The Double Pivot: Soccer analysis, analytics, and commentary

After a lot of worries about how they might plug the ffp gap, Chelsea found buyers for Kovacic and Havertz in the Premier League and for a bunch of their excess salary in Saudi Arabia. How did this happen, was it a conspiracy, and wait who are Chelsea's good players now?Support the show

The best player in the world, question mark, is one year from being out of contract at PSG and we've got drama. Where might he go, how might he fit, and just how good in Mbappe right now?Support the show

Big day! Lionel Messi rejects both Barcelona and Saudi Arabia to go to MLS. We offer context -- why couldn't Barcelona afford him? why couldn't Saudi Arabia land him with an impossibly large salary, and what does that tell us about the KSA sporting project? And what's going on with the MLS offer?Support the show

Barcelona's bond offering, Saudi Arabia's current account balance -- we talk about the global financial and political context of European football, and why these contexts weigh harder on the game than they do in American sports.Support the show

Drama! Bayern's Bundesliga title streak could end on Saturday. We talk about the frankly bizarre Dortmund team that has a chance to do what no one predicted this summer, and what's gone wrong from Bayern over the season and recently under Tuchel to land them here.Support the show

The Champions League semifinals were a dreadful anti-climax. But it's interesting why they were such. And can anyone stop City? Like, ever?Support the show

Mike Goodman is joined by CBS soccer correspondent James Benge (@jamesbenge) to talk about all things media, analytics and yeah a little bit of Arsenal.Support the show

We got one really live race going but it's a good one. Leeds collapse, Forest bad, Everton bad, Leicester also in trouble, we talk through the teams at the bottom.Support the show

Bad game by Spurs. We break down the set of bad decisions that brought them to this point.Support the show

The 6th and 7th place teams in the Premier League have, otherwise, quite distinct profiles. We break it down. Support the show