Ranking Big Transfer Stories Ahead of January

Hello Rank Squad!Something a little bit different today, and we hope you'll find it as fun a listen as we found it to record. Dean put together a list of seven potential rule changes that he thought could improve the game of football immediately - we discussed everything from stopped clocks to goalkeeping handballs over the course of a manic main ranking. We also took some suggestions from our brilliant Patreon community in part three, chatting through some of the best (and worst) suggestions that came in via our brilliant community! Before that though, there was some love for both the Manchester City documentary and how it was shedding light on the title race in the Premier League, and the wild race for promotion in the Championship, which took centre stage over the Easter weekend. It's Ranks!  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.

3 Huhti 202457min

Hello Rank Squad!It's time for us once again to turn to a positional ranking - having covered the best centre-backs and centre-midfielders in the game, we're switching our attention to wingers, wide forwards and those stars who shine the brightest on the flanks. Again, we'll be splitting it into categories - this time shearing the ranking down the lines of those who play on the right and the left, and examining both with a top five and some honourable mentions. There's one particular player at the end too, who doesn't quite fit naturally into either space - so he gets his own little chat! In Things We Love, we spend a bit of time talking about Endrick, who scored his first senior goal for Brazil against England at the weekend, and also produced a beautiful interview with The Player's Tribune following that in which he described his road to the top of the game; and also Vinicius Jr, who gave an incredibly powerful interview of his own ahead of the game between Spain and Brazil, set up to try and combat the racial abuse he's received in stadiums around the country. We finish as ever with a bit of Guru Wisdom, and the final part of a run of helping find new teams to support for people, before we start to mix things up again in the final segment. It's Ranks! 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.

27 Maalis 20241h 20min

Hello Rank Squad!It's time for the weekly excerpt from our Monday Postbox episode on Patreon, where we take questions from our community to look back across all the action from the weekend just gone. This is the segment on the USMNT's 2-0 victory over Mexico in the final of the CONCACAF Nations League, marking three times in a row that Gregg Berhalter's side have won the competition - with a performance that was a night and day contrast from the US' struggles against Jamaica in midweek. We discussed what that means for this team going forward, the issues with chanting from fans that saw the game paused whilst the offenders were removed, Tyler Adams' brilliant goal and impact as a whole, what the midfield will look like going into the Copa America, Antonee Robinson, the future of Santi Gimenez, and a whole lot more. The full episode is here!It's Ranks! 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.

25 Maalis 202425min

Hello Rank Squad!And...breathe. After the drama of the last few weeks across so many different competitions, men's club football has come screeching to a halt for the last international break of this season, which gives us a chance to take stock and examine all the drama to come. Let's be real - there's so much drama to come. We've picked out five different elements that we think could provide the most heart-racing finishes to the season - starting at the top of the Premier League table, and then racing through the Champions League fights in Italy, Spain and Germany, the Serie A relegation scrap, the title race in Portugal, and the fight for promotion (and survival) in the Championship.There's also time for a new Guru Wisdom, in which we reveal what Ellis did with our suggestions for a new club to follow last week, before helping out a new Rank Squad member this week as he searches for teams to follow in England and France. It's Ranks!  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.

20 Maalis 20241h 1min

Hello Rank Squad!It's time for the weekly excerpt from our Monday Postbox episode on Patreon, where we take questions from our community to look back across all the action from the weekend just gone. This is the segment on Manchester United's win over Liverpool in the FA Cup on Sunday, with Erik ten Hag's side coming from behind in extra time to end Jurgen Klopp's farewell quadruple dream - there will be no more stops at Wembley on the Goodbye Tour. We discussed how important that is for Ten Hag's chances of remaining as Manchester United manager next year as INEOS take full sporting control of the club, the influence of Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo, whether Klopp made some mistakes in his midweek rotations and substitutions, and a whole lot more. The full episode is here!It's Ranks! 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.

18 Maalis 202421min

Hello Rank Squad!Champions League Takeaway is back with a bang, as we take a look at the last four games of the Round of 16 stage, which took place across both Tuesday and Wednesday nights.  We start with Wednesday’s action, looking at Atletico Madrid's defeat of Inter on penalties - discussing how much braver Atléti were in possession today, why it's a shame that one of these two sides had to exit the competition so early, and how Inter's game plan was well considered, but badly executed; as well as Borussia Dortmund's 2-0 win over PSV - talking Jadon Sancho's return to flying form, the influence of the eternal Marco Reus off the bench, and questioning how PSV didn't put the ball in the back of the net. Then in Part Two, we take a look at Tuesday – looking at Arsena's dramatic penalty win over Porto through the lens of Mikel Arteta trusting his process, how David Raya came of age on a big night at the Emirates, and how the visitors were smart and streetwise, and why it's important for Arsenal to have come away with the win; before finishing with a discussion of Barcelona's 3-1 triumph over Napoli via talk of Barcelona's new-found intensity and why the crowd were so important, how Napoli might have missed a golden chance to taste European glory in the last two years, and why Barça's future is bright with Pau Cubarsi, Fermin Lopez and Lamine Yamal all having huge games. It’s Ranks! 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.

14 Maalis 202448min

Hello Rank Squad!It's a Champions League week, so we thought it could be fun to throw up something a bit more evergreen whilst still linking into the action, so we're here to rank our favourites of a very exclusive list. We walk through the top 20 goal scorers in European Cup & Champions League History - which Erling Haaland has just catapulted himself into - and each pick out our three favourites from the list, based on our own  personal criteria. Before that, we have a quick look at the evolving situation at Liverpool where the post-Klopp era is starting to get some structure, and what that means for the managerial merry-go-round in the summer. And of course, there's a Guru Wisdom, where this week we're helping Ellis to find himself a Premier League club. It's Ranks!  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.

13 Maalis 20241h 6min

Hello Rank Squad!Champions League Takeaway returns, as we take a look at the games that saw the first four teams book their spots in the quarter finals of the UCL. We start with Wednesday’s action, looking at Real Madrid's 1-1 draw with Leipzig - discussing why Leipzig will see this is a massive opportunity missed, how Real Madrid got away with one without anyone in the box, and a look at the big name midfield struggling with dynamism with Fede Valverde out wide; as well as City's 3-1 win over Copenhagen - talking the depth of City's bench being absolutely outrageous, why Copenhagen should look back at this campaign with immense pride, and how this was in many ways the perfect game for City between two massive Premier League clashes. Then in Part Two, we take a look at Tuesday – looking at Bayern's 3-0 win over Lazio at the Allianz which included a whole heap of relief for Thomas Tuchel, a stark reminder of the lasting brilliance of Thomas Muller and Harry Kane, and why performances like this could end up leaving Bayern as dark horses; before finishing with a discussion of PSG's 2-1 win over Real Sociedad in San Sebastian - the tactical nous of Luis Enrique, why Anoeta more than deserved its goal at the end, and how Kylian Mbappé took the keys and went into fifth gear. It’s Ranks! 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.

6 Maalis 202442min