Author: Joe Soriano

Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.

Adam Wharton has what Liverpool are missing
5Mar By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Adam Wharton has what Liverpool are missing

Liverpool had one of the best midfields in the Premier League last season as they waltzed to the title, but what a team did last year has little bearing on a fresh season - and that has been proven in 2025/26 with the Reds well off the title pace. Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister have regressed badly in the current campaign, and while Dominik Szoboszlai is better than ever with fellow former Bundesliga superstar Florian Wirtz crushing it in the No. 10 role, Liverpool continue to badly miss a deep lying midfielder and true tempo setter with vertical passing. While Gravenberch did keep playing ticking last season as a quality No. 6/8, he has been unable to find those killer balls from deep or truly own the passing game for the Reds in 2025/26. Adam Wharton can make Liverpool m...
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Matheus Cunha’s best role at Manchester United might not be what he dreamed of
5Mar By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Matheus Cunha’s best role at Manchester United might not be what he dreamed of

Although captain Bruno Fernandes is the main playmaker at Manchester United and the man leading the charge in 2025/26 as a legitimate Premier League Player of the Season candidate, Matheus Cunha has been able to show his ridiculous quality for the Red Devils in his first season at the club. Cunha is no stranger to highlight reels. He was making them even as a Bundesliga prospect for RB Leipzig and the lone saving grace for an awful Hertha Berlin, but he didn't become a big name in world football until he carried Wolves on his back, earning a move to Manchester United this summer. So far, he has been worth the price tag. Cunha is averaging 3.2 combined dribbles completed and fouls drawn per game as the main left winger for Man United, and though he has just six goals and two assists i...
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The truth about Martin Odegaard is painfully obvious
5Mar By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

The truth about Martin Odegaard is painfully obvious

Injuries have slowed Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard again this season, as the Norwegian superstar has only started a total of 13 games this season. In those starts, though, Odegaard has still been effective despite not quite being at his superstar best. Odegaard has five assists on the 2025/26 Premier League season for the title favorites thus far, and when he returns from his latest injury issue, he will be a boost in both the creative department and in the control department. Although Arsenal defeated a solid Brighton side 1-0 behind another stalwart defensive performance from the likes of Gabriel Magalhaes and now Piero Hincapie, there was something missing about the team's overall performance on the ball. The quality of passing, the comfort on the ball was lacking, and while ...
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Jorrel Hato’s biggest problem is the easiest to fix
5Mar By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Jorrel Hato’s biggest problem is the easiest to fix

Chelsea slapped around Aston Villa 4-1 in a key victory in the battle for Champions League places in the Premier League, and while the stars of the night were attackers Joao Pedro and Alejandro Garnacho, Jorrel Hato had a great day at the office. Regular starting left back and European Championship hero Marc Cucurella should be able to return soon from a minor injury, but in his absence, former Ajax captain Hato has shown that he has the makings of a star at the back end of a Blues defense that could use young stars like him. The only defensive upgrade Chelsea made in the summer transfer window, Hato had a solid weekend against the rivals that recruited him, Arsenal, but something was lacking in terms of his quality on the ball despite a decent defensive performance. Against Aston...
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Arsenal can’t ignore the upside of Kai Havertz for Viktor Gyokeres
5Mar By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Arsenal can’t ignore the upside of Kai Havertz for Viktor Gyokeres

Arsenal are a much stronger team when Kai Havertz is involved in the side, and as the Gunners wait for a healthy Martin Odegaard, the German international made another nifty cameo appearance off the bench for top striker Viktor Gyokeres against Brighton. While you will find some Arsenal fans who actually would prefer Havertz to be the starting striker over Gyokeres, everyone knows that the Gunners have been there, done that with Havertz as a traditional 9. It doesn't work. But what does work is having Havertz playing off a traditional No. 9. Gyokeres has been a positive addition to the Arsenal team since joining from Sporting CP, scoring goals, especially in important games, and being a real focal point up top with his size and shooting range. Havertz is what Gyokeres is not. He i...
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Manchester United miss Patrick Dorgu even more than they thought
5Mar By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Manchester United miss Patrick Dorgu even more than they thought

