Ranking the World's Best Centre Midfielders

Hello Rank Squad! With pre-season firmly in full swing and the transfer merry-go-round showing no signs of stopping, we wanted to take a look at some of the big question marks ahead of the new season getting underway. We start at Manchester United, where the addition of Lisandro Martinez at CB has posed a dilemma - will it be club captain Harry Maguire or Champions League legend Raphael Varane who starts next to their new man? Then we shift to Bayern Munich, who have similar personnel dramas after the addition of Matthijs de Ligt - how does everyone fit in, in Julian Nagelsmann's system? Finally, we turn to Barcelona, whose plethora of attacking riches has just been massively added to with Robert Lewandowski joining their ranks. Xavi's front three in their first league game is anyone's guess for now!Things We Love discusses some of the big names who are said to be on the move but haven't actually secured their new homes yet, and the anticipation of where the big switches will come in August; as well as discussing Paulo Dybala's switch from Juventus to Roma, and the excitement surrounding having a player of Dybala's quality in a system that will actually suit him.Finally, Melon of the Week is awarded to a man struggling to get into his (or his team's) new groove in pre-season so far, and then in the Gibberish Rankings we each pick the three albums we would listen to for the rest of our lives, if we were forced to renounce all 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.

20 Juli 202259min

Dean Jones is back, Rank Squad! And on that note, we wanted to give you a transfer ranking to match - so we did. We talked five Premier League teams who have serious work to do before the season begins, if they're to match expectations. From Wolverhampton Wanderers to Everton; Manchester United to Chelsea; and the new enigma that is Newcastle United - we considered where they are right now and what they hope to achieve before the window slams shut.There's also some chat about the business of Luka Jovic to Fiorentina and why it might herald a new era for players who have previously been trapped in their clubs; and the brilliance of the Lionesses and France from what we've seen so far of EURO 2022!Melon of the Week has many contenders, from Premier League pre-seasons, running out of beer in Switzerland, and clearing team-mates shots off the line in the Canadian PL; whilst in Gibberish Dean talks about the weirdest things he found in America - including the legendary Joey Chestnut. 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.

13 Juli 20221h 17min

Pre-season has begun, and with it comes a new rake of questions about how you're going to set up your FPL team for the upcoming season, so we're here to help you mix it with the best of the best (and send your friends to the shadow realm). We've brought in one of our good friends, Gianni Butticè, Official FPL panellist and all-round good egg, to help you work out the finer details in how to get your FPL season off to the best possible start!We talk Defence vs. Attack in terms of premium positions, how you get the most value out of this brilliant Manchester City squad and whether you should go safe or daring in your captaincy selections, as well as some general tips and hints ahead of the Premier League starting again.There's also Things We Love, where Sam discusses Leeds United playing real-life Football Manager with their new signings, and Jack gets giddily excited about the upcoming Euro 2022 tournament, where we think 7 of the 16 teams have a real chance of winning the lot, Melon of the Week goes to a particular Social Media team for their announcement video, and Gibberish talks a little about life's simplest (ish) pleasures.It's Ranks!If you'd like to join our brilliant Ultras community, get the best of the pre-season knowledge and an extra two podcasts a week - we'd love you to join us over on Patreon, for the price of a pint a month! 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.

6 Juli 20221h 5min

We're edging closer to the new season and there are plenty of clubs with a lot of work to do over the course of the next month. We look at five new managers who have it all to do in terms of implementing new philosophies and sorting out their new charges.From Vincent Kompany at Burnley to Alfred Schreuder at Ajax; Paulo Fonseca at Lille to Christophe Galtier at PSG; and a returning legend at Athletic Club - there's plenty to discuss amongst those looking to change things up.We discuss a couple more bits in Things We Love - namely MLS having a real moment in the sun, and Arsenal's excellent work in the transfer market so far. Melon of the Week looks at two candidates - a new man in a hot seat and the candidates in a pre-season friendly blow-out, before Jack finishes off with a Gibberish all about the best acts he saw at Glastonbury Festival.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.

