The Double Pivot: Soccer analysis, analytics, and commentary

We are joined by financial journalist (and soccer and cycling fan) Ben Walsh to learn about the great sport of road racing, the background of INEOS as a sports ownership group, and how fans of cycling were well ahead of the curve on what to expect from Ratcliffe at Manchester United. Check out Ben's newsletter, The Bender: https://bendwalsh.substack.com/Support the show

Big matches in the Serie A title race get their due and then we talk about the team with the best underlying numbers in the Premier League recently, which as you surely all know is Crystal Palace.Palace:  https://bsky.app/profile/scott.cannonstats.com/post/3ljdm73v3wn2oOvalle: https://bsky.app/profile/lawsonsv.bsky.social/post/3ljjheamocs26Support the show

Huge six-pointers all around and we take stock of the teams we covered last week (City, Forest, Newcastle, Chelsea, Bournemouth) and ask how much we need to think further about Brighton and Villa after they made up ground. Simon Tinsley's PL projections: https://analytic-fpl.streamlit.app/Support the show

There are probably right now five teams in a race for three spots. We take a close look at Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, City, Bournemouth and Newcastle and handicap the race. It's a close one!Simon's projection website: https://analytic-fpl.streamlit.app/Support the show

Dive into the financial intricacies of soccer, exploring how club ownership impacts league governance. Discover Barcelona's financial crisis during the pandemic and the drastic measures taken to stabilize its finances. The conversation tackles economic disparities in player wages across Europe and the U.S., highlighting the challenges of balancing costs and competition. Ownership dynamics are also dissected, especially in light of the failed Super League, and the ongoing quest for sustainable profitability in a polarized market.

After multiple contradictory developments, Tottenham landed Mathys Tel on loan from Bayern and also signed a deal with Bayern and Tel for an option that remains hard to pin down. We talk about the story here and how it probably went down (we disagree a little on this!) and what kind of player Tel is and what Tottenham can expect. Support the show

Two big matches between teams in the chase for the Champions League places. What we learned from City's new tactical approach, how Chelsea approached this match, and how Bournemouth won big. Support the show

Another weekend, another loss, another tumble further into the bottom half of the table for Tottenham and United. We talk about the problem of what a club should do when things are bad and yet there isn't a lot to be done immediately and they really just need a longer-term strategy or better execution of such. Support the show

Manchester City are adding Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis in the same window and maybe also Andrea Cambiaso. Will these signings fix the crisis at Man City? Support the show

Usually when things look a little funky in the Premier League table, you can count on an analytics podcast to tell you it's mostly variance. But this season, the wide open race for top four or five really reflects a pile-up of pretty good teams. We walk through these contenders and how they've gotten here. Support the show