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.

Every Premier League club’s most valuable player of the 2020s decade so far
20Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Every Premier League club’s most valuable player of the 2020s decade so far

Debating "value" can often be difficult, because there are so many ways to ascribe a player's value to a team. It can be because of their brilliance on the field, statistical dominance, scarcity of position, lack of star players in surrounding areas, or by being part of a dominant team. Let's do a fun exercise and look through all the current Premier League teams with experience in the top flight this decade prior to the 2025/26 season (so Sunderland is out) and try to pick out each club's most valuable player from the 2020s decade thus far. Wolves Ruben Neves and Pedro Neto both have strong cases, and I think Rayan Ait-Nouri and Adama Traore merit honorable mentions somewhere in there. But the most recent Wolves star, Matheus Cunha, absolutely has to be considered the best on an indi...
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2025/26 Ballon d’Or Power Rankings after Matchday 1 of the Champions League
20Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

2025/26 Ballon d’Or Power Rankings after Matchday 1 of the Champions League

Even though we haven't learned who the official Ballon d'Or winner of the 2024/25 season is as Lamine Yamal and Ousmane Demebele fight for the award, all of the European leagues have played at least three games domestically and the first Matchday of the 2025/26 Champions League is already completed. So now is a good time to start the Ballon d'Or Power Rankings as an early barometer of the season to come for key individuals and breakout stars in European football this season. Since it's extremely difficult for defensive players to carry the team, go above and beyond, and capture the imagination of fans and the voters, this list is heavily skewed towards attacking players. You'll also find no players from Ligue 1 or the Premier League in this top 10. There's no bias in these leagues...
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Ranking the 5 best new Premier League transfers of the 2025/26 season so far
18Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Ranking the 5 best new Premier League transfers of the 2025/26 season so far

When clubs make transfer acquisitions, their biggest dream is to bring in players who make an immediate impact. While clubs in the Premier League and abroad invest in players for long-term return, having someone who steps right in and makes a difference both puts a club at ease that their investment will be fulfilled and offers the satisfaction of early results. Premier League clubs were busy making signings this past summer transfer window, and here is a ranking of the five best players to make a considerable impact already in the 2025/26 season. 5. Sunderland CB Omar Alderete Signed from Getafe for just 10 million pounds, Omar Alderete has proven to be one of the best signings of the summer 2025 transfer window thus far, even as he joined Sunderland as a relative unknown to the vast...
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2025/26 Serie A Power Rankings after Matchday 3: Picking the top 6
16Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

2025/26 Serie A Power Rankings after Matchday 3: Picking the top 6

The 2025/26 Serie A season is now three games old after an unforgettable Derby d'Italia, a huge statement win by Napoli over Fiorentina, and a hard-fought 1-0 AC Milan win over Bologna this past weekend. Here are the latest updated Serie A power rankings. 6. Atalanta Atalanta and Ademola Lookman are embroiled in an impasse, and even though La Dea also lost leading goal-scorer Mateo Retegui this past summer, there's still star power left in Bergamo. They reminded the rest of Italian football of that fact in a 4-1 drubbing of Lecce, with Charles De Ketelaere landing a cooly taken brace alongside Nicola Zalewksi's standout game. Atalanta will find it tough to crack the top four again, but it's also tough to envision them falling so far behind in Serie A that they aren't able to qua...
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Premier League Power Rankings after Matchday 4
16Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Premier League Power Rankings after Matchday 4

Another Premier League matchweek is in the books as Arsenal, Manchester City, and Tottenham put up impressive 3-0 victories, Liverpool and Newcastle ground out tough 1-0 ones, and Chelsea dropped valuable points. Here are the power rankings after Matchday 4. 20. Wolves Wolves cut it close against Newcastle, only losing by a goal, but that's hardly any real consolation. They are easily the worst team in the Premier League right now, and it's going to be a long season for a team that has not come anywhere near replacing the star power left by Matheus Cunha. 19. West Ham Annihilated by rivals Tottenham, really nobody is surprised by the futility the Hammers have displayed, and it feels like only a matter of time before they burn through another notable Premier League manager and then r...
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La Liga Power Rankings: Picking the top 6 after Matchday 4
15Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

