The Double Pivot: Soccer analysis, analytics, and commentary

Latest Episodes:

USA - England Nov 26, 2022

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A scoreless draw, but one that said a number of interesting things about both teams. We talk about the many things the US did well and how this... doesn't change our evaluation of England at all.

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On The Upsets Nov 23, 2022

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Argentina lost! To Saudi Arabia! And Germany lost to Japan! Both upsets involved a whole bunch of stuff that an expected goals approach would ask you to doubt. So what did they really mean?

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What Was Gianni Infantino Doing? (and how does it relate to the Arab Spring proxy wars?) Nov 19, 2022

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The risk-taking and aggression of Qatar has been on surprising display in the last week from the beer ban to Infantino's press conference performance. We attempt an explanation by way of regional and ideological conflict in the Gulf, the different positions of oil and gas in the energy transition, and, of course, the Muslim Brotherhood.

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England and Spain Nov 18, 2022

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Mike thinks England are going to win the World Cup. Michael thinks Alvaro Morata could score lots of goals. We're coming in hot.

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Liverpool for Sale Nov 07, 2022

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It's been reported that FSG are looking to sell Liverpool. We take a look at what this means: why would FSG sell now, and what does that tell us about the state of elite European football?

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On Pressing Nov 04, 2022

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Is it secretly another Leeds episode? Well sort of. What does pressing look like in contemporary football, how are Leeds a throwback and what exactly are Newcastle doing that is just so good?

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Leeds and Marsch Oct 27, 2022

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Leeds are in the relegation places and on a four-match losing streak. Their underlying numbers are still more or less fine. What comes next?

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Checking in on Spurs, United, and Chelsea Oct 21, 2022

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United beat Spurs soundly. What's going on at both United and Spurs that this was not exactly a shocking result? And [pokes Chelsea with a stick]

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Arsenal and Liverpool Oct 10, 2022

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Our priors, updating in real time. Arsenal were really good, Liverpool were pretty bad, how far are we willing to go in adjusting our evaluations of these two clubs after another game in line with their performances over the full season?

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Derbies Oct 06, 2022

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Arsenal won a messy North London Derby and we talk about what single-match xG means and can tell us about this game, while City won a pretty silly Manchester Derby and we talk about just how good they might be.

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