The Double Pivot: Soccer analysis, analytics, and

A fascinating if not super competitive pair of semifinal matches are in the books. We look at everything PSG did right and, as is typical for us, spend a lot of time perserverating on what went for a Bayern team that won 3-0.  Support the show (http://patreon.com/doublepivot)

Wow. Bayern-Barca was the perfect crescendo to everything we'd predicted and City-Lyon was.... not. We talk about the distinct patterns of the Bayern match and consider whether Pep's shit works in the playoffs. Support the show (http://patreon.com/doublepivot)

Two quarterfinals are in the books and one semifinal is scheduled. We break down two very exciting but tactically meh games -- Leipzig did enough to break down Atleti's profoundly negative side and PSG almost got football'd by an exhausted Atalanta but... didn't -- and then we give you our preview of that semi. Support the show (http://patreon.com/doublepivot)

We break down the big games, Leicester-United and a little bit on the others (Watford-Arsenal!) and then ask, well, what did we learn from these 90 matches since the shutdown? Kinda turns into a City pod. Support the show (http://patreon.com/doublepivot)

We have actual final day drama in the Premier League. Six teams with everything on the time, five crucial matches. We tour the games with plentiful tangents, here's part 1 with Manchester United and our picks for the relegation chase. Support the show (http://patreon.com/doublepivot)

We break down the ruling against UEFA from the Court of Arbitration in Sport, and how it crystallizes the fundamental issue here: there are no good guys, and UEFA got caught breaking its own rules, but nothing about the ruling exonerates City either. And then we have Real Madrid's title, how Zidane put together a title-winning team despite crucial things going wrong early in the season, and what the future of La Liga will look like -- maybe without a great Barcelona side for a long time? Support the show (http://patreon.com/doublepivot)

Has the top five race ended? Has the relegation chase ended? We break down Leicester-Arsenal and look at the teams remaining in contention for the top five and there's not a lot left here. At the bottom things remain more in doubt, but the chances we're talking Europa places in a week are pretty high. Support the show (http://patreon.com/doublepivot)

It's been inevitable for a while, but it was certainly not inevitable 12 months ago and even less so six years ago. How did Liverpool build a team to win a Champions League and Premier League trophy in back to back seasons? How do we tell this story, and how do we parse out the different causes, from business development to analytics to coaching and tactics to good fortune. It's an unquestionable analytics success story, and also one that takes on a different shape from many of those we're used to in American sports. Support the show (http://patreon.com/doublepivot)

We walk through the whole Premier League team by team. And there's a lot of football coming and we want to help you out, so for each team we make the case that you shouldn't watch them. It gets harder as we go along. Support the show (http://patreon.com/doublepivot)

He's going to Chelsea! Probably! But the podcast works better if we treat it as settled fact! We break down what kind of player Werner is, how he might fit on this Chelsea side and within Lampard's style, and what this transfer indicates about the state of the football economy. https://thecorrespondent.com/517/three-reasons-the-football-season-is-starting-again-money-money-money/4240227200-05001e50 Support the show (http://patreon.com/doublepivot)

We break down Bayern's victory over Dortmund and the effective end of the title race in the Bundesliga. And we discuss the new substition rules in soccer, how they're being used, and what we'd like to see from managers with this new resource. Support the show (http://patreon.com/doublepivot)

Time to talk about actual soccer games with actual soccer statistics. The Bundesliga is back and Dortmund and Bayern won and we spend a lot of time talking about Gladbach and Leverkusen's underlying statistics because of course we do. Support the show (http://patreon.com/doublepivot)

Caley is joined by poet, scholar, activist and wikipedia-confirmed Arsenal fan Clint Smith (@clintsmithiii) to talk about why he loves and misses sports (even Arsenal!), and about his academic work in the study of education and the way people who have been incarcerated make meaning through education. Support the show (http://patreon.com/doublepivot)

The Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has nearly completed its purchase of Newcastle United Football Club. We talk about what this means. Another ownership group in the Premier League driven not by a need to make profits but by a drive for soft power, sportwashing a reputation sullied by war crimes, murder and oppression. What will that mean for Newcastle and the Premier League? George Caulkin's report in The Athletic: https://theathletic.com/1759832/2020/04/21/newcastle-takeover-bruce-charnley-transfers/ Support the show (http://patreon.com/doublepivot)

We've reached the point of the pandemic where sports leagues around the world are scrambling to find ways to safely return to action. The Bundesliga is poised to make the first attempt in the soccer world, and the Two Mikes size up the odds against the Germans (and really, everyone else). Then they talk loosely about generational gaps and leaps before turning to lobsters and chocolate tortas (but not together, that would be gross).  Support the show (http://patreon.com/doublepivot)

The Double Pivot Interview Series continues, with Mike Goodman talking to SB Nation's erstwhile soccer writer and current e-sports writer Kim McCauley (@lgbtqfc) about the only kind of sports that people can play under pandemic, how to understand it, how to watch it, and more. Support the show (http://patreon.com/doublepivot)

Soccer! Sort of! Michael interviews Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan), a reporter from The Athletic who has been covering all the drama with US Soccer, for a recap and analysis of everything that's gone down in the last month with the equal pay lawsuit filed by the US Women's National Team. There's a lot to cover, and it's about soccer, mostly. Support the show (http://patreon.com/doublepivot)

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.

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://wondery.com/shows/the-sneak/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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://wondery.com/shows/the-sneak/Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices