The Double Pivot: Soccer analysis, analytics, and commentary

We start with one of our "Mousa Dembele" pods where we scout a player using the stats. Here it's United's new signing Bruno Fernandes, an elite creator who may or may not be a possession sieve, and what to expect from him and why we're excited to watch him in a top league. Then we take listener questions about what "ball progression" means and why different measu...

These were not two slates of matches that reward analysis. Chelsea-Arsenal and Everton-Newcastle actively defy any attempt to analyze them. But we find our way through, taking stock of the extent of Chelsea's decline, Wolves' rise, and whether there are any new takes we can wring out of Spurs and United anymore. Support the show

Nate Scott of For the Win and USA Today sits in for Caley and talks Fulham soccer, off ball movement and the dangers of playing pretty football at the bottom of the Premier League table with the remaining Mike. Make sure to also check out Nate's true crime podcast, The Sneak, about an armored car heist and the once great athlete who committed it."For more on The Sneak, see here: https://...

This week at patreon.com/doublepivot we've got a continuation of last week's player pod with discussions of players around Europe including among others Achraf Hakimi, Fede Valverde, Christopher Nkunku and, uh, Messi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support the show

Halfway through the season, we've seen enough of key players at every club to make some observations. The two Mikes point out a player or two from nine EPL clubs (Arsenal, Brighton, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham, Norwich City, Sheffield United, Newcastle, Palace) that you should be noticing, and not always for good reasons. Part 2 (and the other 11 clubs) follows on Patreon. Learn more...

Spurs and United won on Boxing Day while Chelsea lost, and all of the sudden, Frank Lampard's squad looks more wobbly than they did a month ago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support the show

Analytics seem to be missing something about Liverpool. Or at least, that's how it seems to a lot of people trying to understand the club's run of dominance. The two Mikes take a closer look and explore a few theories, and use Tuesday's Dortmund-Leipzig match as a perfect jumping-off point for the discussion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support the...

The two Mikes explain why Everton should stick with Duncan Ferguson in perpetuity (full disclosure: this misleading and completely incorrect statement was written by a Liverpool fan), and then move on to the Manchester Derby, which may have killed the title race. The only hope for that title race may now lie with Leicester City, who have figured out some things. Learn more about your ad choices. V...

There's a new manager at Arsenal, the very early returns weren't different. Will we see something different? How will it affect the top four race, if there even is a race? Leicester, Chelsea, United, Spurs, Wolves, Arsenal, is anything gonna happen? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support the show

Mourinho is managing Tottenham, they won two games and look, it's not our fault this is objectively interesting. It is! So we've got a podcast on it, and also City-Chelsea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support the show

There are so many reasons why the marriage of Tottenham Hotspur and Jose Mourinho is bound to end in an ugly divorce, but for now, the two Mikes imagine a world where it just might work. Before that, they take a quick look at the biggest match in England this weekend: Manchester City vs. Chelsea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support the show

Liverpool put some distance between themselves and Manchester City (and Chelsea!) with a big win, and while the teams performed relatively evenly in the match, the two Mikes spotted some tactical issues that made things tough for Pep Guardiola's squad. As previously mentioned, Chelsea is pretty dang good, while Leicester vs. Arsenal perfectly encapsulated both squads. Learn more about your ad...

As Liverpool grow more heavily reliant on fullbacks attacking, and Manchester City deal with injuries and inconsistency on the backline, it creates some odd possibilities for the squads' clash this weekend. Outside of the title race, the race for top 4 is shaping up to not be much of a race at all if nothing changes, and the same could be said for the relegation places. But as usual, the numb...

The latest edition of Liverpool vs. Spurs contained multitudes and the two Mikes are here to break it down, but not before a quick look at Burnley vs. Chelsea, which was super weird in its own right. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support the show

Welcome to the 2019-20 Premier League season, where even the teams fighting for the top spots in the league are doing so in the most uninspiring fashion imaginable. If you like goals and you like shots, well, this isn't the place to find them. The two Mikes attempt to figure out what the heck is going on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support the show

Mike and Michael are at the Statsbomb conference in London. They talk through some of the highlights of last weekend's matches in the Premier League and then discuss what they saw at the conference and the new key concept in soccer analytics introduced by Thom Lawrence, "The Valley of Meh" and what it means for understanding the game. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphon...

A Manchester United - Arsenal match seemed to confirm every one of our priors about these two teams. But is something wrong with City? Why are Liverpool a bit less good than they seem? My god what is happening with Spurs? Mike and Michael start to reconsider Spurs and Chelsea while holding the line on the rest. Plus more of the same questions from La Liga, while Real and Barcelona continue not to...

Teams outside the top two in the Premier League may just be mailing it in and playing the kids this season. Chelsea vs. Liverpool was an interesting watch, and Leicester City showed its best lineup against Spurs, Other things are happening, too! This is just part one! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support the show

For subscribers at patreon.com/doublepivot we have a two-part (p)review, where we cover our eight Champions League groups, by way of discussing the matches in the first round on Tuesday and Wednesday, and what to expect in the groups over the next few months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support the show

Yeah so Man City lost to Norwich City. We get into what happened and what it could mean as we survey the weekend's results in the Premier League and ask if the table is already shaking out about the way we expected? Leicester, Wolves, Spurs, Norwich, City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea all covered. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support the show

Mike and Michael are joined by the New York Times' Astead Herndon, a national political reporter and Tottenham Hotspur fan. The conversation winds from Americans finding their Premier League team to polling analytics and diversity in media, back around to why Michael and Astead still feel good about Tottenham this season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support...

The North London derby provided all the insanity it normally does, and weird come-from-behind results echoed the sentiment around the league. That all leads the two Mikes to ask what we really know about the Premier League this season after four matches. Then, their attention turns to all the giants having a hell of a hard time getting going in La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga. Learn more about...

A chronological tour of the weekend's Premier League matches. There were many things to talk about, it was a chance to expand from our top six discussion of last week to look also at the middle of the table and below and see what we're expecting from everyone after a few weeks of matches. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support the show

City vs. Spurs was weird, Wolves vs. United was boring, Chelsea vs. Leicester was confusing, and Liverpool vs. Arsenal could get wild. To close the episode out as a teaser to Serie A talk on the premium side, the two Mikes pen their usual love letter to Atalanta. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support the show

Is Chelsea in crisis? Is Mancheter United great now? Are Liverpool and City running away with the league? We pump the brakes a lot, it's the first week. We have questions about Chelsea but they weren't 0-4 awful. We still don't know what United's midfield is, and Liverpool and City were weirdly not their best. Then Caley takes you on a tour of Broadway musicals and ancient femi...