Ranks FC - A Football Podcast

There are just a couple of matches left in most domestic leagues in Europe, meaning that it's now or never for a lot of things. Title races, relegation scraps, promotion tussles - there's absolutely loads left to play for across the continent.On today's episode we look at the most exciting things left to play for this season - from Arsenal vs. Manchester City and Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund in the title races in the Premier League and Bundesliga respectively, to the battles for differing European spots across England, in La Liga in Spain, and in Italy's Serie A, where the Champions League battle is an absolute bear pit.Things We Love discusses yet another weekend of absolute madness, and one that was really tough on teams at the top of their respective leagues; Roma's wonderful tribute to captain Lorenzo Pellegrini; and the atmosphere in El Trafico, where LAFC finally triumphed away at LA Galaxy.There's also a Melon of the Week that we absolutely hated handing out, and Jack takes over the Gibberish Rankings to discuss his favourite golf clubs and how they compare to different football players. It's Ranks!If you want to take advantage of our free trial going on on Patreon right now, why not join us at patreon.com/ranksfc? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's time for the Champions League Takeaway - an immediate review of everything that went down in the Champions League this week as we had our first round of quarter final matches. Every matchweek, we're going to be ranking the three key takeaways from each of the games played that week, and looking at the games through that Ranks FC lens, to give you a sense of everything that we learned from each game.We start with Real Madrid's 2-0 win over Chelsea at the Bernabeu, where Frank Lampard's Blues lacked real dynamism, and the spark and trickery of Vini and Valverde made them pay. We try to find some positives for Chelsea too, but ultimately this one felt like a bridge too far for a team lost with where they are right now.Then in Part 2, we head for Milan, where Napoli were once again quashed as the Rossoneri came out on top in an all-Italian affair. We talk about the power of San Siro, Napoli's nightmare evening in the North, and Milan's refusal to kill the game off - will that cost them in Naples? Three B's headline Benfica 0-2 Inter, where Bastoni's long passing is given its due credit, Benfica's wilting under the lights is discussed in terms of fatigue and experience, and Barella's return to Europe's top tier of midfielders is heralded - he remains Inter's big-game Mr. Reliable. Finally we turn our attention to Manchester, to the most impressive performance of all 8, where City's intensity made Bayern melt in the Manchester malaise, the Barnsley Beckenbauer John Stones ascended to the throne of his namesake against his old club, and Dayot Upamecano had an evening we're sure he'd love to forget.It's Ranks!If you want to take advantage of our free trial going on on Patreon right now, why not join us at patreon.com/ranksfc? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's always good to take stock of players at this point in the season, so we thought we'd do something fun - and try to work out the best front three we could build from each of the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1, before pitting those against each other to determine an ultimate winner. As you can imagine, consensus was tricky to come by in a world that contains so much brilliance, but we've done our best!Things We Love discussed the job that Unai Emery is doing at Aston Villa, Ben Foster's big moment in the 'biggest non-league game ever' and the brilliance of Easter Weekend in the Championship. There was an incredibly controversial Melon of the Week from Dean, and Sam's Gibberish included some questions out of left field.It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!Club football is back with a bang, and so is the return of the Champions League, which will get to its quarter final stage (or as Sam calls it, 'the best bit in football') next week. We wanted to get the jump on it, looking at each team and ranking them in likelihood of them winning the competition this year - will it be Manchester City, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Napoli, Milan, Inter, Bayern Munich or Benfica that lifts that famous trophy at the start of June?It's not the only big European tournament going though - Jack takes us on a quick pitstop of the Europa and Conference League final 8s as well, although it's only his top three to win each of them (and a wildcard to keep an eye on!)There's a Melon and Shoutout of the Week, returned to full glory this time round, and Sam's Gibberish is provided by his wonderful, long-suffering wife Rach, who gives us her take on the UCL 8-1 ranking.It's Ranks!If you'd like to take advantage of our free trial on Patreon, have a look around here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's been a week of consternation in the managerial world, from last week's bolt from the blue coming out of Bayern Munich, where Julian Nagelsmann was replaced by Thomas Tuchel in the Bavarian hot seat; whilst on Sunday night news broke that Antonio Conte and Tottenham Hotspur had parted ways also. We start at Spurs, where we discuss what comes next for Tottenham and how Daniel Levy has a plethora of differing options from Mauricio Pochettino to Thomas Frank, to decide how the future of the club looks.Then we are blessed to be joined by Manuel Veth, German football expert, writer for Forbes and Transfermarkt, and host of the Gegenpressing Podcast; to discuss why Bayern decided that they were going to part ways with Julian Nagelsmann, despite it looking like he was bound to be their project manager for a long time to come, and why Thomas Tuchel's availability forced a quick decision upon the Bayern hierarachy.Finally, there's a Melon of the Week from Scotland, a disheartening Shoutout Section, and a Gibberish that looks at a missing member of the Ranks FC crew.It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's the International Break, and so we wanted to take a look at a couple of players who look like they could change their respective nation's fortunes over the coming years. We talk about Turkey's Arda Guler, Ireland's Evan Ferguson, Belgium's Romeo Lavia, Israel's Oscar Gloukh and the big bad wolf himself - Norway's Erling Braut Haaland; to discuss how their skillsets could launch their countries into a new era of success.There's Things We Love too - where Dean discusses the form of Bukayo Saka, both on and off the pitch; Sam looks at the changing ways different clubs are attempting to avoid relegation in the Premier League; and Jack delves into Sevilla's managerial merry-go-round and the need to be careful what you wish for.There's a managerial Melon of the Week, and Sam's Gibberish takes a turn for the weird as he compares oven temperatures to footballers.It's Ranks!If you're interested in joining us for more over on our Patreon, our free trial is active now so you can get a month's listening to see if it's something you like! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's time for the Champions League Takeaway - an immediate review of everything that went down in the Champions League this week as we locked in the final four teams in those quarter-final slots. Every matchweek, we're going to be ranking the three key takeaways from each of the games played that week, and looking at the games through that Ranks FC lens, to give you a sense of everything that we learned from each game.We start with Manchester City's 7-0 demolition of RB Leipzig, looking at Erling Haaland's goalscoring instincts, Leipzig's brave but foolish gameplan, and why City feel like real favourites this year; before taking a dive into Inter's battling 0-0 that saw them progress at the Dragão at the expense of Porto, discussing Inter's defensive solidity for 90 minutes, the chaos of injury time and why Diogo Costa is the real deal.Then in Part 2, we head for Madrid where Real Madrid finished the job against Liverpool, talking about Trent's tricky time against Vinicius Jr. (again), the aging nature of Liverpool's midfield options, and just how comfortable Real Madrid are in these stages of a stressful competition; before finishing in Naples with Napoli 3-0 Eintracht Frankfurt, looking back at Napoli's incredible defensive effort in the ranks, how the Kolo Muani red card ruined the tie for Eintracht, and why Napoli's ball manipulation around the pitch puts them up there with the best in the world right now.It's Ranks!If you want to take advantage of our free trial going on on Patreon right now, why not join us at patreon.com/ranksfc? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!Today we have a special guest joining us to provide you with some insights into what actually goes down in the smoke and mirrors world that is scouting - Lee Scott, who is Chief Scout at Vélez CF. Lee has worked with a host of clubs in world football, including his hometown club of Aberdeen, was a co-founder of Total Football Analysis, and has written three books as well, meaning he's amongst the busiest and most broad-ranging minds in the game.We absolutely loved this episode, and we think you will too! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's time for the Champions League Takeaway - an immediate review of everything that went down in the Champions League this week as the first four teams booked their quarter-final slots. Every matchweek, we're going to be ranking the three key takeaways from each of the games played that week, and looking at the games through that Ranks FC lens, to give you a sense of everything that we learned from each game.We start with Bayern knocking out PSG, looking at the performances of Dayot Upamecano, the insane pace of the game and what the next steps are in Paris; before taking a dive into Spurs' limp 0-0 that saw them exit at the hands of AC Milan, discussing Mike Maignan's influence, the bizarre way in which Spurs let this one dribble away from them, and Harry Kane's future after this display.Then in Part 2, we head for Lisbon where Benfica dismantled Club Brugge, talking about Gonçalo Ramos' development into a complete No. 9, the disaster that was Scott Parker's time in Belgium, and a remarkable season for João Mario; before finishing at Stamford Bridge, where we talk some mesmerising individual displays from Havertz, Chilwell and Cucurella, how Dortmund let the tie slip from their hands, and the penalty landscape in which we now reside.It's Ranks!If you want to take advantage of our free trial going on on Patreon right now, why not join us at patreon.com/ranksfc? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!We're going a little bit abstract this week, to think about what defines each of Europe's Top 5 leagues in their current state, and then try to apply that criteria to work out which player (currently in the league) best represents that league right now. We take a trip through the Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A, the Premier League and Ligue 1 to find those who carry the spirit of the leagues within their own games.Things We Love discusses the madness enveloping top teams beating each other at the summit of European football, looks at two players considering switching their national allegiance to Spain, and talks briefly about Fiorentina's much-needed resurgence as we get to the sharp end of the season.There's a Melon of the Week straight out of the red mist playbook, a food-themed Shoutout of the Week, and Gibberish discusses the shock events that went down at Jack's birthday at the weekend.It's Ranks!If you want to take advantage of our free trial going on on Patreon right now, why not join us at patreon.com/ranksfc? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey Rank Squad!As we’re no doubt sure you heard on last week’s episode, we’ve opened 1-month free trials for our Patreon in March. That means you can sign up for nothing and sample what we do over there, enjoying 2 extra episodes a week and getting a real sense of the community and togetherness we’ve built.This episode is a 15-minute snippet of our traditional Monday Postbox episode, where we react to the weekend’s football and let Patron questions guide the flow of the conversation. If you enjoy it and want to hear the rest, please head over to www.patreon.com/ranksfc and scoop a free trial! We look forward to seeing you over there! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's that time again, and we're mixing things up this week! With the media's attention firmly locked on the PL title race, the Champions League and an imminent El Clasico, we wanted to explore some big storylines perhaps sliding under the radar. So Sam's set Dean & Jack to work on five big questions left across Europe - who will be the worst team across the Top 5 leagues, which team will come out on top in the Eredivisie title race, at what point Napoli will start to rotate their squad a bit more, whether Fulham can actually qualify for Europe, and if Dortmund will ever drop points again (and what that means for the Bundesliga title)!Things We Love touches on Manchester United's win in the Carabao Cup Final, and how Harry Maguire would have felt; Nashville SC's performance in their opening game of MLS regular season; and a beautiful gesture in the game between Besiktas and Atalanyaspor in Turkey.There's a Melon of the Week straight of out Austin, Texas; and Sam proposes a game that's been doing the rounds on social media for this week's Gibberish.It's Ranks!If you're interested in joining our free trial month over on Patreon, why not sign up here? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!Our new show is back for Round 2 - an immediate review of everything that went down in the Champions League this week as we finished off the first legs in the Round of 16. Every matchweek, we're going to be ranking the three key takeaways from each of the games played that week, and looking at the games through that Ranks FC lense, to give you a sense of everything that we learned from each game.We start with Liverpool 2-5 Real Madrid, talking Vinicius Jr. shining, Luka Modric running the midfield and why goalkeeping mistakes are more common now; then head to Eintracht Frankfurt 0-2 Napoli to put some respect on Chucky Lozano's name, look at how Kvicha Kvaratshkhelia channeling Francesco Totti and touch on why Kevin Trapp has kept this tie (sort of) alive in Part 1.Then in Part 2, we dive into RB Leipzig 1-1 Manchester City where City got punished for not killing the game, Leipzig bizarrely refused to have a strategy in the first half and Pep didn't make any substitutions again; before finishing with Inter 1-0 Porto where crossing finally paid off for the hosts, Matheus Uribe put in a masterclass in the middle, and Porto toughed out the trip to set up a thrilling second leg.It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's a big episode today because we're taking a look through each of Europe's Top Five leagues and their Golden Boot races, to see what we can learn from who leads the scoring charts in each country. We start in the Premier League, talking Arsenal sharing the goals out and Erling Haaland's remarkable consistency. Then we head to Italy to discuss Napoli's dynamic duo of Osimhen and Kvaratshkhelia, and the scintillating form of Ademola Lookman.In Spain there's a discussion of the lack of goalscoring across the league, as well as some nice redemption arcs that show the power of persistence; whilst in Germany we look at Nagelsmann's system finally coming to fruition at Bayern and Randal Kolo Muani becoming an all-round threat for Frankfurt. Finally there's a trip to France, where Flo Balogun is posing Arsenal a problem for next season, and Wissam Ben Yedder continues to do his thing once again.Things We Love talks Southampton's new man at the helm Ruben Selles, the brilliant Bundesliga title race and the return of MLS; a very obvious Melon of the Week is given out, and Jack takes hold of Gibberish to discuss his trip to Iceland.It's Ranks!If you'd like more from us, why not give our Patreon a go? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!We're here with a new show - an immediate review of everything that went down in the Champions League this week as we returned to European action in the Round of 16. Every matchweek, we're going to be ranking the three key takeaways from each of the games played that week, and looking at the games through that Ranks FC lense, to give you a sense of everything that we learned from each game.We start with Dortmund 1-0 Chelsea, talking wastefulness, mistakes and why the reverse fixture should be a cracker; head to Milan 1-0 Tottenham to discuss Brahim Diaz, toothlessness and inexperience in Part 1.Then in Part 2, we dive into Club Brugge 0-2 Benfica where Parkerball returned, Rafa Silva shone and why this tie is done; before finishing with PSG 0-1 Bayern where pace was the name of the game, Bayern lacked bodies in the box, and Galtier got it wrong.It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!With the Champions League in full swing this week we wanted to change up the pace a little bit, and go a tad more evergreen - revisiting an old favourite that we'd had more than a few requests to look at again. Back in one of our first ever episodes, we ranked every Premier League captain on their current playing ability, but that was two and a half years ago, so it was worth a new go round the merry-go-round.Things We Love starts us off where we talk Barcelona's current excellent form, whether Ronald Araujo should be getting close to the 'Best CBs in the World' debate, and Nantes' resurgence ahead of their UEL tie with Juventus this week.There's a Melon of the Week from mad scenes at Ibrox in the Scottish Cup, and Gibberish returns as Sam talks through his life this past week dealing with some surgery in the household.It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!The Champions League is back next week and we're here to make sense of it all - going through each of the eight matchups to determine who is in the better position to advance, discussing their strengths and weaknesses, and taking a peek at the teams we think are favourites to lift that famous trophy by the time we get to May. There's a lot of ground to cover!Part One sees us look at PSG vs. Bayern Munich, AC Milan vs. Tottenham Hotspur, Club Brugge vs. Benfica and Dortmund vs. Chelsea; Part Two discusses Liverpool vs. Real Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Napoli, Inter vs. Porto and RB Leipzig vs. Manchester City; whilst in Part Three we talk about our favourites to win the whole competition and why we're backing them, as well as covering Melon of the Week and a brilliant shoutout.It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!Yesterday brought the January Transfer Window crashing to a halt, with Chelsea going big once again, some smart signings across the board and some moments of madness as well. We take a look back at the big questions - who "won" the window, which permanent transfers will have the most impact in this second half of the season, and which loans topped a very impressive list.We talk Enzo Fernandez to Chelsea, Marcel Sabitzer to Manchester United, João Cancelo to Bayern Munich, Harry Souttar to Leicester City, Jorginho to Arsenal, Pedro Porro to Tottenham Hotspur, Keylor