Ranks FC - A Football Podcast

Every team has now played once at the European Championships, meaning we have a bit more to work with in terms of looking at how this whole thing plays out. We break down some categories of things we've learned: looking at the best team performances so far, some of the bet individual performances that came from left-field, players that we were disappointed with and breakthrough stars of the first...

Three days to go and excitement at Ranks HQ has reached Fever Pitch. The European Championships, just the 364 days after they were supposed to begin, are finally upon us. The squads are (sort of) set, the players (we hope) are ready, and the storylines (we know) are just about to unfold. So, without further ado, here is our behemoth Euro 2020 (or ’21) Preview episode, where we’ve each taken two gr...

It's Official! Ranks FC has signed a partnership with New Balance Football, which means that we're going to be working closely with everyone's favourite Boston-based Sports Brand on all their football endeavours, and we can't tell you how excited we are! For a chance to win our new Ranks FC kit designed by the NB Football gang, head over to our Twitter or Instagram and get sharing! This week, we s...

It's been a weird year, nobody is arguing with that. But in the gloom, in the darkness, some heroes have shone on the pitch for their respective clubs. Be these leaders of men, comeback stories, against the odds triumphs or all three, we asked friend of the pod Zach Lowy, co-founder of Breaking the Lines, to come back and help us pick five of the best personal storylines across Europe this season....

Europa League last week, Champions League this week! As the last (and biggest) annual game of the European football calendar comes hurtling at us, it’s time to turn our eyes to Porto (previously Istanbul) and look in great depth at this seasons Champions League final between Manchester City and Chelsea. Pep Guardiola vs. Thomas Tuchel. Kevin de Bruyne vs. N’Golo Kanté. Cityzens vs. Pensioners. We...

We're into the Endgame now, Rank Squad - the time for European finals, titles, silverware is upon us; and getting ahead of the game, we're looking ahead to next week's showdown in Gdansk between Manchester United and Villarreal. It's Ole Gunnar Solskjaer vs. Unai Emery. Edinson Cavani vs. Gerard Moreno. Red Devils vs. Yellow Submarine. We look at the key places the final will be won and lost, thre...

As the season draws to it's close, the transfer window looms large and there are certain players who will be literally itching to get themselves to pastures new, for a myriad of reasons: to win trophies, to get their careers back on track, to get themselves some actual playing time. We look at five of the biggest names who will likely be (or at the very least should be) angling for an exit this su...

No sooner had the Mourinho Bus left North London, then it rocks up in Rome! In a bombshell move, Roma announced that Paulo Fonseca would be leaving on Tuesday morning, and that Jose Mourinho would be taking over next season in the Eternal City on Tuesday afternoon - the world of football waits for nobody. We break down just how this might play out, whether this is a move that might see JoMo get hi...

It's a No. 1 special over here at Ranks, a glimpse behind-the-curtain and between-the-sticks, as we are joined by Lee Robinson, former professional with Rangers and a host of other clubs, and now one of the brains behind The Modern-Day Goalkeeper - three brothers trying to revolutionise the training and perception of young goalkeepers in the game. First up, we rank three ways that the boys are cha...

Well, no such thing as a quiet week in football, but I don't think we've ever had 72 hours quite as mad as the last 3 days have been. With the announcement, the fallout, the breakdown and the backdown of an entire organisation in such a short time period, we try to make sense of just what went down regarding The Super League. We take stock of the full timeline of Tuesday's wild events up to record...

We're careering towards the end of the season, so we thought we'd shine a little light on the players who have exploded into the public consciousness and into our hearts in the 2020/21 season. From the Premier League to the Bundesliga to La Liga, we've experienced some of the most amazing stories as unknown quantities have brought the limelight streaming down on themselves with incredible performa...

It's that time of year again, where the debate begins to rage about who the Premier League's best player has been over the course of the last eight months. It's never easy, but with no obvious front-runner this year, we thought it was a good time to explore just who should be getting the nod for the domestic individual award that causes more debate than any other. We discuss a crop of City's best,...

