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.

Premier League Player of the Season Rankings after Erling Haaland bags another brace
18Oct By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Premier League Player of the Season Rankings after Erling Haaland bags another brace

Manchester City star striker Erling Haaland has made it 11 on the season in just eight games, as he bagged yet another brace in the Premier League to help lift the Citizens to a 2-0 win over Everton and another Player of the Season candidate, former Man City teammate Jack Grealish. Where does Haaland stack up in the Premier League Player of the Season race for the 2025/26 season so far after scoring two more goals to the good? Here are the latest updated rankings, smack dab in the middle of Matchday 8. 5. Sunderland RB Nordi Mukiele The average Premier League fan probably doesn't know who Nordi Mukiele is, but one of the new additions to this excellent Sunderland defense has quietly been extraordinary at right back, picking up where he left off from his days in the Bundesliga at RB Le...
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Ranking the 5 best Premier League wingers of the 2025/26 season at the October break
14Oct By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Ranking the 5 best Premier League wingers of the 2025/26 season at the October break

With seven matchdays done and dusted in the 2025/26 Premier League season and a natural break in the action for October's World Cup and European Championship qualifying matches, it's time to take stock of the season thus far. The winger position has become just as much of a marquee post as the striker position in the Premier League these days, and while most people are still fixated on goals and assists, more and more fans are going back to the days of respecting the wingers who carry the ball tirelessly and win their one-on-ones to open up the entire team. In that spirit, let's rank the top five best wingers of the 2025/26 Premier League season so far, specifically ranking them based only on their displays in the current campaign. 5. Yankuba Minteh, Brighton Yankuba Minteh was alw...
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Rating the 10 most expensive summer transfers of the 2025/26 Premier League season so far
11Oct By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Rating the 10 most expensive summer transfers of the 2025/26 Premier League season so far

Now that we are in the second break of the 2025/26 season, it's time to take stock of all the biggest signings in the Premier League from the summer 2025 transfer window and see if they have been worth it so far. And if not, what will it take for them to meet their expectations based on their fees. Using the data provided by Transfermarkt (all figures in euros), we have ranked the 10 most expensive Premier League signings of the summer market and given a player rating from 0-10 based solely on how the players have performed through the first seven matchdays of the 2025/26 campaign. 10. Arsenal ST Viktor Gyokeres, 65.8M Viktor Gyokeres has been dunked on by rival fanbases with slander names like "Mediokeres" and even a comment that he looks like he's playing football with jeans on. ...
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Real Madrid Player Ratings vs. Atletico: Even Kylian Mbappe can’t save the day
27Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Player Ratings

Real Madrid Player Ratings vs. Atletico: Even Kylian Mbappe can’t save the day

Despite being torn apart by Atletico Madrid for the first 45 minutes at the Wanda Metropolitano, Atleti's missed opportunities combined with Real Madrid's incredible finishing from superstars Kylian Mbappe and Arda Guler meant that Real actually held the 2-1 lead heading into half time. However, it all fell apart for Real Madrid in the second half, as they surrendered four unanswered goals to lose their first game of the 2025/26 La Liga season, falling to Atletico Madrid for the first time in years. Atleti's 5-2 win was the result of suffocating second half defense and clear superiority on set pieces, as Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso clearly didn't do his homework on how to stop Atleti on corner kicks, knowing full well that Real have been horrible in this area for years. It was...
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2025/26 Premier League Player of the Season Rankings after Matchday 5
22Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

2025/26 Premier League Player of the Season Rankings after Matchday 5

Now that a full five Matchdays have been completed in the 2025/26 Premier League season, it's time to take stock of the best players in the English top flight right now and rank the 10 best Premier League Player of the Season candidates. All statistics are courtesy of WhoScored.com 10. Liverpool ST Hugo Ekitike New Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitike has been getting all the shine while Alexander Isak works his way into the starting lineup, and the Frenchman has been absolutely tremendous all-around and exactly as advertised. With three goals through five matchweeks, Ekitike is already a touch away from equaling Darwin Nunez's goal-scoring total last season, and we're not even two months into the season. On top of the goals, Ekitike is averaging two dribbles completed per game and is...
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Every La Liga club’s most overpaid player in the 2025/26 season
21Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Every La Liga club’s most overpaid player in the 2025/26 season

La Liga may not have the same figures thrown around or as much money involved as the Premier League, but when you look across the landscape of the Spanish top flight, you'll still find plenty of contracts and wage figures. Using data provided by FBRef.com, let's take a look at the most overpaid player on every La Liga team for the 2025/26 season. Girona Why on earth Girona signed Axel Witsel remains a mystery. I get the idea of a club worried about relegation signing veteran players, but Witsel hasn't been a starting-caliber player in ages and was a disaster for Atletico Madrid. At 4.16 million euros per season, Witsel is Girona's highest-paid player and is 36 years old. He has no real, defined position in 2025/26, and while he was once a top defensive midfielder at the Champions L...
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Every 2025/26 Champions League contender’s biggest X-Factor
20Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Every 2025/26 Champions League contender’s biggest X-Factor

The Champions League is the time for all the brightest stars to come out and write their legacies in leading their clubs to victory, as the biggest legends of the modern game like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Sergio Ramos, Luka Modric, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Toni Kroos, and so many others have taken the opportunity to etch their names in history with remarkable Champions League campaigns. But Champions Leagues are also just as much about the X-Factors who step up in key moments or have career years to defy expectations. This is where the Alvaro Moratas, the Francesco Acerbis, and the John Stoneses of the world make their mark. Who could be the biggest X-Factors in the 2025/26 Champions League campaign? Here are eight players to watch from the ...
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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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