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.

Bruno Fernandes could still reject Manchester United’s eye-watering wage offer
Transfer News

Bruno Fernandes could still reject Manchester United’s eye-watering wage offer

One of the big tasks for Manchester United this summer transfer window is to keep ahold of captain Bruno Fernandes, who has remained highly useful to the Red Devils with a whopping 20 goal contributions this season as a legitimate Premier League Player of the Season candidate. Saudi Pro League clubs have been dreaming of stealing Fernandes away for a while, but with Man United suddenly thriving under Michael Carrick, there is optimism that the Portuguese international will stay at Old Trafford. According to a new report from The Mirror, Man United are ready to offer Fernandes an improved contract to entice him to stay, paying him a whopping 400,000 pounds per week. Fernandes is currently the team's second highest paid player at 300,000 pounds per week or 15 million pounds per seas...
Arsenal’s Martin Zubimendi solution is beyond obvious
Analysis

Arsenal’s Martin Zubimendi solution is beyond obvious

Arsenal star defensive midfielder Martin Zubimendi has been one of the keys to the Gunners controlling Premier League midfields with ease and thus the title race to this point, but the Spanish international has begun to look a little long in the legs. And it is no surprise either. Out of all the players in the Premier League thus far in the 2025/26 campaign, Zubimendi is the leader in total kilometers traveled with nearly 300. Not even Everton workhorse midfielder James Garner or Nottingham Forest dynamo Elliot Anderson have covered more ground. Every single Arsenal fan can tell that Zubi is gassed, and they greatly appreciate all the dirty work he does so that the other players on Arsenal, including Ballon d'Or candidate Declan Rice, can shine with their statistics. Not only that...
Cristiano Ronaldo predicted Michael Carrick’s greatness before anyone else
News

Cristiano Ronaldo predicted Michael Carrick’s greatness before anyone else

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest players in the storied history of Manchester United, and while his second stint at the club was not an entirely fruitful one, his impact is still felt at the club. Players like Diogo Dalot improved after working with Cristiano, and the legendary Portuguese forward also subtly sowed the seeds for manager Michael Carrick to come up and save this club. In December 2021 when Carrick was briefly in the dugout for Man United, Cristiano tweeted high praise for his former Manchester United teammate in the midfield, calling him a "class act" when he was a player while predicting that Carrick would become a "great coach" in the future. He said, "Nothing is impossible for this guy." Well, we are seeing Cristiano's prediction come true before our very ...
Cody Gakpo’s Liverpool stock has reached an all-time low
Analysis

Cody Gakpo’s Liverpool stock has reached an all-time low

Liverpool had won three straight Premier League games after tough loss to rivals Manchester City, but after putting up five on relegation candidates West Ham United, the Reds lost to another relegation threatened side in Wolves to send them crashing back down to earth again. As Arne Slot rightfully draws the brunt of the criticism from Kopites for another horrendous managerial performance out of many this season, his favorite player, Cody Gakpo, also deserves plenty of criticism for one of the most disastrous winger performances by any player this Premier League season. Gakpo was the epitome of everything wrong with Liverpool in this one. At least fellow struggling winger Mohamed Salah managed to salvage a goal, because the Dutch forward did not prove himself useful in the slightest....
Mohamed Salah isn’t the only Liverpool star regressing to liability status
Analysis

Mohamed Salah isn’t the only Liverpool star regressing to liability status

Plenty has been said about Mohamed Salah's regression this season and abrupt decline in 2025/26 after being the best player in the Premier League last year, and while he did score the lone goal for the Reds in their shock defeat to relegation candidates Wolves, Liverpool fans are not changing their tune about the Egyptian legend. However, they are now adding another Premier League Player of the Season caliber star from the 2024/25 title winning season to their list of regressors partially responsible for their downturn in 2025/26. Ryan Gravenberch was a massive success story under Arne Slot last season and the best midfielder in the Premier League, dominating in all phases. Now, he is a shell of himself and a liability like Salah, holding back the midfield. Liverpool have gone fro...
Manchester United have increased their chances of keeping Bruno Fernandes
Transfer News

Manchester United have increased their chances of keeping Bruno Fernandes

Manchester United attacking midfielder Bruno Fernandes has worn many hats in the midfield this season, but no matter where the Red Devils captain has played or who has coached the team, he has been one of the best players in the Premier League and absolutely has a place next season. It's just that Man United fans have had to worry about Bruno F. either being swayed by another top team amidst the club's continued struggles - and previously, the issues with manager Ruben Amorim - or cashing in on a big move to the Saudi Pro League with Saudi Arabia ever desperate to add his star power. However, the transfer rumor mill is now pointing increasingly in the direction of Fernandes staying for at least another year. According to a new report from Alex Crook and Robert Calcutt of talkSPORT, M...
Somewhere, Luis Diaz is laughing at Liverpool
Analysis

Somewhere, Luis Diaz is laughing at Liverpool

Liverpool thought the summer 2025 transfer window was the right time to cash in on Luis Diaz and that his best days would soon be behind him, but it is the Colombian superstar who is now laughing as one third of the best attacking trio in world football as he and Bayern Munich sit in the driver's seat in the Champions League. Meanwhile, Liverpool are missing Diaz so badly that even in games in which a current star like Florian Wirtz is unavailable, it is the dynamic left winger whom they miss the most. Liverpool are a stagnant team with issues progressing the ball, serious creativity woes besides Wirtz and Dominik Szoboszlai, and unproductive wing play that is as unthreatening as it is predictable. As Diaz carves up Bundesliga defenses for fun, setting the table for Ballon d'Or fa...
Manchester United fans will despise the budget transfer alternative to their top CMs
Transfer News

Manchester United fans will despise the budget transfer alternative to their top CMs

Manchester United are desperate for new blood in the middle of the park, and given how much they have improved under Michael Carrick already as legitimate Champions League contenders, it is scary to think how good they will be next season with one or two top class midfielders in the mix. The dream trio for many Man United fans is Adam Wharton, Carlos Baleba, and Elliot Anderson among the several top midfielders linked to Man United this summer transfer window, which will also include two real pipe dreams in Newcastle United stars Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes. But according to a new report from Chris Wheeler and Nathan Salt of the Daily Mail, Manchester United are also keeping an eye on United States national team center midfielder Tyler Adams, who recently returned from a seriou...
Jarell Quansah isn’t the only top Bundesliga CB talent on Liverpool’s transfer radar
Transfer News

Jarell Quansah isn’t the only top Bundesliga CB talent on Liverpool’s transfer radar

As Liverpool contemplate bringing Jarell Quansah back after his sensational first season with Bayer Leverkusen as their replacement for Jonathan Tah, they are also considering another burgeoning talent in the Bundesliga, Nnamdi Collins of Eintracht Frankfurt. It has been a disappointing 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign for the Eagles, who were a sleeper team to fight at the top of the Bundesliga but are instead at risk of not qualifying for European football despite a team loaded with great young players. Collins is one of them, but he is part of a disappointing group of defenders. Per a report from Sky Sports Germany, Liverpool are interested in the Frankfurt center back, who carries a price tag of 40 million euros, at a minimum, from a team famous for selling players for a lot of money....
Liverpool fans already know their ideal Arne Slot replacement
Analysis

Liverpool fans already know their ideal Arne Slot replacement

Liverpool seemed to have been turning the corner with a string of positive results, but they were sent crashing down to earth by Rob Edwards's suddenly dangerous Wolves sides, leading to the same old questions about Arne Slot being asked by Kopites. When Liverpool hired Slot, they did so over former center midfielder Xabi Alonso, who had just won the Bundesliga with a fairytale, undefeated season at Bayer Leverkusen - previously nicknamed "Neverkusen" for their inability to win the big one - to break up Bayern Munich's historic hegemony. But the Reds did not regret their decision, dominating the Premier League in 2024/25 in Slot's first season filling the massive shoes of Jurgen Klopp. Meanwhile, Alonso joined Real Madrid this past summer and was fired in months, unable to handle the...