It's an all-Basque affair in the Copa del Rey final as Athletic Club take on Real Sociedad for the trophy this weekend. They've only had to wait a year! In this special episode, made in partnership with New Balance Football, we delve into a gargantuan game that has more on the line than silverware - this Euskal Derbia is about local bragging rights, regional pride, and a first Copa del Rey since t...

Draws done, brackets done, and the roads to Istanbul and Gdańsk respectively are paved for Europe's elite. So it's time to take a look closer at how these might play out. First up, the Champions League, where Sam ranks Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Porto and Chelsea on the likelihood of them holding ol' Big Ears to the sky on a balm...

It's the third instalment of March's InterviewSZN on Ranks FC as we welcome Hugo Scheckter to the pod to pull back the curtain on what life is like in the world of Player Care - in his words, "anything that's not on-the-pitch or medical!" Hugo was Player Care Manager at Southampton and West Ham United in the Premier League, as well as IndyEleven in the US, and explained to us the ins-and-outs of a...

March InterviewSZN continues on Ranks FC, as we welcome FA intermediary and Head of Football at Distinct Agency, Sonny Coleman, to the pod to give us an insight into the world of being a football agent. We discuss his route into this side of the game, the day-to-day of what as entails, how the agency world is changing, and his engagement with the players he represents, as well as Sonny's roots in...

There's a familiar voice in the Ranks FC studio this week, and not because it's a returning guest, but because it's the Voice of FIFA, Bundesliga Broadcast Behemoth, and one of the finest commentators to ever grace the microphone, Mr. Derek Rae, who joins the Rank Squad to talk all things commentary. We start off with Derek's own background and how he started life behind the mic, before taking a w...

On Monday, the UK announced its roadmap towards a world without lockdowns, a world which screams to us - full stadiums and football as we love it. It's not quite a global movement yet, but a glut of vaccines means that wherever you are, it feels like the moment is coming where we can look to an open sky once more. Never again will we take a trip to a new ground or to see the players we love, for g...

You didn't think we were going to miss this opportunity, did you? The return of the Champions League means the return of the Champions League's cooler little brother - because the Europa League, like the UEFA Cup before it, is where the cool kids hang out. Europe's most exciting club competition, back with a Round of 32 that contains some explosive match-ups and some players to watch. We take a lo...

That time of year is getting closer, Rank Squad. Oh yes, it's time for European nights, under the lights - as next week the Champions League takes flight again for its knockout stages. It might be a tad premature, but who's asking - we're taking a deep dive on the Round of 16. From the teams who are in the best form, to the best chances of an upset, to the most entertaining fixtures - we've got th...

This January might have seen deals more scarce than usual, but there was still plenty going on as the transfer window raged across the first month of 2021. We're here to pick up what was hot (and a little of what was not) as Sam ranks the best five deals that have happened in the month just gone. With Liverpool finally signing some centre-back cover (for one of which we sought expert advice from o...

He's back, ladies and gentlemen! The Rank Squad were joined once again by Harry Brooks, head coach at Round World Royals, to discuss five more players who could do with a change of position or system to up their game. This time it's Tanguy Ndombele, Jadon Sancho, Gareth Bale, Mo Salah and Marco Asensio in the spotlight, as we move them around to find their sweet spot. There's also a discussion, fu...

Across Europe we're seeing a season where the title races are more open than ever before - in England five points separate the top six, in Italy there's at least four sides with a shot at the Scudetto, in France top spot is currently decided on goal difference, in Spain it's a new challenger sitting pretty at the summit, and in Germany the recent wobble from the Champions has contenders getting ex...

As we look forward to a new calendar year stuffed with football, it's worth looking back at 2020, and the Rank Squad teamed up with EA Sports FIFA 21 to take a look at the contenders for 2020's pantheon - a year unlike any other. We talk some of the biggest names from across Europe, including a couple from Champions of the Continent, Bayern Munich, from the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue...

Happy New Year, Rank Squad! It's our first episode of 2021and we thought it was time to wheel out a classic (with a twist) and take a look at some predictions for 2021. Dean bravely took on the mantle that Sam vacated to look ahead to the year to come, making predictions based on a big transfer saga that's been rumbling on for a while between Dortmund and United, his attendance at games, Cristiano...