Champions League Takeaway: The Return of the Chaos!

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.

4 Nov 202232min

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.

2 Nov 20221h 5min

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.

26 Okt 20221h 2min

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.

19 Okt 20221h 6min

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.

12 Okt 20221h 9min

(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.

5 Okt 20221h 22min

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.

28 Sep 20221h 2min

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.

21 Sep 202256min