Episode 12! Off the back of a hectic transfer deadline finale, the USMNT's wobbly start to the qualifying campaign, Tammy Abraham's explosive start for Roma, and more--our duo sat down to produce our longest intro yet. It's a hodgepodge, but when there's much to say, we say it!

In half #1, the fellas dive into the recent Weston McKinnie drama, discussing whether or not the nightlife in Nashville really compares to that in Ibiza. They conclude .. nothing, really, and simply express disappointment with the fact that it happened. We shouldn't rip the kid apart, but he probably shouldn't wear the captain's armband either. Maybe we should just quit talking about it! Next up, Jose Mourinho's Italian, attacking vengeance. Pellegrini and Mkhitaryan behind a striker with a chip on his shoulder? Yes please. Speaking of strikers--we couldn't go another second without discussing Luuk de Jong's entrance to the Camp Nou. Will checks Martin's footballing privilege, but the sentiment remains that he's tired of looking for silver linings with recent business. Our Liverpool supporter then goes on to lament a situation of his own, in which he feels Liverpool are still riding on the coattails of their 2018 successes. Harvey Elliot, as much as we love him, can't play 3 positions. White whale, where are you, now? To wrap up, Martin shares the release of his summer dissertation on scanning behavior, and the pair share a lovely bite of New Jerseyan pasta before the whistle. There are no Leftovers.

Le second half commences with an actual interest in getting this damn episode on the road! Martin introduces the topic of the day--a twist on incentivization. The carrot and the stick is an artform, he argues, not an empirical truth like many believe. When we look to teach new things, we can place cookies in places only those who are successful can reach, so depending on where we put them--and whether the treat is a warm White Chocolate Macadamia or stale Oatmeal Raisin--we can cleverly draw out strong habits, and be more effective coaches. Will interjects that the direction in which this idea is going is total malarky, and that he doesn't think it has legs. Tough crowd! But Martin insists. He'll thank his co-host later.

They dive headfirst into a role-play exercise (oooooh!) in which Martin walks Will through the assignment of point values to various objectives in Reroute--a game he just published within the context of the recent Soccer Detail blog post. They carefully work through it, until Will effectively exposes a critical improvement that could've been made. They dial it in, and Martin eventually settles on the fact that he should never publish again without showing Will first! Regardless of the details, their chat exposes just how subjective the operation of these levers can be, and allows the duo to steamroll right ahead.

Now, for the actual meat and potatoes! Recently, Martin had wondered whether or not loss aversion, a cognitive bias well-ingrained in behavioral economics and decision theory, could be implemented as a more effective learning tool than mere positive rewards. Earn $50, or have it taken? Yikes. I'll clutch my purse. Maybe I'll start observing the field more if the keys to my new Lambo are in jeopardy.

And so M & W proceed to outline how this seemingly problematic psychological fallacy could be flipped as a productive method. The discussion is deep and full of disagreement--precisely the debate needed for a new idea like this.

Join us to hear our thoughts on all these items, and more--including Schrödinger's PoisonBerry, Liverpool's newest 5'3" white-toothed signing, Martin's longing for Aritz Aduritz, a training game in which Henderson can finally be publicly applauded, a cute concert-esque light display down in Samtown, negative blue points, a cascade of 45'+45' obscenities, Will's impressive conceptual-skeet shot, an allusion to some upcoming shenanigans, and a weird coughing fit to...