Ranking Surprise Package Teams Across Europe This Season

Hello Rank Squad!We're now getting to the point of the season where we can start to take league tables a bit more seriously, and in doing so, we can see that there are a few teams who are a little (or a lot) higher in the table than they might have expected before a ball was kicked. So, today, we're exploring six of those teams across Europe's top five leagues - why expectations might have been lowered, how they've got to where they are, and whether their current situation is sustainable.We take a look at Bournemouth and Sunderland in the Premier League, AS Roma in Serie A, RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga, RCD Espanyol in La Liga and RC Lens in Ligue 1, to see what's going down. Before all that, we have a quick look back at El Clasico this weekend, where Real Madrid saw off Barcelona 2-1 at the Bernabeu; as well as the fallout from Lamine Yamal's comments, and Vinicius Jr's flare up with Xabi Alonso that has dominated the post-game discourse. 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 second Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Wednesday's action from the third Matchday of the League stage. We start at a very rainy Stamford Bridge where a very young Chelsea side made light work of 10-man Ajax, continuing their recent run of very impressive results; and then on to Frankfurt, where Liverpool bounced back from their recent troubles with a thumping win over Eintracht, with Hugo Ekitike returning to haunt his former club. In Part Two we address Spurs' flat display at Monaco, where their unbeaten record remained but without any real positivity for the Tottenham Hotspur fanbase to cling to; and also Real Madrid eking out a 1-0 win over Juventus in a game described as a European Clasico, but which didn't quite catch fire as we might have hoped. In the final part, we round up all the rest of the action - Bayern continuing their perfect start with a 4-0 thumping of Club Brugge where 17-year-old Lennart Karl stole the show; Sporting coming from behind to beat Marseille 2-1 after some ludicrous thinking from Emerson Palmieri; Victor Osimhen's star turn as Galatasaray swept aside Bodo/Glimt; Athletic Club finding some shooting boots to beat Qarabag 3-1 at the Cathedral; and Atalanta being held to a 0-0 draw by Slavia Prague in Bergamo. 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 third Matchday of the League stage. We start at the Emirates where Arsenal found a magical 13-minute spell to put Atletico Madrid to the sword, beating them 4-0 with a couple of goals for Viktor Gyökeres and a couple of goals from set pieces for good measure; before heading to Leverkusen to talk about a 7-2 (!) win for reigning Champions PSG over Bayer 04, in a game that had absolutely everything. In Part Two we address some more big wins - Barcelona putting six past Olympiacos in Catalunya as they overcame a mid-second half wobble to finish their Greek visitors off with some lethal finishing in a 6-1 win, and Newcastle United winning 3-0 against Jose Mourinho's Benfica at St. James' Park to continue their good form in the competition. In the final part, we round up all the rest of the action -  PSV hammering Napoli 6-2 in Eindhoven; Inter travelling to Belgium and winning 4-0 over Jupiler Pro League Champions Union Saint-Gilloise; Borussia Dortmund scoring four goals for a third consecutive Champions League game as they won 4-2 against Copenhagen in Parken; Manchester City's comfortable 2-0 victory over Villarreal at El Madrigal; and the only scoreless game of the night - Kairat Almaty and Pafos drawing 0-0 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!Sam and Dougie are back in the studio to discuss Tottenham Hotspur, and the discourse around the idea that in just a small spell of games, Thomas Frank has fixed all the problems that saw last season become one of the most disappointing domestic campaigns in the club's modern history. Spurs have won four, drawn two and lost just a single Premier League game so far, seeing them sitting third in the table; but whilst everything looks pretty rosy on the surface, there are questions that remain after a couple of iffy performances - and safe to say that Sam isn't completely convinced that the underlying issues have been resolved, even if the results look impressive. But what is success for Tottenham Hotspur this season? Is Thomas Frank already achieving it, or have some impressive results put a little bit of paper over the cracks of what lies beneath? 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! Ranks is 5 years old this week, so we wanted to start by saying Thank You to all of you who listen regularly and who have stuck with us on this incredible journey since we went independent in 2020. As a little celebration, we wanted to bring back one of our most-loved episodes from the staples and revisit Sacking or Saving Under-Fire Managers for a FIFTH time. It's tough out there as a manager. You can be winning trophies and be the designated Chosen One one minute, and then on the verge of losing your job the next. It's brutal, but it's the way football works, so we wanted to take a look at some of the managers under the cosh this season, and what the future holds for them. We start with a big one from the Premier League - the future of Ruben Amorim at Manchester United, especially in the light of Sir Jim Ratcliffe's comments that he needed three years to prove his worth as a manager. Dean takes us on to three more in the Premier League - Ange Postecoglou at Nottingham Forest, Vitor Pereira at Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Scott Parker at Burnley - as we assess their situations and give our verdicts.  