If Vinny does leave, I think you’d see the best version of Rodrygo on the left as he’d know what his role truly is. I think Xabi knows as well but is handcuffed with Vinny cemented on the left.
Rodrygo lost his formative years and his confidence is shattered. He doesn't have the physicality to lean on. Nani was better than this version of Rodrygo.
My main fear with him is that prior to his BdOr nomination he was level-headed, hard working, disciplined, etc. Once he lost, something changed even though he boastfully claimed he would come back 10X better. Now his antics and behavior off/on the pitch make him seem like a Neymar regen. He wants to party/vacation first, then football second.
🚨Karim Benzema: "Kylian Mbappé's performance this season? He’s much better, scoring goals is not new for him. He’s going to score goals, many more." "There’ll be matches where Mbappé won’t even touch the ball. What we expect from Kylian is that when he gets one chance, he puts… pic.twitter.com/gmUv8laSgu— Madrid Universal (@MadridUniversal) November 17, 2025 Posting this here too as it seems relevant. I think his comments are quite insightful especially because he was in the lockeroom with these guys not so long ago and has himself seen the highest of highs and terrible lows in football. From the quote you could tell how seriously he took the responsibility of being the 9 here. That generation of guys wasn't perfect but we had something something special with them, between Cristiano, Karim, Modric, Ramos, Kroos and Casemiro we had people who took their jobs seriously and took their status even more seriously. Karim Benzema: "Kylian Mbappé's performance this season? He’s much better, scoring goals is not new for him. He’s going to score goals, many more." "There’ll be matches where Mbappé won’t even touch the ball. What we expect from Kylian is that when he gets one chance, he puts it away. That’s how Real Madrid is." "Real Madrid needs him a lot, and there are matches where you simply have to score, like against Atlético Madrid, Liverpool… These are teams that sit back, and he has to show up and work through those situations." "He has to combine with Vinicius. Real Madrid counts on Mbappé for these moments, to bring the Champions League. I think he can do it with the other players. He can’t do it alone." "He needs Vinicius, other players… that’s how it is. I think Vinicius, Mbappé, Rodrygo — even if he doesn’t play much, Bellingham… they need to talk." "One is there to score goals, another to provide assists; we’re not going to tell Bellingham to score goals because that’s what Mbappé is there for, nor tell Mbappé to be the number 10 because that’s Bellingham’s role." "They need to communicate. He’s better, but he needs to focus more in those moments when Real Madrid needs him, because he has everything it takes to do it."
🚨 Karim Benzema: "Vinícius Jr? He’s a very good kid, with a big heart who wants to learn, he’s phenomenal. That’s how it is.""People put a lot of pressure on him, a lot. There are players who cannot be put under this much pressure.""He’s still young, but he’s already played… pic.twitter.com/ipMx532J4t— Madrid Universal (@MadridUniversal) November 17, 2025 🚨 Karim Benzema on Vinícius Junior winning the Ballon d’Or:"I think he might win it someday. He can do it. It’s difficult, but he can. It’ll happen the day he understands that he’s on the pitch solely to play and leaves everything else behind." "He has the quality and he’s… pic.twitter.com/gwjFBnPymX— Madrid Universal (@MadridUniversal) November 17, 2025
Toni Kroos: “In those moments I often told him that enough was enough, because you get the feeling that at some point the whole team will be disadvantaged by his manner. At some point you can understand when it gets on people’s nerves — whether it’s an opponent, a referee, or an opposing crowd.” “As a team you get the feeling that, because of that, things start to turn against the whole team,” Kroos said about the impact of the Brazilian’s off-field distractions. “On the pitch I very often tried to calm him down a bit — but above all so that he wouldn’t get thrown off his own game, because that did happen sometimes. I often said: ‘You’re so good, you don’t need any of that.’”
Comments from Benz and Toni show that we lack that type of leadership in our squad. The on field father figure, guiding the group towards the common goal.
Jogo Pornito. Mbappe's and Xabi's fault. Nothing rightJust impure football ❤️pic.twitter.com/Aqv15xp2li— Salman (@Srguler) November 18, 2025
But the Seleçao coach gives him confidence and makes him happy while Xabistein tells him to track back and makes him watch videos.
Vinny in part, cost Carlo his job at RM. I don’t think there is any manager on the planet that Vinny will listen to.
That's why it's an all lose for him he if doesn't get his mindset in check. None of Enrique, Guardiola, Conte or Al Hilal's Inzaghi would say "oh that sh!t is just ingredients, at least he tries"
I honestly don’t care at this point, we can ship him off to whoever will take him will be good for us. He’s a net negative at this point.
Hit the nail on the head. It's very clear we have no leaders EDIT: We have potential leaders in the future, but the here and now doesn't exist.
While I understand what Toni is saying, the club has gone full all in on the idea that we are victims of a plot to conspire against the club at every corner and every defeat. When the inhouse media talks about a referees third grade cousin's ex job from 6 years ago which might have potentially led to contacts between two people and starts rolling out excuses this just naturally makes it's way into the team and the club in general. When you fire a coach during title celebrations and you call him to tell him why you did it a week later, and he says "maybe I should have complained about the referees more but I prefer that we just focus on what we can do better ourselves" it just shows you where the club is at, at the moment. Considering that, Vinicius represents the club better than anybody else right now. Vinicius is exactly what the clubs public identity has been for about a year + now.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negreira_case https://getidiom.com/dictionary/english/statistical-anomaly
Good, so Vinicius is doing everything as he's supposed to. He's voicing injustice. The club needs to reward him and give him an executive position as well. The club has emboldened Vini for the past 2 years or so. He does exactly what he's supposed to. Club says "we are treated unfairly" - Vinicius says "I am treated unfairly". A perfect match made in heaven.
I didn’t say that. I’m saying that reffing in La Liga is at the very best the most incompetent joke in the sport & at a worst is being heavily influenced. Vini’s attitude and Barca paying off refs are two totally separate topics that have nothing to do with each other.
Nothing incompetent about this. In fact this is very competent and strategic. If things were normal they would balance out but you will still find find media and fans who will rationalize everything from a referee scandal being exposed to statistics showing extreme odd coincidence.
Yeah, the referees situation is hard to deny when you see those stats on a graph. Whoever slapped that music on this video needs to be in prison. That song is a crime against humanity.