The Double Pivot: Soccer analysis, analytics, and commentary

Liverpool struggled badly against Newcastle while City lost to Spurs, and both matches captured the current tactical meta in different ways. We walk through the history of where the extreme control tactics of contemporary football came from and how clubs are now responding to control with different versions of chaos, pressing, athleticism and directness. Looking back on Pep, Jose, Klopp, Tuchel an...

Arsenal got the three points, but their close-fought 1-0 victory over Manchester United felt strange to watch and was a major statistical outlier in a number of ways. We are joined by CBS Sports' James Benge to discuss what he saw from Arsenal in their opening match and what it might mean for the season. Follow James online: https://bsky.app/profile/jamesbenge.bsky.social And read his article...

It's that time again! We go through all 20 Premier League teams, draft our favorites, and talk about why we picked them.  Part II of course available at http://patreon.com/doublepivot Support the show

We talk about strategies for staying in the Premier League as a promoted side, how much harder it's gotten, what approaches are being employed by Leeds, Sunderland and Burnley, and why we think this season one of them breaks the streak.  Support the show

Who do you got? Support the show

We are joined by Sophie Lawson to discuss the Women's Euros, which were heading into their semifinals as we were recording. How Spain have established themselves as the best in Europe, why Germany have made the semis but still disappointed so far, how England have shown fight but not yet the quality of ball that they need, and how Italy are just Italy-ing super hard.  Follow Sophie on the var...

Talking about all the agreeable soccer analytics you can listen to if you join at  https://www.patreon.com/c/doublepivot And if you do, here's how to join the Discord https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/212052266-Getting-Discord-access Support the show

The deal is still held up in contractual, semi-legal limbo, but we talk about Gibbs-White and analyzing players based on per-90 and per-touch metrics, and whether this is a risk worth taking for Tottenham.  Support the show

Summer means transfer talk but also maybe a teensy bit of international football. We discuss Malik Tillman to Bayer Leverkusen as well as Malik Tillman within the context of the USMNT. And we talk about Nico Williams to Barcelona, why it hasn't gone through yet, and what the plan is for him at Barca.  Support the show

Chelsea has not yet completed most of the many transactions they're reported to be working on, but certainly it looks like another summer for churn. And our question is, why. Support the show

With Crystal Palace in danger of missing out on Europe due to their ownership situation, and Chelsea being, you know, the way that they are, we felt it was time to talk to an actual expert about what private equity is and what is new about private equity ownership in sports. So we asked George Pearkes, all-around finance knower on social media and professionally Global Macro Strategist for Bespoke...

Tottenham are hiring Brentford's manager to replace Ange Postecoglou. Frank has been adaptable in his career with a few consistent tendencies, and we've got some takes.  Support the show

Manchester City appear to be moving in the June window, with transfers for Rayan Cherki and Rayan Ait Nouri advancing, rumors around Tijjani Reijnders and Tino Livramento hanging around, and we look at a very strange season and what all of this might mean.  Support the show

We're playing team of the season but with a twist. We each have to draft a separate, reasonably coherent XI of the players who were the best and the most productive in the Premier League in the last season. Did we pick your favorite players? Did we terribly disrespect your team? Check it out. Support the show

It starts with the fullbacks. It appears very likely that with Trent leaving, Liverpool will sign both Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez. Both good players at good prices, but neither can replace the ball progression and midfield creativity of Alexander-Arnold. So what else will need to happen to make this team competitive at the highest level? Support the show

Real Madrid are reportedly making two major changes, dropping Carlo Ancelotti for Xabi Alonso and bringing in Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold as a right sided defender and ludicrous passer. We discuss how all of this may, or may not, but probably will, but exactly how well will it work out? Support the show

The second leg was somehow even better than the first. We talk the stats and tactics from an incredible match, what we've learned about Hansi Flick and Barcelona this season, sing the praises of Inter Milan and Inzaghi, and talk a bit about the future of Barcelona.  Support the show

We take a mailbag question on the math of goal difference, projecting points from goals, and what it tells us about the game of soccer. This one is for the nerds.  Support the show

Four big teams, two big games, Arsenal vs PSG, Barcelona vs Inter, it's a soccer analytics podcast.  Support the show

We are joined by Dan Davies, author of the fantastic new book The Unaccountability Machine, to talk about the book and the new ways of thinking about business and capitalism that he introduces, and then to discuss how this model of thinking can help explain why European football is the way it is. The Unaccountability Machine: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/U/bo252799883.html Dan...

We break down Arsenal's big win, Real Madrid's toothlessness, Inter's away result, and why we continue to see PSG and Barcelona as the best remaining teams in the tournament, probably the best teams in the entire world. And that brings us to Lamine Yamal, who is good. Support the show

No football just literature and history. A Drop of Corruption: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/735559/a-drop-of-corruption-by-robert-jackson-bennett/ Support the show

Tactics Tom is in charge for England the results were the same and the football was not scintillating but it was tactically distinct and interesting to discuss. So we had Grace Robertson of graceonfootball.com join us to discuss it.  Support the show

We are joined by the Athletic's Adam Crafton to discuss his and his colleagues' reporting on Manchester United, what's happened since Jim Ratcliffe took over, what they claim they're doing and what it means for the club. And then we also discuss the increasingly explicit American political context of the upcoming World Cup and international soccer competitions and his reporting...

We are joined by financial journalist (and soccer and cycling fan) Ben Walsh to learn about the great sport of road racing, the background of INEOS as a sports ownership group, and how fans of cycling were well ahead of the curve on what to expect from Ratcliffe at Manchester United.  Check out Ben's newsletter, The Bender: https://bendwalsh.substack.com/ Support the show