The Double Pivot: Soccer analysis, analytics, and commentary

Is this, finally, the moment that United's leadership realizes they've effectively been in crisis for years? They lost 5-0 to Liverpool and the performances on the pitch really are worse than they've been in a while, but are things going to change this time?Support the show

Opening from Really??? With Mike & MikeThe Premier League season resumed and every game seemed to encapsulate a different narrative and statistical issue we've been following. Liverpool, Chelsea, Brentford, West Ham, Newcastle, what have we learned so far?Support the show

Newcastle are now owned by the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. What is the KSA government trying to buy? Everyone calls it "sportwashing" but what exactly is that, what different forms can it take, and what will this mean for how Newcastle gets run in the next few years?Support the show

Two parts of this podcast: what's going on in the NWSL as the players, league and fans negotiate a crisis of abuse of power by management and ownership, and then the big game between Liverpool and Man City.Meg Linehan, "This Guy Has A Pattern": https://theathletic.com/2857633/2021/09/30/this-guy-has-a-pattern-amid-institutional-failure-former-nwsl-players-accuse-prominent-coach-of-sexual-coercion/Molly Hensley-Clancy, "Women Describe 'Old Boys' Club" Culture At Washington Spirit": https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/09/22/washington-spirit-workplace-women-nwsl/Steph Yang, "A Fear-Based System": https://theathletic.com/2862063/2021/10/01/a-fear-based-system-how-the-structure-of-sports-protects-abusers-of-power/Support the show

Barcelona's crisis just keeps rolling. Is the manager the problem? Could anything solve the problem in the near term? And then we stay in La Liga where there is no obvious Real Madrid crisis but it remains unclear that they're, like, particularly good. And while Atletico don't find the theme, Mike has takes y'all.Support the show

It's five matches into the season and everyone knows the table is lying... but is the xG table lying? More specifically, what can statistics tell us this early in the season, what does it mean that statistics "become reliable" after a certain period of time, and how does this inform how we're thinking about Tottenham and Chelsea and Arsenal and Everton?Caley's R2 charts: https://cartilagefreecaptain.sbnation.com/2015/10/19/9295905/premier-league-projections-and-new-expected-goalsSupport the show

One match down in this season's Champions League and we're all struggling to get our bearings. The Mikes talk about what we've seen so far from Barcelona, Bayern Munich, PSG, Real Madrid and Inter Milan and ask, is this anything?Support the show

Berhalter did a bunch of very interesting stuff and it didn't work at all, and Southgate did all the same uninteresting stuff and it wasn't great either. This is mostly about Berhalter because, see above, it was *interesting* but they form a useful counterpoint for thinking about international managers.(sorry for the audio gremlins, still getting used to the transatlantic podcasting and need to update our pre-record checklist)Support the show

content notice: discussion of rape and sexual violenceCaley is really mad about the media coverage of the Ronaldo transfer, and Goodman has his own thoughts about the dilemmas that drive and screw up the media here.And there was also an incredibly dramatic transfer window! United and Madrid and Barcelona and Atletico and Chelsea and around we go.We discuss Jessica Luther and Kavitha Davidson's book Loving Sports When They Don't Love You Back: https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/luther-davidson-loving-sports-when-they-don%27t-love-you-backWe are sponsored by thepowerrank.com, Ed Feng's website and newsletter for sports betting and analytics. Check it out, he's a friend of the pod too!Support the show

News! Breaking! Kane stays with Tottenham and Madrid lodge a frankly unbelievable bid for Mbappe and PSG even more unbelievably turn it down. What's going on in the striker market, in the business of football at the tippy-top level, and what does it all mean?Support the show