Navas to Nottingham Forest and much more, including some brief discussions on Marseille, Bayern, Real Valladolid, Southampton, Bournemouth, Verona, Spezia and many others.It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's a special episode today - with our beloved Transfer Guru absent we are joined by long-term friend of the pod and Tifo Football star Jon Mackenzie, to talk through five deals which have maybe flown under the radar of most football fans. They're all under the age of 21, they all cost a fair bit of money, and they all add something new to their respective clubs. With the Premier League doing most of the big business in this window, it remains heavily stacked in favour of the PL, but perhaps off-piste from the names you've heard thrown around a lot this window. We talk Jhon Duran to Aston Villa, Victor Kristiansen to Leicester City, Danilo to Nottingham Forest, Dango Ouattara to Bournemouth and Georginio Rutter to Leeds United and discuss how they can affect the seasons of their respective clubs. There's a quick Things We Love, where there's a thank you to everyone who watched our documentary (if you haven't, we'd love if you smashed this link to take a look), a discussion of Xabi Alonso's slick Bayer Leverkusen, and some chat on high-flying, free-scoring Atalanta as well. Dean has a brief cameo to bring you Melon and Shoutout of the Week, and Sam's Gibberish revolves around 90's football memorabilia that gave him a big nostalgia trip this weekend. It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What's good, Rank Squad!We're back for another tryst into the chaos of the January transfer window, trying to make sense of everything that's going on around us. Today, we take a look at five players who are potentially on the market and could make a huge difference to a new club in the second half of this season.We start with Ferran Torres, who is linked to Arsenal (again), as a potential alternative to Mykhailo Mudryk; before moving on to Arnaut Danjuma (linked with Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Leicester City); Duvan Zapata (linked to Everton and West Ham); Michail Antonio (linked with Wolves, but we'd like to see him in Italy, at AC Milan, Atalanta or Fiorentina); and finally, Moises Caicedo (linked with Chelsea and Liverpool).There's a return for Things We Love, where Sam discusses our upcoming documentary on Athletic Club which is dropping this Friday on our YouTube Channel; and Jack waxes lyrical about Napoli's 5-1 victory over Juventus on Friday night (what else is new.)Melon of the Week comes from a very slippy St. James' Park, to Jack and Dean's chagrin, there's shoutout of the week, and Sam talks his problems with Wordle in the Gibberish Rankings.It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's time for our rehousing episode - where we take a look at five players who are unwanted, underused or unloved at their current clubs, and find new homes for them to thrive in. This January, we're talking about Tottenham's Japhet Tanganga, PSG's Keylor Navas, Barcelona's Memphis Depay, Lyon's Houssem Aouar and Roma's Rick Karsdorp, alongside a whole host of honourable mentions, and looking for clubs where their respective skillsets would be put to good use.There's also time for an opening discussion on Chelsea's attempt to loan João Félix, which looks set to go through, and some thoughts on why their move for Enzo Fernandez broke down; there's a Melon of the Week all the way from Australia, and Sam's Gibberish revolves around some of the weirdest emails that he's been receiving on a regular basis.It's Ranks!If you'd like more from us, why not have a look at joining our Patreon, where there's at least two more episodes of Ranks FC every single week! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad, and Happy New Year!The transfer window is only a few days old, and yet plenty of clubs have already got themselves involved in the mire - with some big names already having shifted on to horizons new. We take a look at five deals already complete and dig into the analysis of whether they're good, bad, indifferent or important. We talk Max Wöber to Leeds United, David Datro Fofana to Chelsea, Cody Gakpo to Liverpool, Matheus Cunha to Wolverhampton Wanderers and Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, giving them the Ranks treatment.No Things We Love this week, because there's an incomplete transfer impending that's hogging the headlines, with reports stating that Argentine World Cup winner, young player of the tournament and Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez is set to join Chelsea in a deal that would make him the most expensive player in Premier League history. We dive deeper into why they want him, why he's going to cost so much, and our thought on the deal as a whole.Plus, there's a (slightly obvious) Melon of the Week, and given the time of year, a Gibberish Ranking where Sam shares his New Year's resolutions with you all.It's Ranks!If you'd like to get involved with our Patreon, where we're dropping transfer specials across the month as well as our usual Postbox and Spotlight content, you can get involved here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's nearly the New Year, so it's time to get back talking transfers ahead of the window opening - and who better to guide you through it than our very own Transfer Guru Dean Jones, who has the lowdown on five of the biggest storylines you need to be watching closely as transfer business swings back into life.There's also a quick chat about Cody Gakpo's move to Liverpool, Matheus Cunha's move to Wolverhampton Wanderers; and Melon of the Year is handed out, alongside a return of the Gibberish Rankings.It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's been a wild World Cup, a magnificent month of football that culminated on Sunday with one of the greatest games that you're ever likely to see in your life, never mind on this kind of stage - and Argentina are once again Champions of the World, bringing to a close an era of European dominance that has lasted two decades. It was a fitting send off for (in our humble opinion) the greatest player of all time, leading his country to the pinnacle of the world game. Shouts out Leo Messi.We take a look back at the tournament as a whole, first discussing the wonderful chaos of the final, before picking our Team of the Tournament, throwing around some names who might have earned themselves a big move, as well as talking our favourite moments, the biggest shocks and the state of play in international football ahead of the 2026 tournament.It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's finally here - 62 games later, we have our World Cup Final set, and it's Argentina vs. France in the showpiece. Can Lionel Messi finally achieve international football immortality or will France become the first side in over half a century to retain the crown? There's narratives galore, so we thought we'd dig deep into where this game is won and lost.We talk Messi vs. Mbappe, Alvarez vs. Giroud, the genius of Antoine Griezmann, Argentina's siege mentality, France's ability to get over the line, and tactical rigidity vs. tactical flexibility - as well as two cracking national anthems, and our predictions as to how it all goes.It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