La Liga Power Rankings: Picking the top 6 after Matchday 4

With four matches in the bag, let's take a look at the updated La Liga Power Rankings after Real Madrid won their fourth in a row and Atletico Madrid outlasted Villarreal in a marquee matchup. Note that power rankings are weighed heavily on form, so this is a combination of predicted the best teams in the future and honoring the teams that have truly been the best through four games in the 2025/26 season so far. 6. Real Betis One of two teams with five matches played in the La Liga season, Real Betis are only 10th in the table despite this advantage, because they've only won one game this season, which was a 1-0 victory over Deportivo Alaves. So it's been a disappointing start to the campaign for a perennial European side, and the Conference League Finalists are going to need more ...
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Premier League Power Rankings: The top 10 teams after the first month of the 2025/26 season
11Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Premier League Power Rankings: The top 10 teams after the first month of the 2025/26 season

Now that we've had the September international break to fully digest the first three fixtures of the 2025/26 Premier League season, it's time to do some power rankings and rank the top 10 teams in the English top flight based on what we have seen this season so far. 10. Sunderland Sunderland have been one of the biggest surprises to start the 2025/26 Premier League season and are actually all the way up in sixth in the league table with wins over London sides Brentford and West Ham. While that's not the most impressive competition, it's still been a strong start to the season for the Black Cats, who had one of the most involved summer transfer windows in the league, with the trio of Granit Xhaka, Omar Alderete, and Nordi Mukiele already making a huge impact. 9. Manchester United Man...
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Ranking the 10 best Serie A goalkeepers right now in 2025
10Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Ranking the 10 best Serie A goalkeepers right now in 2025

Serie A doesn't get nearly as much credit as it should for producing some of the finest goalkeepers in the world, and I don't think there's a league in world football right now that has had as much depth at the goalkeeper position among all the teams in the league over the past five years. Players like Guglielmo Vicario have gone on to have great success after leaving Serie A, but there's still more than enough high-end talent in the Italian top flight - and that goes beyond internationally recognized names like Yann Sommer and Mike Maignan. In celebration of all the goalkeepers in Serie A, including the more underrated ones, here's a ranking of the top 10 goalkeepers in the Italian top flight here in 2025. All statistics are courtesy of FBRef.com, which has, by far and away, the ...
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World Cup 2026: Ranking Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and the 5 best players older than 35
9Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

World Cup 2026: Ranking Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and the 5 best players older than 35

The 2026 World Cup will take place next year in North America, and the qualifying rounds have given us plenty of nostalgic moments with the two biggest legends in the history of this game, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, still racking up the goals. Well past the age of 35, Cristiano and Messi remain two of the world's finest players on the international stage, even as they have long past waved goodbye to the highest level of European football. But there are a couple of other iconic players past the age of 35 who could be factors at the next World Cup but are still shining for powerhouse clubs in European football. How do they stack up with the two GOATs? As the nations decide who is in and out of the 2026 World Cup, let's take an early look and rank the top five players older ...
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2026 World Cup Power Rankings: The 5 most important players to their country’s success
7Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

2026 World Cup Power Rankings: The 5 most important players to their country’s success

As the 2026 World Cup qualifying matches rage on, it's time to continue our early preview of next year's tournament in North America by narrowing our focus from the key teams to the key individuals that could shape the latest chapter of international football. Although we don't yet know the final field of the 2026 World Cup - and it looks like there are some giants who may not even make it to that point - the most important players to their countries are still going to be pivotal in these qualifying stages. So let's rank the top five players based on their importance to their team's qualification efforts and eventual hopes of World Cup success. Since it's too easy to pick the one star player at a smaller country and because one player can't pull everyone up to success (look at Mohame...
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