The Double Pivot: Soccer analysis, analytics, and commentary

Delving into leaked Cyprus Confidential Files, the podcast explores implications for Chelsea's history, the politics of oligarch ownership, and nation states owning football clubs. It uncovers the complex web of money flow between Western Europe and Russia, raising concerns about transparency and legitimacy. The podcast compares the financial activities of Abu Dhabi and state-owned industries to individuals like Roman Abramovich, emphasizing the absence of subterfuge. Discussions also touch on ownership motivations and potential sanctions faced by clubs like Chelsea.

Everton, Brentford, Arsenal, United, Bournemouth, West Ham, Brighton, Liverpool and more.Support the show

The Derby gives us the opportunity to do the United pod that's been needed. An impressive win for City (who attacked!) but the real story coming out of it is how bad United were and how fully in line with their performance this season that is. Why is it so bad and can it get better?Support the show

Newcastle United's impressive numbers and weird stats are analyzed. Their tactical approach and improved efficiency are explored. The types of soccer teams and their performance are compared. The impact of injuries on a successful soccer team is discussed. Good management and team performance in the Premier League are evaluated. The factors influencing Newcastle's success and the path to sustainable success are debated.

We asked for your galaxy-brain ideas to fix the game of football and you delivered. We discuss proposals to fix video review and the offside rule, as well as the multi-ref system.Support the show

The best team in the world lost again. Does it mean anything? We talk about how City and Arsenal approach their weekend clash, what we can glean from the data about City's attack not quite clicking, and how we think it could get fixed.Support the show

They got a big call wrong in an unusually straightforward way in Spurs - Liverpool. So what's to be done? We talk about what this means about refereeing and VAR, the prospects for positive change and the profound structural limits on organizing toward it.Support the show

Spurs and Arsenal played to a more or less fair draw, but given our priors this leads to different kinds of questions about Spurs and Arsenal. Why isn't Arsenal's attack quite clicking? Can Spurs keep taking these risks in possession? And we talk about the tactics of the game and stuff.Support the show

Caley did an analytics. Talking about Chelsea, Newcastle, Brentford, Brighton, Forest and the bottom of the PL table in terms of their schedule-adjusted numbers. And stick around for the appendices.For reference, Caley's xG table: https://twitter.com/MC_of_A/status/1703908497543356705Support the show

There's some interesting stuff going on under the hood at a few Premier League teams. Have Crystal Palace's young attackers taken the leap? Can Man City really be this conservative? Have you seen Brentford's xG difference? And is Ange Postecoglu magic?Support the show