...and then there were four!Hello Rank Squad! We have got down to our final quadrant of Nations left in this year's international piece de resistance, with Argentina, Croatia, France & Morocco the only teams remaining in the 2022 World Cup. Fresh from a round of shocks in the last ranking, we've decided to give it another go, with Dean taking each nation in turn and looking at their chances of winning the tournament in its entirety.Then, in Part Two, Jack talks us through some positives and negatives for each nation to be aware of ahead of the semi-finals, with a few tactical and a few emotional bits to keep an eye on in each of these two games. Will we have a repeat of the final last time out? Is this finally Lionel Messi's time? Can Morocco's fairytale express keep dropping masterclasses? It's all to play for.It's Ranks!And, for more from us, why not join our Patreon for after-the-whistle reactions, Christmas specials in the pipeline, and regular audio updates on the upcoming transfer window in January? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!We're now 56 games into this World Cup, and eight teams remain in the competition as Quarter-Finalists. We have the bracket, we have the route, we have four games from each of them to analyse, so it's time to rank the Netherlands, Argentina, France, England, Croatia, Brazil, Morocco and Portugal on how likely each of them are to lift that famous trophy aloft on December 18.There's also time for us to have a look at some of our favourite managers, players and teams that we've had to say goodbye to, in a special 'fallen by the wayside' segment in Part 3!If you'd like to join the Ranks Community, and get our Matchday Drops on World Cup Daily, it's a great time to join our Ultras on Patreon, where there's tonnes of extra Ranks content for you to explore and listen to. It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! We're over half way through the 64 games of the World Cup now, and after two rounds in the Group Stages, there are some things of note that we have learned - or at least you'd hope so, having watched every single minute of this tournament so far. Sam takes us through five intereting quirks that he's noticed across all the teams - from underdog nations really taking the handbrake off and going hard at favourites, attacking substitutions playing out in favour of those who make them, tactical formation changes in abundance, those for whom this World Cup might just have been a tournament too far, and squad numbers (especially for goalkeepers) being an absolute shambles. There's some Things We Love too, which focus on Ghana's Mohammed Kudus, Canada's Steven Eustaquio and Portugal's ghost goal that Cristiano Ronaldo was adamant was his; as we look through some of the best bits of the World Cup so far. It's Ranks! If you'd like to come and see what the fuss is about on Patreon, and get our daily podcast drops during this tournament, then click here!Or to take advantage of our deal with NordVPN, you can visit NordVPN.com/ranksfc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!We're now into the bulk of the World Cup, and we've seen our fair share of spills and thrills already, but this Friday brings us the Ranks Derby (and Dean's House Derby) between the USMNT and England in Group B. We're joined by a very special guest in the form of TSS's Taylor Rockwell to balance the equation as we look at three players from each side who could make all the difference in this clash across the Atlantic.Plus, we start things off by taking a look at Saudi Arabia's upset of Argentina, why France are ominously scary after their first game, and how come there's so much added time in these games!It's Ranks!If you'd like to get involved with our quickfire daily podcasts covering everything during the World Cup, why not have a look at our Patreon community? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!The World Cup is nearly upon us, so it's time to get into the depths of what we can expect from every team at the World Cup ahead of the start on Sunday (!!). In this first part we're taking on Groups A-D - so you can expect discussions on (drum roll)... the Netherlands, Senegal, Ecuador, Qatar, England, Wales, USA, Iran, Argentina, Poland, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, France, Denmark, Australia and Tunisia!We take each group as it comes, examining the favourites and making some predictions on who we think is making it to the Quarter Finals. Part Two is out now as well, so make sure you get over there for all the lowdown on Groups E-H, and remember that during the World Cup we're going to be doing daily drops on our Patreon - so there's never been a better time to join!And, if you'd like to take advantage of our NordVPN offer, visit nordvpn.com/RANKSFC for all your cybersecurity needs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!The World Cup is nearly upon us, so it's time to get into the depths of what we can expect from every team at the World Cup ahead of the start on Sunday (!!). In this first part we're taking on Groups E-H - so you can expect discussions on (drum roll)... Spain, Germany, Japan, Costa Rica, Belgium, Croatia, Morocco, Canada, Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon, Portugal, Uruguay, Ghana and South Korea!We take each group as it comes, examining the favourites and making some predictions on who we think is making it to the Quarter Finals. Part One is out now as well, so if you missed it, make sure you get over there for all the lowdown on Groups A-D, and remember that during the World Cup we're going to be doing daily drops on our Patreon - so there's never been a better time to join!And, if you'd like to take advantage of our NordVPN offer, visit nordvpn.com/RANKSFC for all your cybersecurity needs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

