The Double Pivot: Soccer analysis, analytics, and commentary

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/adchoicesSupport the show

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/adchoicesSupport 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 about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show

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/adchoicesSupport 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/adchoicesSupport the show

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. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show

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/adchoicesSupport 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/adchoicesSupport 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/adchoicesSupport 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 choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show