Joe Soriano, Author at The Trivela Effect

Real Madrid could be forced into a surprising signing in summer 2025

7Nov

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

LaLiga

Real Madrid could be forced into a surprising signing in summer 2025

Real Madrid have grabbed the attention of the entire footballing world over the past two weeks, but whereas, before the season, you may have thought it would have been for record-breaking performances from an attack that is, on paper, absolutely loaded, it's been the complete opposite. Los Blancos are unraveling, following up a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Barcelona with an arguably even more humiliating defeat, 3-1 to AC Milan in the Champions League. Getting smacked in El Clasico is bad enough, but 1) Real had been there before and bounced back and 2) at least Real were creating chances in the first half against Barca. Real Madrid spend the whole week gameplanning and strategizing about fixing a broken defense, only to get ripped to shreds by Milan with more mind-bogglingly simp...

Liverpool’s pursuit of Aurelien Tchouameni just got a lot more interesting

7Nov

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

LaLiga

Liverpool’s pursuit of Aurelien Tchouameni just got a lot more interesting

Liverpool have been looking for a tempo-setter in the midfield for years, and, at points, they had one of the two best in the world at this job after acquiring Thiago Alcantara for free in 2020. Thiago was fresh off winning the treble for Bayern Munich and was as good as any footballer in the world at the time, even if his efforts were very much unsung by virtue of the nature of his position. When healthy, Thiago was every bit the maestro conductor that Jurgen Klopp envisioned, but, unfortunately, those healthy moments were few and far between. Thiago retired from the game at the end of the season. By then, though, Liverpool had overhauled their midfield and returned to their status as Premier League title contenders after landing Wataru Endo, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allist...

Barcelona begin negotiating ambitious swap deal for Viktor Gyokeres

7Nov

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

LaLiga

Barcelona begin negotiating ambitious swap deal for Viktor Gyokeres

Barcelona have been the most dominant force in world football to start the 2024/25 season, placing an exclamation point on their turnaround under Hansi Flick with a 4-1 win over Bayern Munich in an act of Champions League revenge, a 4-0 drubbing of hated rivals Real Madrid, and then a 3-1 derby victory over Espanyol to cap it all off. The Blaugrana have been steady defensively and hungry and relentlessly offensively, making full use of a high press and somehow an even higher line, with Flick taking opposing managers to school on a weekly basis. La Blaugrana's front three is the envy of everyone else in European football, with Robert Lewandowski back to scoring goals at a record pace, Raphinha playing the best football of his life in a free role off the left, and Lamine Yamal entrench...

Real Madrid have changed their biggest transfer priority

7Nov

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

LaLiga

Real Madrid have changed their biggest transfer priority

Ever since David Alaba became the second Real Madrid center back to suffer a torn ACL, Madridistas were clamoring for the club to sign another central defender last winter, with Carlo Ancelotti even at the forefront of the effort to sign a new defender. Since Real Madrid went on to win the Champions League and La Liga in 2023/24 without another center back, president Florentino Perez may have felt vindicated by his latest decision to stand pat in the transfer market when everyone else told him to go for more. But with Alaba still injured and now top prospect Joan Martinez joining him, Real Madrid remain thin at center back, and as the defense collapses after giving up a combined seven goals against Barcelona and AC Milan, the cries for another defender are becoming loader. Real Ma...

Guess who could come crawling back to Aston Villa

7Nov

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

Features

Guess who could come crawling back to Aston Villa

Aston Villa are experiencing a little bit of a slide, as the top-four contenders have not won a game since their Oct. 22 victory over Bologna in the Champions League. The Lions suffered a shock defeat to Club Bruges in their latest Champions League encounter, on the heels of a 4-1 drubbing to fellow top-four contenders Tottenham in the Premier League this weekend. Before that, Aston Villa lost to a struggling Crystal Palace 2-1, and they could not get the full three points against Bournemouth either, drawing the plucky underdogs 1-1. Unai Emery has done a marvelous job with Villa to this point, and they look even stronger this season with Morgan Rogers and Jhon Duran breaking out as legitimate top attackers while Youri Tielemans enjoys a career year thus far. Tielemans and fell...