With domestic football (mostly) stopping in just a few days time, we take a look at some of the teams who just can't hold back their excitement for a month where they'll get some rest and some time on the training ground; and those teams who will be devastated that their season so far has been put on hold. There's some discussion of new managers, changes of managers, mentality resets, momentum halts and all the rest of it as well. Things We Love takes the form of players who have recovered from injury in time to play a part at the World Cup, and the celebrations we've seen when individuals get that final call up to play for their nation on the biggest stage; a quick discussion on the glorious madness that was MLS Cup; and Jack's apology for cursing teams in the last couple of weeks. There's also Melon of the Week, which is handed out to a familiar recipient; and the Gibberish Ranking, which is hosted this week by none other than 4-year-old Ranks Prodigy Dylan Jones, who talks to us about his favourite music artists. It's Ranks! If you'd like to come and join us for daily coverage of the World Cup and everything around it, there's never been a better time to join our Patreon! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

MLS Cup takes place this weekend, and we couldn't let that slide without giving you the lowdown on what was happening in the big one across the pond. So, we roped in our MLS Correspondent and de-facto chief writer on the Ranks FC website, Mr. Owen Murray, to make sure you know your onions when it comes to the big one in the States - between Philadelphia Union and Los Angeles FC.We talk Andre Blake's defensive wall, LAFC's hold on Dean Jones, Gareth Bale, Carlos Vela, the first cup final between two No. 1 seeds in bloody ages and all the rest of it, in a special bonus drop.It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!Every year, there are certain players who shake off a bad season, or even a bad reputation, to finally hit their heights and shine brightly for their respective clubs. So, inspired by a question about Lionel Messi's 'remontada' from last year's slightly disappointing season at PSG, we decided to take a look at the Premier League who have turned things around to become key cogs in their teams this season.We discuss a Manchester United full-back, some Brazilian flair at Fulham, Everton's remoulded and reborn No. 8, a story good enough for a film at Newcastle United, and perhaps the biggest redemption arc of the lot at Arsenal. There's also Things We Love, which includes some hype for MLS Cup (more on that later in the week), Unai Emery's appointment at Aston Villa, and Braga having themselves a lot of fun in Portugal.Melon of the Week takes us to Molineux, and Sam wraps things up in the Gibberish by discussing some footballers that you wouldn't want to have trick-or-treating with you, in honour of Hallowe'en this week.It's Ranks!If you'd like to join us on Patreon for all your World Cup needs, as we gear up for daily drops during the tournament - hit this link; or to take advantage of our deal with NordVPN, you can visit NordVPN.com/ranksfc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!We're back with one of our favourite episodes, discussing some of the best young footballers in the game on the back of the Golden Boy award handed out last week to Barcelona's teen sensation Gavi. To make sure it's differentiated from our Best Teenagers episode a while back though, we wanted to look at some of the notable omissions from this year's list that you will want to keep an eye on for next year.We talk Southampton's new midfield anchor, a Dutch superstar lighting up the Eredivisie after some high profile moves, a German coming back from a serious injury, Barcelona's latest left-back and Borussia Dortmund's starboy at centre-forward.There's also Things We Love, where we get hyped for the World Cup and give a little time to Maurizio Sarri's silky Lazio; a Melon of the Week segment with a focus on the Welsh capital; and a Gibberish which includes some stories out of Sam's latest hobby.It's Ranks!We'd love to have you on board with our Patreon during the World Cup for daily podcast blasts and in-depth dives on the main contenders. Why not give it a go here? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!With Karim Benzema locking down his first Ballon d'Or trophy (and deservedly so) on Monday night, we wanted to use that as a springboard for some discussion. First up, we look at a very uncontroversial decision to give Mercedes Benzema his first ever Golden Ball, as well as the podium places and some chat around the Kopa trophy for the best young player!But time waits for no man, and so we head onwards to next year, to examine the five players that have had the most stunning start to the season. Will Haaland scoop the prize even without a World Cup? Does one of Messi and Neymar need to lift the Jules Rimet trophy to propel them back into the spotlight; and some rogue outside shouts, to win that golden ball next winter.There's a Melon of the Week from the manager's dugout in Leicester City's local, and Jack takes over Gibberish to discuss some things he's good at. It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! It's time to look back at the first quarter of the season, or as we like to call it, the end of the start. So, with so much ground to cover, we decided we'd rank Europe's top five leagues in terms of the carnage factor of the beginning of the season - everything from struggling giants to remarkable fairy stories and everything in between. There's Things We Love, which looks forward to a stunning weekend of football ahead of us in terms of teams in their respective top fours playing against each other, and a nod to our weekend ahead where we're off to Bilbao to see a resurgent Athletic Club take on Atletico Madrid. Melon of the Week comes from Portugal, and in the Gibberish Rankings, Dean takes his turn at ranking three things that he's good at. It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

