Welcome to 2025, where the halcyon days of Ronaldo and Messi are long consigned to the past and a new battle rages to be the world's best. There are many contenders, but who tops the award they all want more than any other - Sam Tighe's Player Rankings. We take a look at some of the young superstars who are well on their way to the top of the game and will be the pantheon of the elite in the future (if they're not already).
Before that though, there's Things We Love - which in this case involve Tanguy Ndombele's return to both the side and to his blistering best; the madness of both Barcelona and Manchester City being placed 13th in their respective leagues; the title races we didn't expect; Leverkusen's pure chaos approach to playing football, and, as the more eagle-eyed of you might have noticed, the new Ranks FC logo.
There's also a special Melon of the Week ranking, which tops out with a refereeing display that put all others to shame, and in this week's Gibberish, Sam ranks the best responses he got to a 'where you're from and who you support' survey.
If you want to enter our competition, hit this link or go to bit.ly/RanksFCComp. And if you wanna skip the lottery and just become one of the Ultras anyway, join us on Patreon here.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Champions League Takeaway: Premier League Catastrophe, Reyes de Europa, Lucho's PSG Remontada & BVB Stun Atleti
Ranking Breakout Stars of This Season
Champions League Takeaway: Xavi Silences Lucho, Dortmund Stay Alive, Bayern's Experience Tells & Another Madrid-City Classic
Rúben Amorim: The Next Liverpool Manager?
Ranking Rule Changes That Would Improve Football
Ranking the Best Wingers in Europe
USMNT Drop Another Dos a Cero on Mexico (Postbox Excerpt)
Ranking the Most Dramatic Finishes To This Season
Manchester United End Klopp's Quadruple Dream (Postbox Excerpt)
Champions League Takeaway: Penalty Delight for Arsenal & Atléti, Rolls Reus Returns & Barça's Youth Injection
Ranking the Greatest European Goalscorers Ever
Champions League Takeaway: Madrid Edge Leipzig, City's Training Day, Bayern Breathe Again & Bossman Mbappé
Ranking Players Who Could Quit the Premier League
Phenomenal Foden Keeps Manchester Blue (Postbox Excerpt)
Ranking the World's Best Centre Midfielders
Liverpool Triumph in the Carabao Cup Final (Postbox Excerpt)
Champions League Takeaway: Arsenal Burned at the Dragão, Napoli Hold Barça, Penalty Drama for Dortmund & Inter Finally Break Atleti
Ranking the Best Value Transfers from Summer 2023
The MLS Season Preview Show
Champions League Takeaway: Bayern's Season on the Brink, PSG's Strength in Depth, Another Big Brahim Moment & City Edging Towards Perfection
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The 50/50 Podcast
Football Weekly
ESPN FC
The Women’s Game
Men In Blazers