The Double Pivot: Soccer analysis, analytics, and commentary

We get into some hard agreements at the five minute mark and just keep rolling. Brentford, Arsenal, Leicester, Wolves, West Ham, Spurs, City, Liverpool, it's all here.Support the show

We try to rank the whole Premier League. Here's part one.Support the show

Lionel Messi is leaving Barcelona because they cannot pay him any money. It's a financial story and a football story and we get into it -- what is Barcelona's best way back and how long will it take them? Where is Messi going and if it's PSG, what is that gonna look like?Support the show

We take your questions on soccer and how it works, discussing struggleball and pressing, xG in video games and what it reveals about what analytics is, and the ongoing search for WAR. (also uh lol sorry Heather we'll actually answer your question on an upcoming pod.)Support the show

A dramatic game with a lot to dig in to! We talk about England's impressive opening goal and good first half, how Italy regained control in the second half and what went wrong for England in their attempt to respond in turn. And the penalties, yeah, the penalties. But really it's the stuff before that that matters.Support the show

Italy were fortunate to get through, England were a defensive powerhouse again... without Spinazzola, is there anything Italy can do? We talk about why Southgate has done a very good job despite the Saka and subs weirdness, the dynamics we expect in the final, Kyle Walker, Bonucci and Chiellini, Sterling dribbling... all the stuff.Support the show

The quarterfinals were not quite as compelling as the round of 16 as matches but they set up a ton of fascinating questions for the semifinals. What is Italy without Spinazzola? Why did Spain struggle so much at even strength against Switzerland? Has Denmark run out of gas? Is there any way to get one over on this England team... if Southgate plays the good forwards at least? Support the show

lol we called it a "mini Euro pod" at the start and then we couldn't stop talking about Italy and Belgium and Portugal and went 35 minutes anyway.... enjoy!Support the show

So much Euros! Spain keep falling into bad fortune and Germany and Portugal played a weirdo classic and how about Denmark... so much to get into. Why there are more interesting teams at the Euros than we expected and why the tournament's probable two best aren't among them, where's Bruno, what to do with Verratti, and more.Support the show

All our takes on the first part of the first round of games including Italy, Spain, Belgium, England and Netherlands takes -- why we are still skeptical of the Netherlands but were impressed by Spain even in a draw. Look for more little pods at the tournament continues!(Episode re-uploaded due to an audio issue in the first version.)Support the show