

The Double Pivot: Soccer analysis, analytics, and commentary
Mike Goodman and Michael Caley
Soccer analysis, analytics, and commentary with hosts Mike Goodman and Michael Caley
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 26, 2025 • 35min
Liverpool, City, and Early Thoughts on the Evolution of Premier League Tactics
Liverpool struggled badly against Newcastle while City lost to Spurs, and both matches captured the current tactical meta in different ways. We walk through the history of where the extreme control tactics of contemporary football came from and how clubs are now responding to control with different versions of chaos, pressing, athleticism and directness. Looking back on Pep, Jose, Klopp, Tuchel and how their ideas shaped the game and what might come next. Support the show

Aug 19, 2025 • 33min
A Very Strange Arsenal Match (with James Benge)
Arsenal got the three points, but their close-fought 1-0 victory over Manchester United felt strange to watch and was a major statistical outlier in a number of ways. We are joined by CBS Sports' James Benge to discuss what he saw from Arsenal in their opening match and what it might mean for the season.Follow James online: https://bsky.app/profile/jamesbenge.bsky.socialAnd read his article on the match: https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/arsenal-were-faster-than-ever-in-win-at-manchester-united-but-is-new-style-here-to-stay-or-circumstantial/Support the show

Aug 12, 2025 • 43min
2025 Premier League Preview, Part I
It's that time again! We go through all 20 Premier League teams, draft our favorites, and talk about why we picked them. Part II of course available at http://patreon.com/doublepivotSupport the show

Aug 5, 2025 • 32min
Is It Possible to Get Promoted to the Premier League and Stay Up?
We talk about strategies for staying in the Premier League as a promoted side, how much harder it's gotten, what approaches are being employed by Leeds, Sunderland and Burnley, and why we think this season one of them breaks the streak. Support the show

Jul 30, 2025 • 32min
Luis Diaz or Rodrygo?
Who do you got?Support the show

Jul 22, 2025 • 43min
2025 Euros with Sophie Lawson
We are joined by Sophie Lawson to discuss the Women's Euros, which were heading into their semifinals as we were recording. How Spain have established themselves as the best in Europe, why Germany have made the semis but still disappointed so far, how England have shown fight but not yet the quality of ball that they need, and how Italy are just Italy-ing super hard. Follow Sophie on the various social media sites @lawsonsv including: https://bsky.app/profile/lawsonsv.bsky.socialSupport the show

Jul 20, 2025 • 3min
Double Pivot Summer Teaser
Talking about all the agreeable soccer analytics you can listen to if you join at https://www.patreon.com/c/doublepivotAnd if you do, here's how to join the Discordhttps://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/212052266-Getting-Discord-accessSupport the show

Jul 18, 2025 • 27min
Morgan Gibbs-White to Tottenham
The deal is still held up in contractual, semi-legal limbo, but we talk about Gibbs-White and analyzing players based on per-90 and per-touch metrics, and whether this is a risk worth taking for Tottenham. Support the show

Jul 3, 2025 • 40min
Tillman, USMNT, Williams, Barca
Summer means transfer talk but also maybe a teensy bit of international football. We discuss Malik Tillman to Bayer Leverkusen as well as Malik Tillman within the context of the USMNT. And we talk about Nico Williams to Barcelona, why it hasn't gone through yet, and what the plan is for him at Barca. Support the show

Jun 25, 2025 • 30min
Chelsea Summer, Business
Chelsea has not yet completed most of the many transactions they're reported to be working on, but certainly it looks like another summer for churn. And our question is, why.Support the show