Newsletter

The Asia cup is reaching its climax, Liverpool have finally won two games in a row, Inter stumble, as do Dortmund. But the big news in the UK is all about ‘Can women understand the offside rule?’ – sexism rears its ugly head.  Check out languagecaster.com’s review section to read in more detail about some of these stories. We also try to predict who will come out on top in some of the big games in our weekly predictions. For more football news come to our site, read the posts, listen to our main reports and check out our links section.
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PREDICTION

This week’s featured match is the Asia Cup final between Japan and Australia. Here are Damon and Damian’s predictions: what do you think?

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FOOTBALL EXPRESSION

This week’s English for football phrase is to be in ‘acres of space‘. An acre is a measure of land used commonly in the UK. It is approximately 4,000 square meters, nearly the size of a football pitch. If a player receives the ball with no opposing player near them, you can say they are ‘in space‘ – they have time to move, pass or shoot. If a player has the ball with a lot of space, you say they are in ‘acres of space‘. When this happens you usually expect the player to make a great pass or have a shot on goal. To be in acres of space.

Click here for more football cliches and football phrases.
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This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

Australia used to play in the Oceania confederation on FIFA? In 1997 they qualified as leaders of the Oceania group for a play off  for a place in the  World Cup in France 1998. Who did they play and did they win or lose?

a. Blackburn Rovers

b. Leeds United

c. Newcastle United

d. Fulham

Check the answer next week. The answer to last week’s question – was a) and c) Kenny Dalglish managed both these clubs.
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For all students of the beautiful game

The FA Cup third round games and the appointment of Kenny Dalglish as Liverpool’s manager dominated the football news in England, while in other news Messi was awarded the Ballon d’Or, the Asia Cup got underway and Inter returned to form in Serie A under new manager Leonardo. Check out languagecaster.com’s review section to read more about the footballing news. We also try to predict who will come out on top in some of the big games in our weekly predictions. For more football news come to our site, read the posts, listen to our main reports and check out our links section.
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PREDICTION

This week’s featured match sees Liverpool take on Everton in the Merseyside derby in the Premier League. Here are Damon and Damian’s predictions: what do you think?

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FOOTBALL EXPRESSION

This week’s English for football phrase is ‘to be in the dark‘. A few days ago on languagecaster.com we had a new football phrase ‘by mutual consent‘, used when managers leave a club or are sacked. This week’s phrase is also used when talking about managers of clubs, usually before they lose their job or move to a new job. When you are ‘in the dark‘, literally, you cannot see, so this phrase means you do not know what is going to happen because you do not have enough information. Managers are often asked if they think they will be sacked. When they say they do not know, or are unsure the newspaper’s headlines often say that they are in the dark – they do not know what their boss is thinking. Recently, Avram Grant of Premier League side West Ham has been under a lot of pressure and many people believe he will lose his job soon. Headlines said he was in the dark about his future.
To be in the dark

Click here for more football cliches and football phrases.
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This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

Kenny Dalglish played for two clubs in his professional career – Celtic and Liverpool. He also managed Celtic and Liverpool. Which 2 other teams did he manage?

a. Blackburn Rovers

b. Leeds United

c. Newcastle United

d. Fulham

Check the answer next week. The answer to last week’s question – Carlos Tevez has played for 3 Premier League clubs. Manchester City, Manchester United and…a) West Ham
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Check out the site for the latest polls – at www.languagecaster.com | Click here admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast. You can also follow us at Twitter

For all students of the beautiful game

Lots of big football news despite the snow causing havoc in the UK last weekend. Tevez decides to stay but City fail to go top, Inter are champions of the world but Barca are really much better than them! Check out languagecaster.com’s review section to read more about the footballing news. We also try to predict who will come out on top in some of the big games in our weekly predictions. For more football news come to our site, read the posts, listen to our main reports and check out our links section.
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PREDICTION

This week’s featured match sees Arsenal play Chelsea in the Premier League. Damian’s predictions are below, what do you think?

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FOOTBALL EXPRESSION

This week’s English for football phrase is nothing to do with winning, losing or tactics but instead is all about a piece of sports clothing known as the snood. It is, as can be seen in the image, a type of scarf that warms the neck during the cold winter months and many players are using it despite the fact that many commentators and fans think it shows a form of weakness. Arsenal manager Wenger is a big fan claiming that his backroom staff had said they can help his players perform better though his Manchester United counterpart, Alex Ferguson, disagrees and stated recently that ‘real men don’t wear snoods‘.

Click here for more football cliches and football phrases.
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This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

Carlos Tevez has played for 3 Premier League clubs. Manchester City, Manchester United and…?
a. West Ham
b. Tottenham
c. Newcastle
d. Everton

Check the answer next week. The answer to last week’s question – According to FIFA, football’s roots are in – d (China)
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Come along to our online shop and browse books and DVDs related to football and English language teaching and learning.