Manchester United have been European football's most resurgent side ever since Michael Carrick took over the operation, and one of their most resurgent players was left back Patrick Dorgu before his recent injury. And Dorgu cannot come back to the Manchester United side soon enough. The Danish international actually showed his most valuable production for Man United as a left winger under Carrick, and the width he offers this team on both ends of the pitch as a progressor and ball winner have been sorely missed. They were missed the most in this 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United, as the Red Devils were a total disaster on that flank with Luke Shaw at left back in support of the inverted attacking playmaker Matheus Cunha. While Cunha was actually brilliant on the ball with nine combin...
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Piero Hincapie just became another Arsenal undroppable
4Mar By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Piero Hincapie just became another Arsenal undroppable

Arsenal slogged out another quality win in the Premier League, outlasting Brighton with a rugged defensive display, 1-0, and with Manchester City drawing relegation candidates Nottingham Forest, the Gunners are in an even better position to win the league. The best player on the pitch for Arsenal was none other than Piero Hincapie. Like against rivals Tottenham Hotspur, Hincapie was tremendous defensively on that left flank, showing exactly why Arsenal signed him for who he is: an elite defensive player who brings the quality of a center back with the athleticism of a fullback to either the left back or center back positions (and surely right back, if asked). Hincapie looks like an absolute warrior out there, even better than he did at Bayer Leverkusen now that he is on an Arsenal te...
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Alejandro Garnacho finally did what Chelsea brought him to do
4Mar By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Alejandro Garnacho finally did what Chelsea brought him to do

Alejandro Garnacho has not enjoyed an ideal start to life at Chelsea after a blockbuster transfer from Manchester United this past summer transfer window, but he shone brightly in the Blues 4-1 demolition of fellow top five contenders Aston Villa in his latest Premier League outing. For the most part, Garnacho has only been standing out positively in the smaller cup games, as he has been such a passenger in the Premier League that there are already Chelsea fans who want him sold after just one season. But Garnacho provided clear evidence that he deserves more time and may have the upside the Blues are looking for in the attack with a real playmaker's performance vs. Villa. Yes, Joao Pedro was obviously the best player on the pitch with a hat trick and another assist for good measu...
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Sandro Tonali is only looking more likely for Manchester United
4Mar By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Sandro Tonali is only looking more likely for Manchester United

Newcastle United star Sandro Tonali is a dream transfer target for several clubs around European football this summer transfer window, but Manchester United and Arsenal are the two clear favorites for his services. Although Arsenal may be gunning after the Italian international more since Mikel Arteta loves his center midfielders having been one himself, Man United do need the former AC Milan star even more than their Premier League Big Six rivals. That need was patently obvious during Man United's tough to swallow 2-1 loss to a 10 man Newcastle at St. James's Park. Tonali himself was splendid, leading the Magpies with three key passes from deep while defending incredibly intelligently and shielding the ball well. It was a perfect deep lying midfielder's performance for a 10 man t...
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Cody Gakpo has become laughably predictable
4Mar By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Cody Gakpo has become laughably predictable

Liverpool fans are still reeling from their shock loss to relegation candidates Wolves, and, once again, left winger Cody Gakpo drew the ire of supporters for a lackadaisical performance in the attack. The Reds have to be better at creating chances this season, and when Florian Wirtz is unavailable, it really shows just how one dimensional this team is - and it really is a credit to striker Hugo Ekitke that he is getting on so well in his first season at Anfield with the wing play has been this bad. Gakpo is actually a quality technician who can find passes and cross the ball, and he isn't a terrible athlete either. The problem is that his game has become so predictable that Premier League fullbacks are easily neutralizing him. Even when Gakpo first came to Liverpool and his attac...
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