid has great self-belief and under Mourinho, the types of outbursts we saw from Arda will likely be met with swift disciplinary action. His main focus will be continuing to develop his game and work on his weaknesses to help optimise the strengths.

The Daily Merengue is a place where you can feel free to d 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, Ezek, Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, Juninho, NeRObutBlanco and yours truly, Kung_Fu_Zizou
Lion-Hearted: Jude Bellingham kick-off his World Cup campaign with a trademarked run and finish. A quite extraordinary and adaptable player who scarcely gives in to circumstance. Jude is a player who insists. There are many talented players. Players who thrive in certain systems, players who look great when they have the right players around them or thrive when they follow the coach’s instructions to the letter. And there are players like Jude Bellingham who insist, who persist and who conquer.
England won an enthralling 4-2 encounter against the much-vaunted Indefatigables of Croatia, who were lead by the legendary Luka Modric. England are as in recent tournaments one of the favourites, and having fallen at the final hurdle at EURO 24, will be looking ravenously at staking a claim on immortality on the world’s biggest stage. It is no longer a question of talent, profiles and ability. It is now a question of conquest. The big lion has let out a roar. It’s game-on!
Real Madrid are looking to be swift in the transfer market this summer. The club have already secured 4 additions to the squad before dawn.
Ayyoub Bouaddi is the type of player Real Madrid would be looking to sign over the past 4 seasons. Young, talented and with a high ceiling. Still affordable. However, the pressure of the last two barren seasons would make such a signing an apparent luxury.