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Check out the site for the latest polls – at www.languagecaster.com | Click here admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast. You can also follow us at Twitter

For all students of the beautiful game

This week, as every week, there have been so many headlines – Tevez is unhappy at Manchester City, Sam Allardyce was sacked at Blackburn, Estudiantes de la Plata win the Apertura crown in Argentina and an African team, TP Mazembe, make the finals of the Club World Cup. Check out languagecaster.com’s review section to read more about the footballing news. On this week’s main report section of our weekly podcast show we take a look at the Champions League draw – the exciting match ups, the potential banana skins, the easy ties. We also try to predict who will come out on top in some of the big games in our weekly predictions. For more football news come to our site, read the posts, listen to our main reports and check out our links section.
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PREDICTION

This week’s featured match sees Manchester United travel to Chelsea in the Premier League with the club from the North West hoping to cement their position at the top. Damian and Damon’s predictions are below, what do you think?

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FOOTBALL EXPRESSION

This week on languagecaster’s look at footballing language we focus in a footballing cliché often used in newspaper headlines. The cliché is – to slam. To slam means to criticise heavily, to attack verbally. This week there have been two examples in which to slam has been used in football news headlines. The first example is connected with the disagreement between the Argentinia and Man City forward Carlos Tevez and his club – Tevez agent slams City’s Cook. So this means that Tevez’s agent has attacked or disagreed with Manchester City’s owners and administrators. It can also be used in the passive form as in this example. Blatter slammed by gay groups. This refers to FIFA’s President, Sepp Blatter’s comments that homosexuals should refrain from ‘sexual activities’ during the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 – homosexuality is illegal in the country. In this headline gay rights groupd criticise the comments of the head of FIFA. To slam or be slammed by

Click here for more football cliches and football phrases.
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This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

For the last few weeks, FIFA has been in the news as they have decided the hosts for the 2018 & 2022 World Cup Finals. They have also made some controversial comments about in which country the game of football began. According to FIFA, football’s roots are in -

a. Greece

b. England

c. Germany

d. China

The answer to last week’s question – How many managers has the Newcastle United owner, Mike Ashley, hired since he bought the club in 2008?  was b. 5 – Keegan, Kinnear, Shearer, Hughton, and Pardew

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Come along to our online shop and browse books and DVDs related to football and English language teaching and learning.

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Check out the site for the latest polls – at www.languagecaster.com | Click here admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast. You can also follow us at Twitter

For all students of the beautiful game

The big story this week is all about the World Cup hosting decision. This story features in the main report section of the show. We also try to predict who will come out on top in some of the big games in our weekly predictions. For more football news come to our site, read the posts, listen to our main reports and check out our links section.
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FEATURED POSTS

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PREDICTION

This week’s featured match sees Manchester United take on Arsenal. Damian and Damon’s predictions are below, what do you think?

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FOOTBALL EXPRESSION

This week’s English for football phrase is a slump, or to slump. As a noun, a slump, this phrase is used to say that a team has not won a game for a long time. The team may have lost or drawn several games in a row. In this situation we say the team is in a slump. We can also say a player is suffering a slump in form – the player is not performing very well. The word slump is also used as a verb. In this case it means to fall down the table after losing a game or several games. We might say the team slumped to 11th place. Now, Chelsea playing in the Premier League are in a slump. They have not won a game in the league for four matches. A slump.

Click here for more football cliches and football phrases.
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This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

This week’s quiz question is how many managers has the Newcastle United owner, Mike Ashley, hired since he bought the club in 2008?

a. 4

b. 5

c. 6

d. 7

The answer to last week’s question which countries have hosted the World Cup more than once was Mexico (1970, 1986); France (1938, 1998); Germany (1974, 2006); Italy (1934, 1990); and Brazil (1950) will become the 5th (2014).

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Come along to our online shop and browse books and DVDs related to football and English language teaching and learning.

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Check out the site for the latest polls – at www.languagecaster.com | Click here admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast. You can also follow us at Twitter

For all students of the beautiful game

The two big stories in last week’s football revolved around the el Clasico clash between Barcelona and Real Madrid and FIFA deciding on the 2018 and 2022 World Cup host countries and these stories  feature in the Good the Bad and Ugly review section of the show. We also try to predict who will come out on top in some of the big games in our weekly predictions – three from Europe and three from South America. We also have a main report on Club World Cup which takes place in the United Arab Emirates and starts next week. For more football news come to our site, read the posts, listen to our main reports and check out our links section.

Also, we were recently asked by CNN what we thought about the proposal from Japan’s 2022 World Cup bid to offer travelling supporters a device that would translate ‘football language’. You can read Damian’s response to this intriguing question here.
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PREDICTION

This week’s featured match sees Godoy Cruz take on Vélez Sarsfield in the Argentinian League. Below is Damon and Damian’s  predictions – what do you think?

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FOOTBALL EXPRESSION

This week’s English for football phrase is to turn a corner which means to improve a bad situation. It is not truly a football phrase but is commonly used in the game, particularly when a team starts to play well or to gain positive results after going through a bad patch. West Ham have had a very bad start to the season but after last week’s win over Wigan in the Premier League and Wednesday’s Carling Cup thrashing of Manchester United it seems that West Ham may have finally turned the corner. To turn a corner.

Click here for more football cliches and football phrases.
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This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

Which countries have hosted the FIFA World Cup more than once ? Hint – there are five.

