The Truth: Should Real Madrid Stick With Xabi Alonso?

It's time for The Truth!Today, the boys are discussing Real Madrid, given the events of the last couple of weeks. Xabi Alonso, who was brought in to replace Carlo Ancelotti in the summer - is reportedly still on the brink, despite a couple of positive results in the last few games. We walk exactly what the situation looks like - why there's pressure, what can be changed, who could do a better job - and perhaps most pertinently, what Los Blancos actually want to be in this modern era of football, and whether going back to the old normality would be a step forwards or a step backwards given so many sides are now in a situation where they want to play system-based football. So, do Real Madrid still hold a position where they can just get by with the best players in the world and a whole lot of vibes? Or do they need a manager like Alonso to help try to manoeuvre them into a world which feels particularly based on systems and structures?  As ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... 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.

Hello Rank Squad! We're back with another transfer ranking, as the window draws ever closer - and today Dean wanted to get stuck into the stories that could be seismic in the January window - not just in terms of picking up the headlines, but in terms of defining the careers of certain players and managers. We look through five Premier League stories in the main ranking - ranging from the major outgoing sagas of Mo Salah and Kobbie Mainoo, to the threat of Thomas Frank's dismissal hanging over Tottenham Hotspur's plans in January, and the next steps for forgotten men at their clubs - Raheem Sterling and Harvey Elliott. Before that we talk about Things We Loved over the course of the weekend - where DJ goes all in on the chaotic Liga MX Final where Toluca outlasted Tigres in a madcap penalty shootout, and Jack waxes lyrical about the form of the Prince of Corwen - Harry Wilson - who FPL players are discussing bringing into their teams after this incredible hot streak. Finally, we take a look at a few burgeoning stories in Europe for you to keep an eye on over the course of January and beyond, to wrap things up. It's Ranks!  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.

It's time for The Truth!Today, the boys are discussing the teams outside of the traditional 'Big Six' who are in the conversation right now for finishing in the top five in the Premier League - and, we assume, picking up a Champions League spot whilst they do so? We walk through the fortunes of Aston Villa, Everton, Brighton, Crystal Palace and Newcastle United and see where their strengths and weaknesses are - assessing their major plusses and also looking at where there are potential issues might lie in the second half of the season, in order to come to a conclusion about how serious these claims are on qualifying for the biggest stage of them all!So, are any of these contenders going to press their claim as genuine Champions League contenders, or are the powers that be going to come screaming back into the conversation over the As ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... 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.

Hello Rank Squad!It's the second Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Wednesday's action from the sixth Matchday of the League stage. We start at the Bernabeu, where Real Madrid and Xabi Alonso's woes deepened with a 2-1 defeat by Manchester City - could that be the end of the line for the beleaguered boss? We also check in on his former side, Bayer Leverkusen, who drew 2-2 with Newcastle United in an incredibly topsy-turvy encounter. In Part Two we head to Belgium to look at Arsenal's 3-0 win over Club Brugge which featured a sensational solo strike from Noni Madueke - just the tonic that Mikel Arteta's men needed after suffering their first defeat in ages to Aston Villa at the weekend; as well as looking at Juventus' 2-0 win over Pafos which looks routine on paper, but saw the shift in the system that we've been hoping for from Luciano Spalletti since he took over in Turin. And in the final part, we round up all the rest of the action -  Ajax finally getting their first win on the board in the competition with a spirited 4-2 fightback win over Qarabag in Azerbaijan; Villarreal falling 2-3 to Copenhagen at El Madrigal as the bizarre difference between their domestic and continental form continued; a 2-2 draw in the all-yellow affair between Borussia Dortmund and Bodø/Glimt - with a celebratory milestone for Julian Brandt; Benfica's very impressive 2-0 win over Napoli in Lisbon; and a 0-0 draw between Athletic Club and reigning champions PSG that left much to be desired from both sides. It's Ranks!  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.

Hello Rank Squad!It's the first Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Tuesday's action from the sixth Matchday of the League stage. We start at San Siro, where Liverpool, came out victorious over Inter Milan thanks to a controversial late Dominik Szoboszlai penalty to quieten the noise in what has been a hectic week for the Reds; before heading to Camp Nou, where Barcelona had to rely on unlikely hero Jules Koundé to bail them out with a brace against Eintracht Frankfurt on their return to European action in their spiritual home. In Part Two we head to Bergamo, where Atalanta came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 and add to Enzo Maresca's recent rotational woes; and also to North London, where Spurs made it back-to-back home wins with a positive 3-0 win over Slavia Prague to show their own learning curve. In the final part, we round up all the rest of the action -  Atletico Madrid beating PSV 3-2 in a corker in Eindhoven; wünderkind Lennart Karl burning brightly for Bayern again as they dispatched Sporting in Munich; a chaotic encounter between Union Saint-Gilloise and Olympique Marseille in Belgium that OM came out on top of 3-2; hard-to-pin-down AS Monaco beating Galatasaray 1-0 in the Principality; and Olympiacos ending an awful away run in the competition by beating Kairat 1-0 in the early kick off in Kazakhstan . It's Ranks!  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.

