Ranks FC - A Football Podcast

Hello Rank Squad!  It's the first transfer focused episode of the summer, and we set out the stall for what's to come in some of the biggest deals. Set your stalls out, ready yourselves - because some of these ones will definitely become sagas, dragged on for months in negotiations.  Jack starts things off by giving some love to Villarreal and the job that Marcelino has done with the Yellow Submar...

It's time for The Truth! Today, Sam and Dougie are looking at where Arsenal find themselves right now - and whether there is complete faith in Mikel Arteta to make them take that next step to winning serious silverware.  After six and a half years in charge, there is no doubt that Arteta has raised Arsenal's floor to a point where they are in the mix every single year, and yet since that first hal...

Hello Rank Squad!  It's that time of the year where amidst all the trophies being handed out, thoughts turn to who are the frontrunners in the race for the biggest individual prize in the game - France Football's yearly Ballon d'Or.  Last year the award came with a whole thunderstorm of controversy, with Real Madrid boycotting the ceremony after Rodri won the top prize over Vinicius Jr. They proba...

It's time for The Truth! Today, Sam and Dougie are looking at how Hansi Flick's slightly surprising appointment at Barcelona last summer has turned into a masterstroke, and how the German has immediately brought the Blaugrana back to the top table of European football with a string of youngsters and some of the most exciting attacking football on the continent.  There were question marks about Fli...

Hello Rank Squad!  We have our Champions League finalists, after PSG joined Inter in the showpiece event by beating Arsenal 2-1 at the Parc des Princes to progress 3-1 on aggregate. The game might not have had the verve and sparkle of Tuesday's semi, but there was plenty to discuss all the same here on UCL Takeaway.  Arsenal started fast, but couldn't find the killer blow to leave the tie in the b...

Hello Rank Squad!  After one of the most intriguing, exhausting, exhilarating semi-finals that the competition has ever seen, Inter will be in the final after finally dispatching Barcelona with a knockout blow, just moments after they had dragged themselves off the canvas themselves.  4-3 on the night, 7-6 on aggregate, this was one of the best games of football we have seen in many a long year, t...

It's time for The Truth! Today, Sam and Dougie are looking at the Premier League, and the argument that's been raging on social media as to whether this is a Premier League cast that's strong or weak?  On one side, you have the earliest that three teams have been confirmed as relegated in Premier League history, as well as Champions in Liverpool who were crowned in April - but realistically haven'...

Hello Rank Squad! That was absolutely breathless and chaotic, and so the podcast looking back at it is too. We try our best to get to the bottom of an anarchic game of football between Barcelona and Inter that started fast and got wilder from there, and one that ended with the two teams locked at three goals apiece.  We discuss how Inter might well go home the happier side, even if Barcelona had t...

Hello Rank Squad!  It's time for Champions League Takeaway here on Ranks FC, and our first episode of the semi-finals, looking back at the game between Arsenal and PSG in North London, where Luis Enrique's side came out the victors, taking a 1-0 win with them back to the Parc des Princes for next week's second leg.  We discuss it all in great detail - looking at a mesmerising first 25 minutes from...

It's time for The Truth! Today, Sam and Dougie are looking at Serie A, and examining just how tight the race for the title is between Antonio Conte's Napoli and Simone Inzaghi's Inter - with both teams on 71 points with five games remaining in the league campaign. We discuss the distinct possibility of a playoff game between the two at the end of the season, a one-game shootout to determine who li...

Hello Rank Squad!  We're well into the final stretch of this domestic season now, and whilst there are many things decided - Bayern and Liverpool are going to win their domestic leagues, for example, and certain relegation fights seem over before they've begun - there is still plenty of drama to be getting stuck into if you know where to look.  So consider this episode a little bit of a guide - we...

It's time for The Truth! Today, Sam and Dougie are looking at Real Madrid, and where things have gone wrong for them over the past couple of months. The perennial Champions League winners are out of the competition they love most, are currently second in La Liga to Barcelona, and whilst they are in a Copa del Rey final, they face off against Barça there too - who they've routinely struggled to con...

Hello Rank Squad! It's time for this week's second Champions League Takeaway - looking back at Wednesday's Quarter Final second legs, where Arsenal and Inter were able to maintain their first leg advantages to progress to the semi-finals, but in very different circumstances.  Dean is back in San Diego and back in the booth, so we start with Arsenal winning 2-1 at the Bernabeu to knock out the hold...

