OPEN THREAD — Styles Make Fights: 13 Mar. 2026

· Yahoo Sports

MADRID, SPAIN - MARCH 11: Federico Valverde of Real Madrid celebrates scoring his team's second goal with teammate Vinicius Junior during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Round of 16 First Leg match between Real Madrid CF and Manchester City FC at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on March 11, 2026 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images) | Getty Images

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Dear MM,

Styles Make Fights. I’m not sure if this was mentioned much last DT in the comments, I wasn’t around to participate much — I think many of you are trying to get in your “Told You So” bag about Arbeloa vs Xabi and then will find yourself in a different position the next time we lose etc — but now that a bit more time has passed, I’d like to elaborate on what I believe may be the only truth about this 25/26 Real Madrid team and season: Styles Make Fights.

Quick Disclaimer: As I’ve said on countless occasions and again this is my opinion (as well as 3x CL-winner Zinedine Zidane…) it is harder to win La Liga than the Champions League and often league performances better showcase a team’s actual ability. The core reason for this belief is that La Liga demands relentless consistency across 38 games against opponents who know you inside out and prepare specifically for you, and our greatest rival who is equally consistent rarely enables Real to have more than a bad month. This is different than the Champions League where a team can quite frankly be so-so mediocre for the former group stage / league stage but then find form in the later 2-3 months as they simply face teams in a knockout format which may further highlight favorable reffing decisions / miscues etc. This disclaimer is present just so as you continue reading you also better understand where I’m coming from. I’m not really debating this point — most Real Madrid fans are coded to prefer the CL and think its harder due to Real Madrid history. I’m just telling you where I’m coming from. I don’t actually care if you disagree lol

The CL. Anyway, continuing…if we truly truly truly want to dive into the composition of this Real Madrid team as well as the players, I think a case can be made that this team in its essence is a Champions League coded team. By this I mean, in the Champions League where Real will likely face teams of similar attacking quality rather than defensive cohesion and teams that play with a more open approach, Real may find a tad more success as our players thrive with space — especially on a counter. IMO this is actually one of the main reasons why I’ve always felt that we match well against Barcelona (once Kylian Mbappe learned what offsides was) compared to Atletico Madrid. Our team thrives with space.

I’ll break it down slightly although I don’t think this is really a groundbreaking revelation that I need to debate. Vinicius Jr., Kylian Mbappe, and particularly Fede Valverde thrive with space. Some of their best abilities come in the form of ball progression at quite frankly lightning speeds which is again something that suits a counterattacking system compared to let’s say Getafe’s low block. I think we can even extend this argument to much of the midfield and some of our backline. Tchouameni is not Rodri or a deep-lying playmaker. His best attribute may actually be his athleticism which is showcased through covering space, crunching tackles, and occasionally a quick pass to a Trent / Arda / Cama — players who can launch a counter with an breathtaking long pass or subtle progressive carry. I’d argue that Jude’s best attribute is again also his athleticism. Sure, Jude can dribble, score off late runs, make an occasional breathtaking pass and make diving Cama-style tackles in transition. But this is a player imo built for the Premier League rather than any Spanish-style football. He is known for his relentless tenacity not his mesmerizing passing play. He is a player that we commend for being everywhere. He is very much an athlete. As for our backline, Rudiger and Militao are known more for their chaotic defending on occasionally brilliant long pass than being situated in a possession scheme. Militao especially is actually a great long passer. However, you won’t find him dictating possession in the same manner as a “confident” Dean Huijsen.

And for the record before this gets selectively read, I’m not saying any of this in a demeaning way. I think this actually could be a very welcomed discussion as we move forward with this team and its composition. You need athletic players in 2026, the pure tiki taka of football imo is and has been dead.

But this athleticism may have it’s own drawbacks in La Liga.

