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.

Champions League Predictions: Biggest threat to win title from each top 5 league in 2025/26
23Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Champions League Predictions: Biggest threat to win title from each top 5 league in 2025/26

The 2025/26 Champions League season is still in its play-off stages for another week, but on Aug. 28, those matches will end and the league phase will be finalized, setting in motion the start of the second campaign in this new format. PSG finally conquered European football last season in their first one without superstar Kylian Mbappe - or Neymar for that matter - following a more team-oriented approach under Luis Enrique. They will no doubt be the favorites again this season, but as in any year, the field is wide open with so many great contenders around European football. Before the 2025/26 Champions League campaign truly gets underway in mid-September with the first league phase matches, let's start with some predictions. Some leagues are more clear-cut than others - looking ...
Read More
Ranking the 5 best teenagers in European football for the 2025/26 season
19Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Ranking the 5 best teenagers in European football for the 2025/26 season

It's not easy to step right in and be a star in one of the top five leagues in European football before you've turned the age of 23, let alone before turning the age of 21...or 20, for that matter. Lamine Yamal's success at Barcelona may be leading some to unrealistic expectations of what young players can do, because the 18-year-old's success in his first two seasons as a full-time starter - and Barca's most crucial player on a team filled with stars - has been nothing short of extraordinary. Not even the two GOATs, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, were playing at this level before they even became legal adults. But for the most part, the wider world of football fans understand both how special Yamal is and how difficult it is for anyone to even start at the highest levels of Eur...
Read More
Is Dusan Vlahovic overrated or underrated? Why the striker has flopped at Juventus
18Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Is Dusan Vlahovic overrated or underrated? Why the striker has flopped at Juventus

Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic is heading into the final year of his contract with the Bianconeri, and as the club negotiates to keep Randal Kolo Muani for longer from PSG and welcomes incoming free agent striker Jonathan David, the transfer rumors surrounding Vlahovic's own future continues to swirl. But the old rumors linking him to giant clubs like Premier League title contenders Arsenal have waned, and as Juve continue to toil away from the true Serie A title race, Vlahovic's own transfer has, likewise, taken a significant hit. The on-and-off again contract and transfer talks have now yielded a clear reality, and that is the fact that Vlahovic is in a make-or-break year at Juventus. He either blows up and earns a long-term future at the club he chose to join a few years ago, or ...
Read More
Ranking the 5 best Manchester United players for the 2025/26 season
16Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Ranking the 5 best Manchester United players for the 2025/26 season

As Manchester United prepare for the start of the 2025/26 season and their opener against Premier League title contenders Arsenal, there's a lot of optimism in the air regarding their future. That's a sudden change from where they were at a few months ago, but Manchester United actually went out and signed proven attackers who can bring goals and bags of quality, rather than overspending on gambles without established goal-scoring track records, namely Serie A youngsters Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund (the latter of whom is likely headed back to Italy this summer. These players - Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha, and Bryan Mbeumo - are immediately among Manchester United's best players, but where exactly do they rank on the list? Are they immediately in the top three, are they all...
Read More
Ranking the 10 best left-footed players in the Premier League for 2025/26 season
14Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Ranking the 10 best left-footed players in the Premier League for 2025/26 season

There's just something extra special about a left-footed footballer who can dazzle on the ball, and whether it's Lionel Messi or Diego Maradona, some of the world's most legendary and captivating players of all time have been left-footed wizards. In 2025/26, the Premier League boasts an enviable collection of left-footed stars, both in terms of well-established legends of the league, as well as young superstars with Ballon d'Or potential. There are even defenders who are a class above the rest on the ball with their left feet. So in honor of the southpaws, let's rank the top 10 left-footed players in the Premier League heading into the 2025/26 season. 10. Tottenham CB Micky van de Ven We begin with a center back because defenders are important, too. And Europa League-winning Totten...
Read More
Ranking the 10 best defensive transfers of the summer 2025 window
13Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Transfer News