Then we head Continental, as Jack takes a look at who's under it in Europe - visiting Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid, Sergio Francisco at Real Sociedad, Michel at Girona, Stefano Pioli at Fiorentina, Maurizio Sarri at Lazio and Igor Tudor at Juventus - to see what their situations look like in this international break.  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!Sam and Dougie are back in the studio to discuss Liverpool - which seems to be the topic on everybody's lips right now. After a perfect start to the season from a results perspective, three losses in a week have opened up a discourse which was previously being kept at bay - whether Liverpool's imbalances since a summer overhaul have actually made them weaker, even just in the short term. We work through the starting eleven, and why things look so drastically different to last season at the beginning of this, examine some of the problems that are currently peeking above the parapet, and try to pull together some suggestive solutions that Arne Slot could employ to address said issues. So, are Liverpool too chaotic this time round? Is this just a minor blip that will be straightened out as soon as the break is over? And can the new signings become as crucial to the Reds as some of their previous itinerants were? 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!With the international break upon us, we wanted to throw things forward a little bit, and dip into Dean's little black book of contacts to discuss some potential moves that could end up being the big stories of next year - either in January or in the summer transfer window. We start by examining the situation around Harry Kane at Bayern Munich and whether his release clause will trigger a scramble across Europe for his services; before discussing whether Enzo Fernandez could be one to make way in this Chelsea project if one of the big guns was willing to buy him out of what is a long tied-down contract from a huge transfer fee. We also talk through the future of Kobbie Mainoo, Mike Maignan, Dusan Vlahovic, Carlos Baleba, Joshua Zirkzee, Antoine Semenyo, Gleison Bremer and Yehor Yarmolyuk; who could all be subject to major interest over the next 12 months. 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!Sam and Dougie are back in the studio to discuss Harry Kane, and the phenomenal form he has started this season in - continuing on from two exceptional seasons since joining Bayern Munich in 2023. Things start off with just some general appreciation of just how good the England captain has been in Bavaria, before we try to fit him into the pantheon of great strikers of the last decade. Better than Robert Lewandowski? How does he stack up against your Sergio Aguero's and your Luis Suarez's? Could anyone be as good as Karim Benzema? 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 second Matchday of the League stage. We start in Barcelona in a game which many wanted to be last season's final, as Luis Enrique's PSG were in town to play Hansi Flick's Barcelona. It ended in a dramatic win for the holders, but not before a cracking game with plenty of drama. Following that, we head to Monaco to take a look at Manchester City's controversial 2-2 draw which ended in a late equaliser from the spot for the hosts. In Part Two we address two wins for Premier League sides - a 4-0 hammering that Newcastle United dished out to Belgian Champions Union Saint-Gilloise, in one of their best performances so far this season; and Arsenal's 2-0 win over Olympiacos at the Emirates, where the full depth of Mikel Arteta's squad was put on display. In the final part, we round up all the rest of the action - Villarreal's 2-2 draw with Juventus which swung wildly in terms of momentum; Borussia Dortmund's dominant 4-1 win over a weakened Athletic Club; Napoli running it back Manchester style as they beat Sporting 2-1; Qarabag making it two wins from two with victory over Copenhagen; and Leverkusen's relatively dull 1-1 draw with PSV. 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!The Champions League is in full flow now and your Takeaway returns to have a look through all of Tuesday's action. We begin in Istanbul, where Liverpool's week took another tough turn with a 1-0 loss to Galatasaray - seeing Alisson and Hugo Ekitike injured in the process. We follow this up with a visit to their weekend opponents - Chelsea - who eked out a 1-0 win over former boss Jose Mourinho and his Benfica side. In Part Two we address the Madrid sides in the competition - it's been a very, very good week for Atletico, who backed up their derby win with another "manita" - smashing five past Eintracht Frankfurt; whilst Real notched five of their own on their long journey to Kairat Almaty - with Kylian Mbappé's red hot start to the season showing no signs of cooling off. In the final part, we address Spurs' 2-2 draw in the Arctic Circle against Bodø/Glimt - where Thomas Frank's side pulled off another rescue act - before rounding off all the other action: Bayern's 5-1 win over Pafos, Marseille's 4-0 hammering of Ajax; Inter swatting aside Slavia Prague 3-0; and Atalanta's 2-1 comeback win over Club Brugge. 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.