La Liga. Particularly against mid-table to low table La Liga teams, and Atleti who play like they’re facing relegation every week, I believe this athleticism and pure counter attacking ability of our squad becomes a detriment. I likely also don’t need to really expound on this as if I’m Alex Roberts writing my life thesis in the DT comments (nothing but love Alex. Please take a DT week from me…I’m begging. Val has us working OT.) — but how many times have we seen this team absolutely lost against a low block? Just this year against Getafe / Osasuna / Celta Vigo, three teams that to some extent had no interest in actually attacking us in settled possession, our team looked lifeless going forward. There was no space for Vini to dribble. Mbappe (a player who is not Falcao or Peter Crouch) found himself stuck at the top of the box because lord knows he isn’t going to stay in the box waiting for a header (and quite frankly he shouldn’t). Tchouameni found himself having to dictate play which he can’t at a fast enough pace against a team with defensive cohesion. Fede is stuck with the ball in the middle of the park at his feet something which he isn’t as accustomed to nor imo great at. Etc. Etc. Etc.

And then these low blocks lead to our typical narratives that we always discuss during recent transfer windows. We need a Joselu-type ST (tho GG — lives and dies in a box that no one crosses to lol). We need a controlling midfielder. We need a creative midfielder. We need a RW (which also rarely matters if we can’t get the ball to an isolated winger fast enough).

Again, and I said this a bit at the time, one of our best La Liga games was against Athletic Bilbao earlier this season. And imo it is no coincidence that Bilbao has one of the highest defensive lines in La Liga (according to markstats). We were particularly successful in that game because Vini and Mbappe had acres of space on the LW. Trent easily freed them passes and then good luck catching Vini and/or Mbappe.

What Does This Ultimately Mean? I don’t know. I don’t really have a conclusion for this. Maybe it means that there is a semblance of hope for us in the CL because most of the teams that we are bracketed against to face will more often than not promote a relatively high line and pressing sequences. If the team can stay defensively disciplined, which is unlikely but possible, we may have a winning chance against City in the Etihad, Vincent Kompany’s Bayern, a Liverpool or even PSG. Maybe last season we were simply unlucky to play Arsenal aka Atletico London. But maybe this is also a more sinister conclusion for our hopes for La Liga with this team in its current competition. Since we are relying on words such as defensive discipline / intensity for players who quite frankly pride themselves on their attacking prowess more than their defensive grit, we can for years to come expect more inconsistent at home and simply being a bit lost against new-age low blocks with tactically nuanced defensive. Maybe this Real Madrid era is more built for the glitz and glamor of the Premier League than the cold callous nature of the 90’s and early 2000s Serie A…idk. However, in my opinion, this is likely an issue that we should rectify sooner rather than later.

Cheers,
J

A Lil’ Anecdote Pt. IV

Only thing better than MM now is livin’ right, now so I can’t spare no feelings. Been quiet on threads, but my aura loud, but I never got through to you with silent wisdom. Wealth of knowledge right here, young man, won’t be holdin’ your hand, you’ll die broke tryna play victim. The little ideas I told made people go rogue until Coral gave me a big one.

Reincarnated without love, hope my Brazilian twin stay back, dancing and powerin’ up. From me, no more handshakes and hugs. MM energy only circulate through us. Baldwin said everyone must be judged, but this time, feel like God favorin us. 3-4 years in, still got that pen dedicated to bare hard truth. The post etiquette can speak with a vigilant tongue, the predicate this time is f— you. Been carryin’ a heavier heart right now, I can power lift with Olympians too. I’m carryin’ various darts right now, plan to then desert this ish like tiramisu.

So we can go body for body, I hand you a body, I’m probably a better masseuse. I really don’t bother nobody but Val run it by me when I got to clear out the room. You would not get the picture, if I had to sit you, for hours in front of Portrait of a Woman at the Louvre. Hmph — would not have a clue, if I had you sat in Estadio da Luz, next to Madridstas that boo. People who lookin’ like me, started with nothing but government cheese, but now I can seize the government too. Remember Juni’s posts were just creme and yellow, but now all my comments are blue. Remember I said “I’m the greatest” back when Ninja debated the number one and number two? Topic was always hilarious to me, you carried ‘em to me and my DT brought out the —

[crash]

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“i never got thru with silent wisdom“

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