B/R Football Ranks

It's a mid-season special as we take the world of football to auction! Rank God Sam Tighe picks his top five most valuable players if we freed everyone of their current clubs and put them up for bidding-the catch is that you have to give every player you buy a five-year-contract, so it's about longevity and potential as well as current form and ability. As ever, Football Insider Dean Jones and host Jack Collins are here to challenge Sam's thoughts at almost every turn. In this week's Hot Takes, we take a look at VAR and whether it's sucking the joy out of football, whether Harry Maguire's reported £80m switch to either Manchester United or Manchester City makes any sense at all, and where should Colombia's golden boy, James Rodriguez, go for the next stage of his career with seemingly no room for him at the Bernabeu. Bleacher Roulette takes on more of the big questions: which players from history do we think were overrated; would we rather have the career of Pedro or Thiago Alcantara; and where the weirdest places are that we've watched games of football-before Sam rounds things off by ranking which of Real Madrid's new signings will be a success, based on the kick-ups at their unveiling! To get involved, follow @brfootball on Twitter and Instagram, and use the hashtag #BRFootballRanks!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

26 Juni 201952min

Sam Tighe, Dean Jones and host Jack Collins are joined by Paul Olima, former player, trainer, body double and influencer in the football world, to talk about some of the players who need a reality check on their playing careers (15.19), as well as what it's like to have Mario Balotelli in your friendship group (30.28), working with Usain Bolt (34.49) and much, much more. Hot Takes include a discussion on why Real Madrid have signed Brazilian wonderkid Rodrygo (01.35); how some players get stuck at clubs after dream moves turn out to be nightmares (05.24); and whether Portuguese sensation Joao Felix would be a good fit for Atletico Madrid, with whom he is heavily linked (09.49). Bleacher Roulette returns to talk about which of the newly promoted Premier League teams have the best chance of survival (36.21), who the most talented player in England is, now that Eden Hazard has departed for Madrid (39.17), and which players the Rank Squad could be body doubles for (41.34); before Sam rounds things off by ranking his favourite trees, and the goalkeepers that they remind him of (45.57). To get involved, follow @brfootball on Twitter and Instagram, and use the hashtag #BRFootballRanks!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

19 Juni 201949min

It's the big one this week as we take a look at the biggest individual prize in football, the Ballon d'Or-and who is are the contenders at this early stage! Rank God Sam Tighe picks his top 10, before Football Insider Dean Jones and host Jack Collins pick apart his arguments for who goes where. Sam's choices spark plenty of lively debate as ever, with plenty left to play for. In this week's Hot Takes, we take a look at how Brazil will fare in the Copa America without star man and talisman Neymar Jr., whether Crystal Palace's Aaron Wan-Bissaka is really the right man for Manchester United and Dean makes a dramatic U-Turn on whether Frank Lampard is the right man for the Chelsea job if Maurizio Sarri leaves for Juventus. Bleacher Roulette takes on more of the big questions: is Trent Alexander-Arnold the best right back in the game right now; would we rather have the career of Jordan Henderson or Christian Eriksen; and which goalkeeper would we trust to step up to take a penalty in a shootout-before Sam rounds things off by ranking which Disney characters would make the best Real Madrid Galacticos in nonsense rankings! To get involved, follow @brfootball on Twitter and Instagram, and use the hashtag #BRFootballRanks!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

12 Juni 201952min

The European club season is over, but have no fear-an incredible summer of football is about to kick off, headlined by the Women's World Cup in France which begins in earnest on Friday evening. We take a look back at an incredible battle for supremacy between Liverpool and Manchester City over the course of the entire domestic campaign, and think about who had the better season overall, before turning our attentions to the summer. Jack Collins, Dean Jones and the returning Sam Tighe are joined by B/R Football's very own Joanna Kamenou to talk through five big reasons why you should be getting excited for the Women's World Cup, including some incredible players, even more incredible stories of overcoming adversity, and last but not least - some absolutely outrageous kits. In the rest of this week's Hot Takes, we take a look at new Real Madrid player and #RankSquad cult hero Luka Jovic-could he be more important to Los Blancos than potential new arrival Eden Hazard-and Adrien Rabiot's future is the discussion point thrown up by our weekly poll. Bleacher Roulette takes on more fun and games as we talk about who missed Sam the most when he was away, whether Virgil van Dijk or Leo Messi was in pole position for the Ballon d'Or, and which of us was most likely to survive a zombie apocalypse; before Sam talks his favourite Forests in Nonsense Rankings. To get involved, follow @brfootball on Twitter and Instagram, and use the hashtag #BRFootballRanks!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