29 Juni 202252min

It's time to start making some bold predictions ahead of next season, and so we brought in the best man for the job - football coach, agent and Twitter extraordinaire Harry Brooks, making his triumphant third Ranks appearance - to give some thoughts ahead of next season.We talk about Arsenal's profile of signings, a potential clash of personalities at Erik ten Hag's Manchester United, and Liverpool's replacements for their outgoing players. There's plenty to discuss, and some disagreements all round, but it's a detailed discussion on how some of the most interesting teams in the Premier League are going to fare based on what we know so far!There's also Things We Love, where Sam discusses the U19 European Championships, and Jack looks at the rumoured new PSG manager Christopher Galtier and how he might fit in at the Parc des Princes. Melon of the Week comes from Canada, and Sam's Gibberish runs the rule over the transport problems he is facing right now.It's Ranks!If you love Ranks and want more from us, why not join the Ultras? There's at least two extra episodes a week over on our Patreon, as well as a brilliant community of like-minded people. 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.

22 Juni 20221h

So, the transfer window is open, and nobody has hung around wasting any time! We take a look at the five most expensive deals done so far and give them a thorough analysis, before grading each on how we see them before a ball has been kicked for their new teams.So we talk Brenden Aaronsen to Leeds United, Karim Adeyemi to Borussia Dortmund, Erling Haaland to Manchester City, Darwin Núñez to Liverpool, and Aurélien Tchouaméni to Real Madrid.There's also Things We Love which has a little bit more on Haaland's medical, some love for Australia's hero Andrew Redmayne and his mad antics, and Andrea Pirlo taking a risk on a job at Fatih Karagümrük in Turkey. There's a Melon of the Week from the Nations League, and Sam takes a Gibberish from his local pub.It's Ranks!If you want more from us, why not come join us over on Patreon for two extra episodes a 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.

15 Juni 20221h 9min

What’s up Rank Squad!Jack’s away enjoying some well-earned rest, so Dean and Sam tackle this week’s pod as a duo—and it’s a big ‘un!It’s the long-promised, much-talked-up REBUILDS episode, where we take a look at 5 clubs in dire need of some help and try to come to their assistance.There’s Benfica, who are facing up to a future without Darwin Núñez—but with Roger Schmidt, pressing mastermind. There’s Everton, who must now ride of the wings of Frank Lampard and try to improve upon a terrible 2021-22.There’s Chelsea, who need to buy a new defence, maybe a new midfield and possibly a new forward. How exhausting.There’s Juventus, who need star power, creativity, an actual midfield and some support for Dušan Vlahović.And there’s Manchester United, obviously. All of that, plus a melon to hand out at the end, then Dean takes on the Gibberish ranking and discusses the total mess that is next season’s schedule and rules. 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.

8 Juni 20221h 10min

Hello Rank Squad!The domestic season is pretty much all done in Europe, and we're here to take a look back. Originally this was supposed to be a Ballon d'Or ranking, but Karim Benzema has rendered that a little bit pointless, so we're mixing it up. We talk about the big man, of course, who powered Real Madrid to a La Liga & Champions League double, but also his contemporaries.From KDB's immense second-half season surge to Kylian Mbappé's remarkable run across this year (and his desire to stay in Paris); to Rafael Leão's personal mission to take Milan to the Scudetto Crown, and Robert Lewandowski's stunning goalscoring season, and where he goes next in his career, we've covered it all.There's also Things We Love, where Sam talks about early transfer business, Dean discusses Nottingham Forest's return to the Premier League, and Jack talks about Ranks being there as Roma lifted the first ever UEFA Europa Conference League trophy.There's a discussion of the ugly scenes at Saint-Étienne after they were relegated in Melon of the Week, and Sam's Gibberish is focused on spending a week with Jack and the little ruts that entails. 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.

1 Juni 20221h 10min