(Firstly, apologies for the audio quality, Jack's gone AWOL to Sicily and tried to continue with the day job)Managerial careers are a bloodbath. You can win a Champions League these days and be out of a job 15 months later, so it feels like anyone is fair game really. It's not pretty, it's probably not right, but it's just how it is in the cut-throat world of elite-level football, so we take a look at the heads who might be under the cosh already. Max Allegri of Juventus, Brendan Rodgers of Leicester City, Steve Cooper of Nottingham Forest, Gerard Seoane of Bayer Leverkusen, Steven Gerrard of Aston Villa, Julen Lopetegui of Sevilla and Simone Inzaghi of Inter all come under the microscope (in one way or another) all come under our microscope as we look at the gaffers under pressure at this stage of the season. There's also Things We Love, which includes a straight-up worship period for what Erling Haaland is doing to the Premier League in his first eight games; some love for the brothers of the moment at Athletic as Iñaki and Nico Williams assist each other; and Jack going off on one about Casa Pia in the Primeira, who sit fourth after the first eight games of the Primeira season. And Melon of the Week takes a personal turn for Dean, whilst Sam's Gibberish Rankings are the most self-indulgent they've ever been. It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's been a window full of intrigue, but some players have used it to devastating effect, to make the jump from squad players to locked in starters in Qatar, or to inscribe their name firmly in their managers squad lists. We look at a couple of Dutch delights, an England centre-half (no, not that one ), a brilliant Brazilian shape-shifting to good effect, and a Belgian on the rise.There's also World Cup Watch in Things We Love, where Dean discusses France's strange defeat to Denmark and their potential over-reliance on talented young guns, and Jack pours out some love for the two South American behemoths who have delighted in this window.Melon of the Week is awarded to some senility in the Portuguese camp, whilst Sam's Gibberish includes the price hikes at the supermarket that are giving him nightmares.It's Ranks!If you'd like more from us, especially during the World Cup, we'd love to have you on board as part of our Ultras! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's under two months to the World Cup, but which positions for which teams are giving their managers headaches? We discuss the biggest logjam positions in the international realm, from England's right-backs to Spain's left-backs, and from the glut of glorious attacking players for both Argentina & Brazil, to France's ridiculous depth at centre-back.There's Things We Love as well, where we discuss Ethan Nwaneri's emergence as the youngest player in English top-flight history; Iñaki and Nico Williams' goalscoring heroics for Athletic Club and their international call-ups for separate nations; and Granada's coming to fore as Spanish Segunda football continues through the international break.And finally, we discuss an absolute madhouse of a weekend in terms of red cards and melons - in both the Melon of the Week and the extended Gibberish Rankings. It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Teenagers are fleeting - one minute past their 20th birthday, and they're gone into the big wide world of everyday footballers - so we have to give them their due whilst we can. And it seems only yesterday that we were punctuating this list with Ryan Gravenberch, Nuno Mendes - and even Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland. But the seasons flow, players grow and new wonderkids wind up on the block every single season, so it's time to put them in order for 2022. We talk a host of names, from a Barcelona cohort including Ansu Fati, Gavi and reigning title-holder Pedri, Eduardo Camavinga, Borussia Dortmund's latest gems off the production line, Harvey Elliott (how is he still elegible?!), Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz and many more. Sam also chucks in a big prediction for this season for each of his top five.Things We Love focuses on Graham Potter's rise to the top table of European football management, a rake of late moments for the big guns in Serie A, and Sporting's recovery after a tough start to the season - with some love for some names who were maybe in danger of slipping into unfulfilled promise territory. There's a Melon of the Week out of Turin (or multiple, being frank) and we do a quick draft to select our teams that we'll focus on for the upcoming 2022 World Cup.It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The transfer window has closed and we've had a couple of games in each league, so whilst pre-season predictions are fun, this feels like a good time to lock our selections in for the season - which can only mean it's 5x5 time. The concept is simple - we each pick how we think the top five in England, France, Italy, Germany and Spain are going to look when the curtain falls in May.We look at what happened last time out, before working through our selections, our thoughts on how a shedload of sides have started their campaigns, and some more rogue calls from Jack, where heart continues to take precedence over head.There's a quick Things We Love - where Sam talks his first dive into management, and Jack talks a fairy story out of Exeter. There's also a Melon of the Week, a Gibberish Ranking and the poems are back to kick things off. It's Ranks!To pick up our special deal with NordVPN, head to https://nordvpn.com/ranksfc to get a free month and a load off a 2-year-subscription.And of course, if you want more from us, you can join the Rank Squad Ultras on Patreon! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! Welcome to our third and final episode of this week, this time looking back at the transfer window as a whole and working out where we think the best deals, steals and keels have been found. Jack and Sam split the rankings into four parts - best big-money deal (over £40m), best low-cost deal (under £15m), best loan deal and, controversially, the deals where we think clubs might have dropped a bit of a clanger. It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! Deadline Day will soon be upon us, and we've set DJ to work in order to line up TEN of the biggest stories and sagas that will look to go right to the wire this summer. From the world's biggest players to free agents looking for a new home, title contenders and relegation battlers, we've covered loads of deals, rumours and late dramas that may well go down to the final hours. There's also Things We Love, which this week entails the off between Richarlison and Brennan Johnson at the City Ground on Sunday, as well as Ander Herrera's homecoming to Athletic