The Double Pivot: Soccer analysis, analytics, and commentary

We take up a challenge from the discord to say something about even the least interesting teams. This podcast series will take us through the international break and begins with Fulham, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Everton, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Leeds. Support the show

We are joined by Leif Weatherby, author of Language Machines: Cultural AI and the End of Remainder Humanism, to talk about artificial intelligence: what these new technologies do, but more than that how the fact of their existence can teach us more about how language works. And then we continue down a variety of paths talking sports analytics, optimization, and other topics.https://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517919320/language-machines/Support the show

Why the "Premier League disaster" narrative doesn't really make sense, plus some capsule summaries of the eight matches and why there was not that much to learn from the second legs. City-Real and Chelsea-PSG matches were over too early, Liverpool and Arsenal held serve at home, Bayern continued walking, why would anyone have expected more than this from Tottenham, and Barcelona-Newcastle was a fascinating watch with more to discuss but not necessarily representative of any larger dynamics. Support the show

There is so much football to discuss that this podcast could not contain it all and part two will be a subscriber episode. Here we get to the acknowledgement of Tottenham and a much more in-depth discussion of both PSG - Chelsea and Real Madrid - Man City, two matches that were much more similar than the scores and the ensuing narratives might suggest.Support the show

They debate why Champions League knockouts now repeat similar matchups, covering draw luck, revenue imbalance, and whether sharing money could restore variety. Then they launch a Bible History Corner primer on Paul, tracing Pauline studies, ancient Israelite history, exile, and how those histories shape new readings of Paul.

Discussion of the tight Premier League title race and recent dramatic results. Debate over Manchester City's form and tactical rotations. Examination of Arsenal's recent point drops, defensive style, and tendency to sit on leads. Conversation about variance, underlying metrics versus perception, and Arsenal's squad depth and injury resilience.

With the Analytics Dead Zone fully underway in league football, we step back, take a question from the mailbag, and play "Squad Player or Star Player?" with James Garner, Joao Pedro and Gabriel Martinelli. Support the show

That's right. For the Winter Olympics we have a whole podcast dedicated to biathlon, joined by Jordan and RJ of the Penalty Loop Podcast to teach us all about how to watch biathlon like an expert, understanding the different events as well as the kinds of data and analysis used in biathlon, the players and teams to watch at the Olympics, and we did not skimp on the biathlon drama either. Check out the Penalty Loop Podcast: http://penaltyloop.com/penalty-loop-podcast/And Biathlon Analytics: https://biathlonanalytics.com/Support the show

The Double Pivot has introduced a term into the football vernacular and we talk through the set pieces story, Caley's study, and Jonathan Northcroft's column in the Times. And then we talk transfers including Marc Guehi, Antoine Semenyo and Ademola Lookman, which leads naturally into a discussion of private equity in football. The Northcroft column: https://www.thetimes.com/sport/football/article/premier-league-goalkeepers-set-pieces-ft66m8hn5Set pieces study: https://www.expectinggoals.com/p/the-set-piece-revolutionSupport the show

They react to a chaotic Champions League final day and late-game collapses from Benfica and Real Madrid. Then they unpack a study claiming the modern set-piece boom comes from long throws and six-yard corners that crowd keepers. They debate defensive countermeasures, rule tweaks, and how these routines could reshape tactics, player development, and tournament strategies.