Ranking the 10 best defensive transfers of the summer 2025 window

Attacking players make all the headlines in world football, and the transfer market is no exception. The most expensive and desirable players - the players seen as being the ones who can change the destiny of a club- are the forwards, especially the goal-scorers. But history has proven that the right defensive-minded transfers can be just as influential to a team building a dynasty, whether that's an expensive acquisition like Virgil van Dijk's move from Southampton to Liverpool or a more under-the-radar buy like Inigo Martinez helping Barcelona return to prominence in European football last season. With the summer 2025 transfer window reaching its final weeks, let's rank the top 10 defensive transfer signings of the mercato thus far. It's no surprise to see the Premier League domina...
Read More
The 10 best young Bundesliga players to watch in the 2025/26 season
13Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

The 10 best young Bundesliga players to watch in the 2025/26 season

Perhaps no league in world football has a bigger reputation for building top young talents than the Bundesliga, and that's because clubs like Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Monchengladbach, Eintracht Frankfurt, RB Leipzig, and, of course, Borussia Dortmund have made it a regular habit of signing and developing young players into superstars. But even the most historic and successful club in the German top flight, Bayern Munich, has produced more than its fair share of homegrown elite players, including five-time Champions League winning center midfielder Toni Kroos. The Bundesliga is almost like a factory for talent to the other big leagues in Europe, especially the Premier League, and Liverpool alone spent well over 200 million euros this summer on two of the biggest German league talent...
Read More
Every new Serie A manager hire for 2025/26 ranked from worst to best
11Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Every new Serie A manager hire for 2025/26 ranked from worst to best

No league experienced more managerial turnover last season than Serie A. In total, there are going to be 13 new coaches next season if you include the permanent appointment of Igor Tudor to Juventus, as he joined towards the end of the campaign as an interim manager to replace Thiago Motta. In Serie A, the same managers tend to get recycled to new jobs, as there are very little outside hires into Italian football, making it similar to the Bundesliga and dissimilar to most other European leagues. That means a lot of the new hires are retreads doomed to fail. But lately, Serie A clubs have been more open to taking chances on new coaches, especially former players, and there are some of those coming into Calcio as well. With the 2025/26 Serie A season just weeks way, let's rank all t...
Read More
One player for every Serie A contender to sign before summer 2025 transfer window ends
10Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Transfer News

One player for every Serie A contender to sign before summer 2025 transfer window ends

After Inter Milan won the 2023/24 Serie A season by nearly 20 points in the table, the 2024/25 campaign was far more entertaining, coming down to the wire with the Nerazzurri failing to defend their Scudetto, making it yet another season with a new winner ever since Inter first broke up Juve's hegemony of the title in 2021. It was Napoli, going from tenth to first, who conquered Italian football, winning their second title in three seasons after going decades without a triumph. The Scott McTominay-fueled underdogs offered another masterclass in team football, and they've already added another big name this summer to join Romelu Lukaku in fellow Belgian icon Kevin De Bruyne. Napoli aren't the only ones looking to make moves this summer, and there are still plenty of other big dominos ...
Read More
The top 10 Premier League transfers under £25M in the 2025 summer window
10Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Transfer News

The top 10 Premier League transfers under £25M in the 2025 summer window

Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, and all the other top clubs in the Premier League have made major headlines this summer transfer window by splashing serious cash on big names like Florian Wirtz, Bryan Mbeumo, Viktor Gyokeres, and Joao Pedro this summer transfer window. But there were so many other quality signings made in this window so far that could go a long way in shaping relegation battles, the fights for the Conference League, and perhaps even the battles in the top five, including the Premier League title race. So in the spirit of the moves that didn't get quite the same press, let's break down the best 10 transfers of the 2025 summer window that cost teams under 25 million pounds. And because free transfers are too obvious, let's only look at the moves that ca...
Read More