Real Madrid can sign a top left back at a bargain fee, but they won’t for a simple reason

7Nov

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

LaLiga

Real Madrid can sign a top left back at a bargain fee, but they won’t for a simple reason

Real Madrid are in desperate need of a top left back, and they've been searching for a star player at the position ever since Marcelo starting obviously declining during the 2018/19 season. Replacing a legend like Marcelo, one of the best left backs in history, is no easy feat, and the Merengues clearly don't have the solution between either Ferland Mendy or Fran Garcia. Mendy has been favored by Carlo Ancelotti despite showing obvious technical and tactical failures over the past few seasons, while Garcia has never really settled in Madrid since re-joining the club after emerging as a top La Liga back for Rayo Vallecano. And before Fran, Real Madrid had a very intriguing and gifted left back in Miguel Gutierrez, but Carlo decided to send him off to Girona after stuffing him on th...

Real Madrid need to take the ultimate risk on a prospect to turn things around

6Nov

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

LaLiga

Real Madrid need to take the ultimate risk on a prospect to turn things around

Trusting the youth hasn't always been Real Madrid's strong suit, especially with Carlo Ancelotti as manager. In his first year of his second stint, Carlo gave up on Miguel Gutierrez, who is now a Real Madrid transfer target due to his strong performances at Girona, and it took him ages to trust Eduardo Camavinga, who eventually proved pivotal in winning the Champions League. But Carletto has hit a new low in his treatment of young players. If Zinedine Zidane was criticized for his hesitancy to integrate Martin Odegaard, who is now one of the Premier League's best at Arsenal, then imagine what will be said about Ancelotti if he drives two even more talented youngsters away in Endrick and Arda Guler. When it comes to academy players, Carlo's track record is literally a zero, with Migue...

Real Madrid already think they have their Dani Carvajal replacement

6Nov

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

LaLiga

Real Madrid already think they have their Dani Carvajal replacement

Real Madrid were able to overcome ACL tears to Thibaut Courtois, Eder Militao, and David Alaba last season to win La Liga and the Champions League, so if anyone can overcome another rash of serious injuries in 2024/25, then it is the Merengue club. But with Barcelona firing on all cylinders after the Hansi Flick appointment, Real Madrid are up against it this season, as exemplified by their 4-0 blowout loss at home to the Blaugrana in El Clasico. Real Madrid did not have Courtois or Rodrygo Goes available due to injury, and while both will be back soon, one star player who didn't play won't be back any time soon. Dani Carvajal played so well in the 2023/24 season as a right back that he was a legitimate Ballon d'Or candidate by the end of the campaign, even before his Spanish nati...

Transfer Rumors: AC Milan offer Liverpool blockbuster Federico Chiesa swap deal

6Nov

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

Features

Transfer Rumors: AC Milan offer Liverpool blockbuster Federico Chiesa swap deal

Liverpool surprised a lot of fans around the world this summer when they acquired Federico Chiesa from Juventus, spending just 12 million euros to sign a player who was widely regarded as the most talented on the Bianconeri. Chiesa arrived in Turin during the summer 2020 transfer window and was an immediate success, providing a spark alongside Alvaro Morata, Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala, and Dejan Kulusevski in what was the latest decent Juventus attack. He then shined at Euro 2020 for champions Italy, but an ACL tear and poor management from the highly defensive Max Allegri led to the former Fiorentina star completely falling out of the picture after initially being tabbed as the future of Juve. Many thought new manager Thiago Motta would back Chiesa and coax a bounce-back yea...

A Real Madrid starter has to lose his job after AC Milan debacle

6Nov

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

LaLiga

A Real Madrid starter has to lose his job after AC Milan debacle

Real Madrid are in a state of crisis after losing 3-1 to AC Milan, compounding their 4-0 defeat to Barcelona even further. There are calls for Carlo Ancelotti to lose his job, cries for a new center back and right back in January, and a general sense of disbelief at how much this team has unraveled in 2024/25. It was only six months ago that Real Madrid were on top of European football as Champions League and La Liga winners. They won both titles convincingly, and then they went ahead and added Kylian Mbappe and Endrick to their attack in the summer. Well, the Real Madrid attack has been, if anything, significantly worse with Mbappe as the centerpiece player alongside Vinicius Junior, with Jude Bellingham left to chase shadows in a defensive role and the club's biggest gem Arda Guler...