Hello Rank Squad!

We hope you're all enjoying the festive period and that your midwinter festivals - whichsoever they be - are merry and bright! We didn't want to break our almost 5 year streak of not missing a Wednesday drop, so here's a little Christmas Special that the boys threw together for you to enjoy at some point over the next few days.

We take a look at some of our favourite things across the course of the season so far, picking out players, teams, leagues and managers who have defied expectations, risen above the madness, or just made us smile.

We're looking forward to seeing you in the New Year, but we hope that whatever you're up to over the next few days, that you have a chance to relax, have some peace and quiet, and enjoy the wintery delights of some December football.

All our Love,

Jack & Dean

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?

It's time for The Truth!

Atalanta are currently top of Serie A as we close in on the halfway point of the season. After winning the Europa League last season, the glass ceiling for the club from Bergamo has been well and truly smashed, but can they go one further this year, beat out some giants of the game and claim their first Scudetto?

We examine just how a club from a small city north-east of Milan has turned the Italian football landscape upside down, upsetting the traditional order of Italy's biggest clubs and managed to put together an incredible run of continental qualification under Gian Piero Gasperini, all whilst making a gargantuan profit in the meantime.

This iteration of Gasperini's disruptors has the potential to be their greatest ever, but can they maintain such blistering league form against the depth of Inzaghi's Inter and a Conte Napoli side that don't have European football to contend with? How has Gasperini turned a bunch of players unwanted elsewhere into one of the best units in the game? And is this finally the time where promise becomes domestic silverware, changing the established order forever?

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!

There are certain clubs and players who need something new to set their seasons back on track, and the potential for drastic change is just around the corner with the January Transfer Market opening in under two weeks. We take a look at some of the gambles that clubs could take in the market, and whether they might be good enough to save sagging seasons.

Before that, we examine the interview with Marcus Rashford released on Tuesday by Henry Winter, where he said he was ready for his next challenge. What does that mean? Where does it leave his future at Manchester United? And where could he possibly go in January if that's an option?

Jack also finishes off with a mini ranking of the best football books he's read this year, in case anyone is looking for a couple of gifts to ask for in their Christmas Stocking, to finish things off!

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?