5 Juni 201951min

It is Champions League Final week and all eyes are locked on Madrid as Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur tussle for the biggest prize in European club football, on its biggest stage. Liverpool are in search of their sixth title, after narrowly missing out last year to Real Madrid; whilst Spurs are looking for their first UCL trophy in their first UCL final. Jack Collins and Dean Jones are joined by comedian and Spurs fan Rhys James; who steps in to rank the three things that terrify him about Liverpool-before Dean levels the score by ranking the three biggest reasons that Spurs fans have to be optimistic. This week's Hot Takes are question based: Which manager is better equipped to win the trophy, and which player will be the best in the final. Jack and Dean take a detour to have a chat with B/R Football TV Analyst Stu Holden, who walks us through his favourite three games in the Champions League 2018/19 and why, before we turn to a very special Roulette wheel, all about the Champions League. The questions include chat on which players we'd want in a last minute 1-on-1 to win it, how far we'd go to win a trophy of this stature and which are our favourite UCL memories of all time-before Dean takes over nonsense to rank just how we'd build a robot to replace Sam should his absence, for whatever reason, become permanent. To get involved, follow @brfootball on Twitter and Instagram, and use the hashtag #BRFootballRanks!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

29 Maj 201951min

There are plenty of big clubs who have struggled this season, and who seem to be in a summer of transition in terms of transfers. We turn the studio into a soccer surgery for a week and let our expert doctors, Sam Tighe, Dean Jones and Jack Collins, take a diagnosis of how these teams can turn their fortunes around. We fix Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Arsenal, Manchester United and Real Madrid - talking through where the holes in their squads are, the budgets they have to work with, and the players they can afford to fill them - taking a deep dive into transfer insight and tactical sense in equal measure. In this week's Hot Takes, we take a look at how a 4th to 7th playoff series for the last Champions League spot could make the Premier League more exciting, if Jose Mourinho is the right man to take the vacant Juventus hot seat and whether Frank Lampard is in fact any good at management. Bleacher Roulette takes on more fun and games as we talk about whether we'd prefer the career of Dani Alves or Philipp Lahm, if we'd prefer to score a cup final winner as a first minute screamer or a last minute tap-in, and which teams are most fun to play with on FIFA and Football Manager. To get involved, follow @brfootball on Twitter and Instagram, and use the hashtag #BRFootballRanks!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

22 Maj 201954min

We went to Wembley for an Emirates FA Cup Final special, in tandem with BBC Sport, to take a look at the impending Final this weekend between Manchester City and Watford. We were joined by two very special guests, impressionist and comedian Al Foran, and Emirates FA Cup Final 2013 hero Ben Watson, who headed the 91st minute winner for Wigan that year in one of the greatest cup upsets of all time. We started by talking through the final in Hot Takes, and which team has exceeded expectations more this season. Al was here to preview the final as treble-chasing manager Pep Guardiola, and then Ben took over to help us rank some of the most epic finals of the last 20 years, as well as talking about what it's like in the changing room as an underdog in a game of this magnitude. Al finished things off with his take on our nonsense rankings - talking us through his favourite three impressions in the world of football.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

15 Maj 201942min

The Premier League season is coming to an end and although the title is not yet decided, it's time to give out our inaugural awards - the Rankies. Sam Tighe, Dean Jones and Jack Collins take stock of everything that's happened this year in the top flight of English football to award these categories: 1. MVP 2. Standout Individual Performance 3. Signing of the Season 4. Best player outside of the Top Six 5. Kit of the season 6. Breakthrough player (Rookie of the Year) 7. Surprise of the Year (Aka The Vincent Kompany Award) 8. Flop of the Year There's plenty of discussion on the big names, the less heralded names, and a haul for everyone's favourite right-back, Aaron Wan-Bissaka of Crystal Palace. Come with us on a deep dive of the big questions over the course of the season. Bleacher Roulette takes on more fun and games as we talk about what we'd do if football didn't exist, which football skill we would love to have invented, and whether we'd rather be on the receiving end of a Zidane headbutt or a Suarez bite; before Sam rounds things off by ranking the best team names beginning with F. To get involved, follow @brfootball on Twitter and Instagram, and use the hashtag #BRFootballRanks!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

8 Maj 201946min