The Double Pivot: Soccer analysis, analytics, and commentary

It's an old-fashioned top four race! Have Tottenham and Arsenal gotten good? Why haven't United gotten good? We break down what remains a close race and try to piece together the evidence that something materially changed for either North London side. Plus Chris Wood's  transfer, which is funny.Support the show

A bunch of business nearly done or in process and bunch of interesting links. We talk Trippier and Vlahovic, Coutinho and Adama.Support the show

Josh Sargent, the ethics of sports analytics, Wilfried Ndidi and the evolution of midfield tactics, Liverpool's forward targets and more! Support the show

A lot of games didn't happen. Most of the ones that did saw their outcomes significantly determined by how severe an omicron outbreak the clubs playing were going through. Does it mean... anything? We talk City, Chelsea, Wolves, Spurs, Arsenal and Liverppol.Support the show

The omicron variant is spreading rapidly in Europe and the US. Tottenham and Manchester United have had to cancel matches because of outbreaks that may not have been omicron but regardless are a model of what we expect to see in sports over the next month. So what is the omicron variant? What are the likely outcomes for European soccer and you know, the world and stuff?Support the show

It's been a very short time since Steven Gerrard, Antonio Conte and Eddie Howe took over their new clubs. It's been even less time since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer left United and Ralf Rangnick took over. There are early indications of potentially significant managerial effects in the numbers of Spurs and Villa, and less so at Newcastle. What does this mean? How do we look at performance and tactical indicators in very small samples when evaluating clubs and managers?Support the show

United have a new manager and a new... consultant? We look at Rangnick's limited but striking statistical profile over the last decade and the style of pressing that is evident in the numbers. And then we ask, what will he do with a United squad that is significantly but also clearly not entirely a good fit for this pressing style?Support the show

Things finally went so bad at United that Ole is out but it's not clear any of the underlying problems are solved. Arsenal got whooped and we're on the aggregates beat again. And have Chelsea turned it around (yes, we know they're in first place but unlike with Arsenal, there's a real underlying stats story here).Support the show

We know a lot about quality of teams in the Premier League. We also know there's a lot we don't know. Trying to nail down our questions and our uncertainties about Liverpool, Chelsea, West Ham and Manchester United.Support the show

Tottenham have a new manager. He's real good at managing. What do we expect to see from Conte at Spurs (hint: he's not precisely a "defensive manager" as many PL fans have known him) and just how good is this Tottenham talent that will suddenly have an elite manager in charge of them?Support the show