It's time for The Truth!Today the boys are discussing the Premier League title race - and if there's one about to explode into live. We're all in agreement that from the evidence in front of us this season, Arsenal are the favourites - some bookmakers even have them as short as evens to win the title for the first time since 2003/04. But is this a procession for Mikel Arteta's men or are there some strong contenders for them coming up on the outside rail?We take a dive into Manchester City and Chelsea in particular - who have emerged either in contest or in league position as the two teams that seem the most likely to make a back-straight dive for the crown. We look at the strengths and flaws in both of their teams, and whether they're strong enough to derail what feels like a pretty well-rounded bid for Arsenal to claim the big one in England once again. There's a quick look at reigning champions Liverpool, as well as in-form Aston Villa as well, although we're pretty comfortable suggesting that neither of those two are probably going to trouble the three ahead of them in the long run. So, are Arsenal a shoo-in for their first league title in over 20 years? Or are there some gigantic twists and turns to come as the season revs into the back straight? As ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... 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.

Hello Rank Squad!In the latest episode of Ranks FC we're digging your Transfer Guru back out of his hiatus to talk all things January Transfer Window, so Dean is on hand to walk you through the latest that he has heard on what might be possible in the winter spending window and which clubs could be tempted into splashing some cash. DJ splits his ranking into two parts - starting with what clubs in the Premier League might be the most interested in doing business in January and why - looking at Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur in particular; before moving on to five players who are already attracting interest and could well end up being the big storylines of the window if someone decides to make a move for them. Before that, Jack talks about El Gran Derbi in Things We Love, waxing about a really impressive win for Betis in the Frying Pan of Spain, whilst Dean eulogises a little bit about the end of San Diego's incredible expansion season, where the Chrome and Azul put together one of the most immaculate freshman years that we've ever seen in MLS, but came up just short when it came to the crunch in the Western Conference Final against the Vancouver Whitecaps, who move on to play Inter Miami in MLS Cup. It's Ranks!  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.

It's time for The Truth!Today the boys are discussing the emerging generation of superstar midfielders. We've had the £100m transfers in recent seasons of Declan Rice, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez, as well as a number of other big money moves - so which players are in the conversation to become the next stars in the middle of the park?We discuss some of the main contenders, starting with Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson and Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton from the Premier League; moving to the Bundesliga to discuss RB Leipzig's Assan Ouédraogo and Eintracht Frankfurt's Can Uzun; chat through Como's Nico Paz and Juventus' Kenan Yıldız from Serie A; as well as a couple of others - including Porto's Victor Froholdt and Wolves' João Gomes, who is linked with a January move to Manchester United. So, are these players destined for nine-figure transfers or should we not be getting excited too early? As ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... 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.

Hello Rank Squad!It's the second Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Wednesday's action from the fifth Matchday of the League stage. We start at the Emirates, where Arsenal downed Bayern Munich 3-1 in the battle of teams previously perfect; before heading to Anfield, where Liverpool's woes continued with a harrowing 4-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven that continues to leave Arne Slot with more questions than answers. In Part Two we head to Paris and discuss the holders PSG beating Tottenham Hotspur 5-3, in a game that saw an improvement from Spurs, but not quite enough of one; and also to Piraeus, where Kylian Mbappé scored four goals as Real Madrid held off Olympiacos' comeback to triumph 4-3 in a much-needed win for Xabi Alonso. And in the final part, we round up all the rest of the action -  a late 2-1 win for Atletico Madrid over Inter at the Metropolitano, extending their exceptional home record; Atalanta getting the Palladino era underway with a good win over Eintracht Frankfurt away from home; Sporting's dominant 3-0 win over Club Brugge that saw some wonderful goals; Pafos' late goal to earn a point in a 2-2 draw at home against AS Monaco; and Copenhagen hanging on for a 3-2 win over Kairat Almaty at Parken. It's Ranks!  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.

Hello Rank Squad!It's the first Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Tuesday's action from the fifth Matchday of the League stage. We start at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea put the hammer down on brittle Barcelona, inspired by their own wonderkid in the form of Estevão, who continues to drop awe-inspiring performances on the big stage; before heading to Manchester, where Pep made 10 changes and suffered the consequences, as Manchester City were well beaten by a punchy, plucky Leverkusen at the Etihad. In Part Two we head to Marseille, where Newcastle United's woes on the road continued as OM came from behind to beat them 2-1 with an Aubameyang brace; and also to the Arctic Circle, where the half-time introduction of Kenan Yıldız flipped the game on its head as Juventus fought back to beat Bodø/Glimt 3-2 late on. In the final part, we round up all the rest of the action -  Napoli winning 2-0 over Qarabag thanks to the bottle opener Scott McTominay; Borussia Dortmund taking advantage of an extra man to beat Villarreal 4-0 in the all-yellow derby; Benfica adding to Ajax's woes with a 2-0 win in Amsterdam; Union Saint-Gilloise ending Galatasaray's outrageous unbeaten home run by winning 1-0 in Istanbul; and a drab 0-0 draw between Slavia Prague and Athletic Club. It's Ranks!  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.