Club. And there's a VERY contentious Melon of the Week from Toxic Dean, as well as Sam's Gibberish, which truly has some questionable takes also. It's Ranks!To pick up our special deal with NordVPN, head to https://nordvpn.com/ranksfc to get a free month and a load off a 2-year-subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Ultras!Happy Bank Holiday to those who are enjoying it! And to those who aren’t: Perhaps this podcast will help you through the day.We covered all of Europe and beyond (as usual), with a heavy dose of transfers included too as we hurtle toward the end of the window.Here’s everything we talked about! Enjoy the week ahead!PREMIER LEAGUE—Liverpool scored 9 and Salah did…nothing? + Midfield transfer talk—Man City’s Mentality Monsters—Arsenal grinding through, Ødegaard brilliance + Saliba’s World Cup hopes—Chelsea finally show some character—United creeping forward + Antony/Gakpo chat—Are Spurs good, or?ON THE CONTINENT—The Raphinha/Lewandowski combo, Koundé debut—Can Aspas make Spain’s World Cup squad?—Edinson Cavani’s next adventure—Juventus vs. Roma was surprisingly fun—Who is the best in Serie A?—Dortmund is bad for your health—Marseille look a lot of fun, Nice look the opposite—Yann Sommer’s record-breaking day—What the hell, Porto?OTHER—Linfield & Atlético Tucumán stories—CL, UEL & UECL draw storylines—Nandos sauce recipeThat’s all for this week!If you've enjoyed this and you'd like to join our Ultras community for more of the same, come see us at patreon.com/ranksfc! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's creeping towards the end of the transfer window and certain teams are still desperately in need of reinforcements - as we prepare for things to get stressful over the next week. We take a peek behind the curtains at Goodison Park, Stamford Bridge, the King Power and Old Trafford to analyse the players that need to come and go before the window slams shut if Everton, Chelsea, Leicester City and Manchester United are to live up to expectations this season.Things We Love takes a look at Casemiro's tearful but celebratory departure from Real Madrid and discusses why he's an excellent addition for United; and there's also an outpouring of love for new Napoli starboy Kvicha Kvaratskhelia and some big respect put on Luciano Spalletti's shirt collection.Melon of the Week takes us into the Portuguese Second Tier, and the Gibberish makes some semblance of sense this time out - with Sam ranking the three statistical measures used in football that he thinks are a bit of a nonsense. It's Ranks!To pick up our special deal with NordVPN, head to https://nordvpn.com/ranksfc to get a free month and a load off a 2-year-subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!We're back to normal programming after the madness of Preview season, and it's nice to be back on home ground. With that in mind, we return to a staple of the Ranks Calendar - the biannual visit around the grounds to see which players are in real need of a move with just two weeks of the transfer window left.We start in Wolverhampton, with a mercurial winger; travel to the Bernabeu in Madrid, the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam and the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund, before ending our journey back in West London at Stamford Bridge - to name five players in need of new homes.There's also Things We Love, which talks about boyhood fans appearing at Manchester City, Arsenal's newly-formed team that fans can finally hail, and discuss the chaotic opening of the Calcio season in Serie A. There's a familiar face returning in Melon of the Week, and Sam takes tactical lessons from his cats in the Gibberish Rankings.It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!Welcome to the sixth and final episode of our Big Season Preview Series - as we culminate in the casa di calcio, Italy! With Milan holding the title, Inter snapping at their heels, Juventus hoping for a return to power, there's a major title race to discuss, first and foremost - and then a dive into the chasing pack, last year's third place side Napoli, who have lost a tonne of major names; the winners of the window (?) Roma, under Jose Mourinho; and Maurizio Sarri's new-look Lazio as well!Can Fiorentina and Atalanta cause upsets this season, and who is best placed right now to seal the European places? Next we look at some candidates for regression - those who have either had tough summers with big names departing for brighter shores, or where managerial changes have led to major question marks.We finish with a look at the promoted sides, especially Monza - whose business has been delightful, and a few of those Serie A stalwarts who might well be slipping into trouble; before Jack and Sam pick a player to watch each this season.It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Preview season continues here on Ranks FC, moving over the Iberian Peninsula from Portugal to Spain! La Liga is back, and there's brilliant battles up and down the table - so we were incredibly lucky to be joined on today's show by the expert analysis of Alan Feehely, editor of the mighty Football España.We pose five questions ahead of the season beginning: Who are now title favourites out of Real Madrid and Barcelona? Will Atleti improve now they are back in their underdog role? Is Sevilla's hold on a UCL spot in danger - and are Real Betis, Real Sociedad or Villarreal ready to succeed them? Who are the biggest regression candidates for the season ahead? Which promoted club is most likely to survive, and which surviving club is most in danger of the drop?There's also a Melon of the Week, where two candidates handily put themselves into contention - and Sam's Gibberish is about the things in his life that he wishes he liked, but he doesn't. It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's time for our fourth episode of our Big Season Preview Series - this time, a slightly shorter one on the Portuguese Primeira, and the major storylines ahead of this season. We take a dive into where all of Portugal's Big Three are ahead of this season - can Porto retain their title? Are Sporting still their closest contenders? Could Benfica, under Roger Schmidt, be back in this conversation?We also discuss a little bit of the 'best of the rest' - Braga's role of late, but are there challenges too from Vitoria Guimarães or Gil Vicente, last season's surprise package? It's all wrapped up inside here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.