The Double Pivot: Soccer analysis, analytics, and commentary

Most cup matches are irrelevant to the two Mikes. Nevertheless, they attempt to draw sweeping conclusions about the state of affairs with Spurs and Chelsea. Then it's on to Real Madrid, which might be pulling a Manchester United with a sudden fall from the top. Finally, you asked for it, and now you get it. They close out by picking the first few players of the season thus far — from non-top six Premier League clubs.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show

Over at patreon.com/doublepivot, the Mikes are trekking to the continent with regularity! A preview of the second half of the La Liga season is on the pod, plus a mailbag with subscriber questions about Marcus Rashford, Spurs transfers, substitute effects and players outside the Champions League that could help the top clubs. And we're also doing some 10-minute game previews for double premium subscribers, that one this week is for Sevilla - Atletico. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show

What a game! The Mikes had an incredible amount of fun watching City play Liverpool with the title pretty much on the line, and they take you through the game, hitting on the big moments, the tactical shifts, and what this game means for the title race. Then it's over to the big transfer news and the American Christian Pulisic going to Chelsea for over £50m. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show

On the premium side this holiday week, it's Premier League analytics talk. Really out of our comfort zone.Liverpool are, like, way ahead for the title. How did that happen? We take a look at this story from a few angles -- what does it mean about projections, about variance, about tactics and injuries? We can explain Liverpool getting better, but can we explain how City got worse?  And we even talk about Spurs because they're there too. who'da thunk it. Check out patreon.com/doublepivot for the full episode.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show

Jose Mourinho's sacking feels like the end of a story. We try to tell it correctly. How did it all go wrong at United? What was new in his failures at United that wasn't present in previous managerial stints? What is "Mourinho ball" anyway, and what have we learned about it at United? Is it outdated? Is it dependent on a certain talent baseline? And finally, where will Jose go next?Plus a little Christmas Bible History Corner.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show

We talk about the questions of race and racism in sports media that Raheem Sterling has helped surface, about why it's necessary to think critically about race simply to do soccer analysis well, and then over to the weirdness of Chelsea - Man City and why are Chelsea so good at defending sometimes... and finally the relegation scrap. A lot in here! Caley got to talk about discourse.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show

It's our North London Derby --- how bad did Spurs get wrecked --- wait are Arsenal good now --- is Unai Emery figuring it out --- make Caley sad episode but boom he's in Mexico and it's 80 degrees so who's the real loser here episode. Look for Goodman sadness on the Patreon side.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show

There wasn't a second leg to the Copa Libertadores final between Boca Grande and River Plate. Neither of the Mikes is an expert on South American football so we called in a ringer, Brenda Elsey (@policultura), a professor of history at Hofstra and specialist on South American sport and politics, as well as one of the hosts of the Burn It All Down podcast. Brenda helped walk us through how the final came to be called off, the problems of violence in men's soccer, the forces seeking to corporatize and privatize the South American game, and the grassroots soccer movement in Argentina, in both men's and women's soccer, that tends to get lost in most discussions of these problems. We had just a ton of fun recording this, hope you like it too.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show

No, this isn't some great existential crisis debate. Expected goals have become such a huge part of the soccer-sphere  that the two Mikes decided an international break was a good time to dive deeper into what we're trying to measure, the methods at work, how we got here, and where it's all headed. Prepare to nerd out, y'all.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show

Dortmund now stand seven points clear of Bayern after a 3-2 derby win, so is the Bundesliga race over? The two Mikes toss around all the theories on why it is not, and also try to understand what is and is not working for both clubs. Then, they turn their attention toward Manchester United, what the underlying numbers say about Jose Mourinho's squad, and why it may not get better.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show