Champions League Takeaway: Chelsea's Young Guns Fire, Liverpool Bite Back, Spurs Struggle & Real Madrid Eke It

Hello Rank Squad!As awards season begins to roll in, we turn our attention to the Premier League and which managers have impressed enough this season to be considered in the conversation as the league's best. We discuss cases for Pep Guardiola of Manchester City, Mikel Arteta of Arsenal, Eddie Howe of Newcastle United, Roberto de Zerbi of Brighton & Hove Albion, Unai Emery of Aston Villa, Marco Silva of Fulham and Gary O'Neil of Bournemouth, in various capacities - as Sam picks out his top five.Things We Love talks about Borussia Dortmund being one win away from their first Bundesliga win in 11 years, West Ham's celebrations upon reaching the Europa Conference League final, and Granada being on the brink of a return to La Liga.There's a Melon of the Week from the Bundesliga's European battle, and Gibberish returns to discuss some of the best mascots in world football.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.

24 Maj 20231h 12min

Hello Rank Squad!It's time for another Champions League Takeaway - a midweek bonus meal on all the week's UCL action. We have a final on our hands after Manchester City blew Real Madrid away at the Etihad and Inter comfortably saw home last week's advantage against city rivals AC Milan.We start in Manchester, where we discuss how Kyle Walker's moment at 1-0 was the epitome of a City side in complete control, the big game attitude of brilliant Bernardo Silva and why tonight showed just why Real Madrid are looking to sign Jude Bellingham in midfield.Then we head to Milan to talk about the sheer lack of personality and tactical nous showed by Piolo's Rossoneri, the similarities between the Champions League and World Cup campaigns of Lautaro Martinez's Inter and Argentina, and a night where a referee kept a real lid on things as it threatened to boil over.Finally, we take a quick preliminary look at the matchup in the final and how Inter's defence should give City more problems than Madrid managed tonight, or whether this Pep machine are just too good to stop.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.

17 Maj 202341min

Hello Rank Squad!Finally, it feels like the Mauricio Pochettino deal to Chelsea that's been floating around the ether for weeks now is a done deal, so we've decided to take a look at the first orders of business for him when he takes the reins at Stamford Bridge. There's a lot to get through, so expert help was needed in the form of The Athletic's Chelsea correspondent Liam Twomey, an old friend of this parish.We discussed the issues facing Poch in deciding what his No. 9 needs to look like, working out who fits the roles he needs in his attacking midfield core, finding an understudy/replacement for N'Golo Kanté, the fitness of the squad, and the outgoing players he needs to find a new home for.There's room for Things We Love too - where we discuss Xavi ending Barcelona's four year wait for a La Liga title at Camp Nou and the news that Marcelo Bielsa has been appointed as the new manager of the Uruguay National Team. Melon of the Week comes from a humdinger at Elland Road, and there's a Gibberish about Jack's learnings from the three stag do (bachelor party) weekends he's been on in a row.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.

17 Maj 20231h 10min

Hello Rank Squad! It's time for another Champions League Takeaway - a feast on all the week's UCL action. With the first legs of both semi-finals in the books, we sat down to dissect Milan's 2-0 defeat at home to Inter and Real Madrid's 1-1 draw with Manchester City at the Bernabeu. We start in Milan, where we discuss the absence of Rafael Leão and the knockon effects that had on Milan's team selection and ability to release the pressure valve; the re-emergence and brilliance of Henrikh Mkhitaryan this evening; and the duel between Denzel Dumfries and Theo Hernandez that the Dutchman came out the better of. Then we head to Madrid to talk Haaland's quiet evening and the big-game-strides of Kevin de Bruyne; why we could watch Kyle Walker and Vinicius Jr. duke it out all night; and Pep not overcomplicating things, much to the delight of City fans. 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.

10 Maj 202342min

Hello Rank Squad! It's a Champions League Week again, so it's a double drop and a little look forward on our first episode - this time taking it into the summer to discuss some of the biggest deals that are already being put on the table. Dean brings his expertise to discuss the situations of Lionel Messi, Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Alexis Mac Allister and what the summer transfer window is going to look like for all these players. Jack and Sam do their best to work out sensible destinations for all five, and how things might play out. Before that, Things We Love is about this week's trophy winners - we discuss Napoli's first Scudetto win for 33 years and Real Madrid finishing an incredible 475 days with a Copa del Rey win over Osasuna, as well as giving some praise to Ange Postecoglou's back-to-back Champions at Celtic and a shoutout for Urawa Red Diamonds, who won the Asian Champions League at the weekend too. There's a Melon of the Week from a mad Bank Holiday Monday of Premier League football, and Sam's Gibberish throws up some options of how to make this Formula 1 season more competitive. 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.

10 Maj 20231h 17min

Hello Rank Squad!May has arrived and the football train is pulling into the final few stations for this season, which means we're in the closing stages of the Champions League. Four teams remain - Inter play Milan in a Derby della Madonnina in one semi-final, whilst we have a re-run of last year with Real Madrid playing Manchester City in the other. Which of the four teams is most likely to lift that coveted trophy into the night sky in Istanbul in June? We break it down.Things We Love this week contains a discussion of the relegation battle in the Premier League, summarised by that crackerjack of a Monday night game between Leicester City and Everton; a look at the state of play as we head into the final day of the Championship season; and a discussion of Dean's beloved Walton & Hersham, who have been promoted, and whose story is absolutely wild.There's a Melon of the Week from Anfield at the weekend, and Gibberish from Sam describing an event that he and Jack went to last week in town, which threw up some interesting stories.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.

3 Maj 202358min

Hello Rank Squad!With the NFL Draft coming up fast, there's always an excuse for us to dig out an old favourite out of the Ranks playbook and give ourselves a Draft challenge as well. This time round, we've added some more parameters - we each get an ordered pick to try and build the best team of players who are aged 23 or under, and no player can be picked twice.Joining Sam, Dean & Jack is Ranks Chief Writer and MLS Correspondent Owen Murray, all the way from the West Coast, and a man with more experience of these kind of things than us - Owen's representing the Rank Squad in this game, and he's hoping to do you all proud.Join us as we make our way through some of the best young talent in the world of football, and build XIs that we think could challenge for the ultimate crown.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.

26 Apr 202348min

Hello Rank Squad!Some extra love coming at you this week as we take a dive into the breaking news of the day - where it looks like Mauricio Pochettino is close to becoming the new Chelsea manager. We take a look into why he's accepted the job at this point, what Chelsea have promised him as a project, who he might look to sign in the summer, how his team could set up, his relationships with Directors of Football in the past, Poch's reputation in both France and England, and what this means for Daniel Levy and Spurs.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.

25 Apr 202324min