Hello Rank Squad! It's time for this week's first Champions League Takeaway - looking back at Tuesday's Quarter Final second legs, where both PSG and Barcelona emerged with qualification intact, but with their reputations bruised and having been handed on-the-night losses by Aston Villa and Borussia Dortmund, who were both excellent.  In the absence of Dean, who is flying back to San Diego, Jack i...

It's time for The Truth! Today, Sam and Dougie are looking at Chelsea, and a slide in form since the turn of the year that has seen them slide from second in the table to being on the brink of falling out of the Champions League places. So what has happened in 2025 to Enzo Maresca's side, and where has the form that saw them exceed all pre-season expectations gone to? We discuss the squad building...

Hello Rank Squad! It's time for this week's second Champions League Takeaway - looking back at Wednesday's Quarter Final first legs, where PSG roared back from 1-0 down to beat Aston Villa 3-1 and Barcelona romped to yet another astounding win, routinely dismantling a discombobulated Dortmund 4-0.  We start with PSG and wonder if anybody could have held up against the power of their attacking migh...

Hello Rank Squad! It's time for Champions League Takeaway, your late night delivery following the action - looking back at Tuesday's Quarter Finals, where Arsenal blew away Real Madrid in a stunning second half at the Emirates, whilst Inter dispatched Bayern with ruthless efficiency on German soil.  We start with the man of the hour - Declan Rice - whose two unbelievable free-kicks handed Arsenal...

It's time for The Truth! Today, Sam and Dougie are looking at Arsenal and in particular, a big reshuffle in the boardroom that has seen Andrea Berta succeed Edu Gaspar as their Sporting Director. Berta was formerly at Atletico Madrid, forming a (mostly) impressive team with Diego Simeone, and also previously worked at Genoa and Parma in his native Italy.  We examine what his record was at Atleti i...

Hello Rank Squad!  Dean's back in London, so it's less of a Transatlantic Job this week, but that doesn't mean there's not still plenty to discuss. Today, we're looking at the Champions League Quarter Finalists, but in a slightly different way - examining who the most important player is for each of the eight teams remaining in the competition, from the perspectives of how they've played so far, a...

It's time for The Truth! Today, Sam and Dougie are looking at Juventus - who are currently one point off the Champions League places in Serie A, and have lost three league games all year, but who have just sacked manager Thiago Motta around 300 games into his tenure.  Very few teams have drawn as many games as Juve this year, and coupled with decisive losses to Fiorentina and Atalanta in Serie A,...

Hello Rank Squad!  On Monday news broke that Trent Alexander-Arnold's move to Real Madrid this summer was close to being completed, with the Liverpool defender seemingly leaving his boyhood club for free at the expiration of his contract this summer, and it got us thinking - who else is in the same category of being on the open market this summer and where could they go? We start with a discussion...

It's time for The Truth! Today, Sam and Dougie are looking at Alexander Isak, who is hot property right now after another stellar campaign with Newcastle United, which culminated in him firing them to Carabao Cup glory at Wembley on Sunday against Liverpool.  Newcastle are absolutely adamant that their Swedish superstar is going nowhere - and so they should be - but that hasn't stopped the rumour...

Hello Rank Squad!  After 70 years domestically, or 54 years across the board, Newcastle United finally got their hands on silverware again this weekend, beating Liverpool in the Carabao Cup Final to end one of the longest trophy droughts in English football, and doing it in some style. Big Danny Burn completed his incredible redemption arc and Alexander Isak got the match-winner as a lifetime of b...

It's time for The Truth! Today, Sam and Dougie are looking at Brighton & Hove Albion, who are having an impressive season - but also one that's been permeated with strange results and odd streaks of form that have been up and down.  On the verge of the Champions League places, things look pretty good under Fabian Hurzeler, who was brought in from St Pauli at the start of the season, who guided the...

Hello Rank Squad!  It's the second of two Champions League Takeaway episodes on the feed this week, with four more games to dissect - headlined by another 120 minutes of madness, this time from Madrid, where Real needed penalties to get the better of Atleti in a game the hosts will feel aggrieved not to have won (we've heard that one before...) We break down the chaos of the penalty shootout, incl...