It's time for The Truth!

Dougie, by his own admission, has never been particularly interested in MLS - the top flight of American soccer. In this episode, Sam and Jack do their best to persuade him why this is a great time to start watching the league, by extolling the virtues of one of the most exciting leagues on the planet, which comes with its own quirks and surprises.

We start at the beginning, with the basics of how things work and why MLS is different to the European leagues from an infrastructure perspective, before delving into some of the big storylines coming up in this, the league's 30th season. We look into some of the teams who might well be contending, as well as the players to keep an eye on; as well as exploring the changing face of MLS down the decades and why it struggles sometimes to shake off old reputations.

From a retirement league to a hotbed for young talent, the world's most topsy-turvy affair to a distant din with some household names. everyone has an opinion on what the league represents. But what's the bottom line? Well, 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?

Hello Rank Squad!

It's time for Champions League Takeaway, your late night delivery following the action - following the second legs of the new 'Playoff Round' in the competition, pitting the teams who finished 9th to 24th in the league stage against each other to earn places in the Round of 16.

Wednesday night saw the headline tie of the round - Real Madrid vs Manchester City - settled by a Kylian Mbappe masterclass, with the Frenchman scoring a brilliant hat-trick to put the game far beyond the reach of Pep Guardiola's men and eliminate a Pep side before the Round of 16 for the first time in his managerial career. We talk how far off it City were, and how with the No 9 firing, Real Madrid might well just be favourites once again.

There's also a discussion of the most entertaining game of the evening - PSV's extra-time triumph over Juventus which made the Old Lady the third (of three) Italian sides knocked out in this playoff round - two to Dutch opponents, and the other from Belgium - it's a good time to be from the Low Countries! And we talk briefly about PSG's absolute demolition job of Stade Brestois, and Borussia Dortmund's very uneventful seeing off of Sporting CP.

Then in Part Two we chat through Bayern's late Davies dagger that broke Celtic hearts (it's a cruel game, sometimes), as well as Milan and Atalanta's respective headlosses as they crashed out to Feyenoord and Club Brugge respectively, as well as an incredibly fun encounter which saw Benfica emerge victorious against AS Monaco.

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?

Hello Rank Squad!

It's nearly time for kick-off in MLS' 30th season, so we thought it was the right time to sit down and take a look at how things are shaping up ahead of a landmark campaign.

We start with Dean's new hometown club of San Diego FC, examining how the 30th franchise in the league are looking ahead of their maiden voyage in the Western Conference; before moving things on to the contenders to challenge for the Supporters' Shield, and, later on, MLS Cup. We examine reigning champions LA Galaxy, their crosstown rivals Los Angeles FC and the Seattle Sounders in the West, with a word to the San Jose Earthquakes; before heading over East to take a peek at Supporters' Shield holders Inter Miami, big-spending Atlanta United, a new era at FC Cincinnati, and the Dean Smith evolutions at Charlotte FC.

Finally, we move onto the individual players and new signings who could make all the difference, from 2024 MVP Lionel Messi, through the fresh strikers of Emmanuel Latte Lath and Kevin Denkey, Wilfried Zaha at Charlotte, the returning Miguel Almiron, a big intra-league transfer in Evander, and many more.

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?