Archive for October, 2011

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On this week’s podcast we take a look at how football teams line up on the pitch – the formations, in addition to a look back at one of the most shocking results of recent times in the Premier League. Remember, you can also:

• Listen only to the main report here – complete with transcript and vocabulary
• Learners of English can review the footballing news from around the world in our good, the bad and the ugly section of the show
• Check out a new football expression in English for Football
• For learners of English check out our Football Language Resources page with:
• A page with all our Football vocabulary posts
• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts from previous podcasts

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking here

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Why are football formations important? What is the difference between 4-4-2 and 4-3-3? This week, languagecaster.com takes a look at how teams line up and how formations affect a game. The report has a transcript below and explanations of key vocabulary (in bold) can be found at the foot of the post, while other key phrases (in blue) also have meanings explained.

Back when I was playing football for my school way back in the 1970s things were so much simpler. Before each game the teacher read out the names of the players along with a number that represented a position: Number 1 was the goalkeeper, 2 and 3 were the full backs (left and right), while 5 and 6 were the centre halves – the biggest and toughest school kids usually had the privilege of playing there. Numbers 7 and 11 played out wide; while numbers 8 and 10 were in the midfield, number 10 being a much-coveted shirt as we all knew that the best player in the team wore number 10 – think Pele, Maradona and of course Glenn Hoddle! That left number 9 as the striker, the centre forward, the goal scorer. We never questioned these positions, tactics or the formation that the teacher sent us out to play in – in fact, I am not sure we even knew that this particular formation had a name, though, particularly after the 1966 World Cup win, it has become synonymous with the English game: 4-4-2. continue

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In this week’s review section, we look back at stories from the big Manchester derby and the fallout from the racism row with England captain John Terry and QPR defender Anton Ferdinand. You can listen to these and other stories on our weekly podcast and can find explanations of key vocabulary in bold below, or highlighted in blue.

Good

Both the good and the bad come from the same Premier League match last weekend: Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City. City move five points clear of their rivals at the top of the table and maybe now the so-called pundits will sit up and take notice that they are real title challengers. This was the first time that the Sky Blues had netted six in a Manchester derby, while they also equalled their previous best derby score and Premier league score at the weekend.
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Each week the languagecaster team will explain a football phrase or cliche for learners of English who love the sport. On this week’s show we feature the phrase To lay down a marker. Click on the link below to hear the word or phrase, while you can also read the transcript below that. You can also find many more examples by going to our football phrase page here football cliches here and our huge football glossary here.

Listen here: Lay down a marker.mp3

This week’s English for football is too lay down a marker. This phrase is used after an important victory to mean the winning team has made a statement – the result shows they can go on and make a challenge for the title or go on and win a competition. It’s still early in the season, but Manchester City hammered their cross-town rivals Manchester United 6-1 last week. Before the game pundits were wondering whether City were the real deal, whether they really could challenge for the title. The 6-1 victory laid down a marker and told all the teams in the Premier League that they were title contenders. To lay down a marker

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On this week’s predictions languagecaster focuses on games from Italy and England, including two London derbies.We also take a look at the European Champions League, too. You can listen to Damon and Damian discussing their predictions on this week’s show. Check out some language used in making predictions here. This week’s guest predictor is Ben, a Wolves fan.

Current Score: DB 53 | DF 43 | Guests 29

If you would like to be a guest predictor for a week, let us know here

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This week on languageacster.com, we spotlight the run in to the title in the J League in Japan, looking at who can win it and at a big team staring at relegation. Remember, you can also:

• Listen only to the main report here – complete with transcript and vocabulary
• Learners of English can review the footballing news from around the world in our good, the bad and the ugly section of the show
• Check out a new football expression in English for Football
• For learners of English check out our Football Language Resources page with:
• A page with all our Football vocabulary posts
• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts from previous podcasts

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking here

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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The European leagues are about a third of the way through their seasons and the Champions League is in the middle of the group stages, but what about elsewhere in the world? This week, languagecaster.com takes a look at what’s happening in the J-League in Japan, now in its 18th season.The report has a transcript below and explanations of key vocabulary (in bold) can be found at the foot of the post, while other key phrases (in blue) also have meanings explained.

This weekend will be the 30th game of the 34 game season, so things are reaching a climax at the top and bottom of the table.

Let’s start at the foot of the table. Surprisingly, one of the best supported clubs, Urawa Reds is in the relegation zone on 29 points, one less than Kofu. It would be a real shock if Urawa do drop down a league, but it looks as though it could happen. The Reds have the best attendance of any club this year, regularly pulling in crowds of over 32,000 to their great stadium in Saitama, built for football and the 2002 Wold Cup. The glory years of  2005~2007, they did the double in 2006,  could be a memory come December. They’ll need to turn things around soon, starting with a game against 4th place Yokohama this weekend.

Sitting at the top of the table are Kashiwa, from Chiba prefecture and just north of Tokyo. They have never been crowned J League champions, but do have two titles from the 1970s. Could this be their year? It would be a remarkable turn around because they were relegated two seasons ago. continue

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On this week’s predictions we look at a top-of-the-table clash between two English rivals, a huge derby in Holland as well as the big games from Spain and France. You can listen to Damon and Damian discussing their predictions on this week’s show. Check out some language used in making predictions here. This week’s guest predictor is Chris who is a Brighton fan. He is also the author of 50 Steps To improving Your Academic Writing.

Current Score: DB 47 | DF 42 | Guest 27

If you would like to be a guest predictor for a week, let us know here

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In this week’s review section, we look back at stories from Serie A, La Liga and the Liverpool-Manchester United game. You can listen to these and other stories on our weekly podcast and can find explanations of key vocabulary in bold below, or highlighted in blue.

Good

In our recent La Liga preview we featured the usual suspects – Barcelona and Real to battle for the title; Valencia and Sevilla to qualify for the Champions League, while Rayo and Granada would do well to escape relegation. Yet there was one side that we failed to mention at all – east coast side Levante. However, after seven matches Los granotes (the frogs) find themselves joint top of La Liga along with Barcelona with 17 points after their five wins and two draws. Their last win was against big-spending Malaga but they have also won away at former leaders Betis and remarkably defeated Real Madrid 1-0. It cannot surely last but for now Levante can dream on.
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Each week the languagecaster team will explain a football phrase or cliche for learners of English who love the sport. On this week’s show we feature the phrase the table doesn’t lie. Click on the link below to hear the word or phrase, while you can also read the transcript below that. You can also find many more examples by going to our football phrase page here football cliches here and our huge football glossary here.

Listen here: The table doesn’t lie.mp3

This week’s English for football phrase is ‘The Table Doesn’t Lie‘, which is often used to confirm or ‘prove’ how well or badly a team is performing, that is, the position of a team in the league table is a true reflection of the ability of that team. Recently Bolton manager Owen Coyle protested that his team had been playing well and deserved to be in a higher position in the league but we could argue that the table does not lie – his team are near the bottom of the table for a reason, namely they recently lost 6 games in a row. The Table Doesn’t Lie