Answer next week.

The answer to last week’s question, which team won the 2009 Brazilian League was a. Flamengo
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Come along to our online shop and browse books and DVDs related to football and English language teaching and learning.

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Check out the site for the latest polls – at www.languagecaster.com | Click here admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast. You can also follow us at Twitter

For all students of the beautiful game

Tottenham, Colorado, Barcelona, Samuel Eto’o and Luis Suarez all feature in the Good the Bad and Ugly review section of the show, while we also try to predict whowill come out on top in some of the big games in our weekly predictions . We also have a report on the exciting climax of the Brazilian Championship with an interview with our Brazilian football expert Marcelo. For more football news come to our site, read the posts, listen to our main reports and check out our links section.
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PREDICTION

This week’s featured match sees Tottenham Hotspur play Liverpool in the Premier League. Below is Damon (a Liverpool fan) and Damian’s (remember, he’s a Tottenham fan!) predictions – what do you think?

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FOOTBALL EXPRESSION

This week’s English for football is ‘to lose the plot‘. A plot is the main events of a story, it explains what will happen. It can also refer to a secret plan. To lose the plot means to do something unexpected, unplanned, and a little bit crazy. The actions are strange and indicate that the person is not rational, not thinking clearly. Joey Barton, an English footballer playing for Newcastle is an example of someone who lost the plot. Over the past few years, he has been in trouble with the police for a violent attack, and in trouble on the field several times for dangerous tackles and violent conduct. Recently, however, he has been playing well and sensibly – until early this month in a game against Blackburn he punched an opposing player in the stomach off the ball. He has been banned for three games and he definitely lost the plot in that match.

Click here for more football cliches and football phrases.
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This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

Which Brazilian team won the 2009 Championship?

a. Flamengo
b. Vasco da Gama
c. Fluminense
d. Sao Paolo

Answer next week.

The answer to last week’s question, which was the first British team to win a European trophy was of course Tottenham (1963 against Atletico Madrid in the Cup Winners Cup)
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Come along to our online shop and browse books and DVDs related to football and English language teaching and learning.

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Check out the site for the latest polls – at www.languagecaster.com | Click here admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast. You can also follow us at Twitter

For all students of the beautiful game

Joey, Nani and Cristiano all feature in the Good the Bad and Ugly review section of the show, while we also try to predict who will be crowned MLS Champions, which teams will come out on top in some big Champions League games, which team from north London, Aresenal or Tottenham will have bragging rights in one of the biggest derbies in England and more in our weekly predictions . For more football news come to our site, read the posts, listen to our main reports and check out our links section.
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PREDICTION

This week’s featured match sees Arsenal take on Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League. Below is Damon and Damian’s (remember, he’s a Tottenham fan!) predictions – what do you think?

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FOOTBALL EXPRESSION

This week’s English for football phrase is to fear a backlash which means to be provoked into a reaction after something strange or surprising has taken place. So after their shock defeat at home against Sunderland, the reigning champions Chelsea are hoping to bounce back against Birmingham next weekend. Indeed, the Birmingham side fear a backlash as the wounded Chelsea look to demonstrate to their rivals that last weekend’s game was only a blip. To fear a backlash

Click here for more football cliches and football phrases.
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This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

Which English team was the first to win a European trophy?

a. Arsenal
b. Manchester United
c. Liverpool
d. Tottenham

Answer next week.

The answer to last week’s question, ‘Who has won more derby matches, Inter Milan or AC Milan,’ was Internationale, who have won 64 times compared to AC Milan’s 60 victories.
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Come along to our online shop and browse books and DVDs related to football and English language teaching and learning.

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Check out the site for the latest polls – at www.languagecaster.com | Click here admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast. You can also follow us at Twitter

For all students of the beautiful game

Are Liverpool back? Have Spurs forgotten how to win in the Premier League? Is Lee Cattermole really a footballer? We answer these questions and look ahead to a great week of football derbies from around the world in our weekly predictions battle. For more football news come to our site, read the posts, listen to our main reports and check out our links section.
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PREDICTION

This week’s featured match sees Inter Milan take on city rivals AC Milan in Serie A. Below are Damon and Damian’s prediction – what do you think?

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FOOTBALL EXPRESSION

This week’s English for football is a cliche – ‘Form is temporary, class is permanent.’ This cliche is made up of two short statements. The first, form is temporary, means that form, or a player’s current level, their recent performances, are transitory, or will change soon, are not lasting. The second statement, class is permanent, means that class, or natural ability, skill, a player’s real level, is permanent. Permanent means unchanging, something that lasts forever. So when you put these two statements together in the cliche, ‘Form is temporary, class is permanent’, you are emphasizing the fact that we shouldn’t judge a player on their recent games, but on a longer look at their playing history. A good player, doesn’t change into a bad player suddenly. An example of this is Fernando Torres of Liverpool, who has suffered poor form for some months now, but who scored two great goals against Chelsea and played very well indeed. He showed us that form is temporary, class is permanent.
Click here for more football cliches and football phrases.
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This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

Who has won more derby matches, Inter Milan or AC Milan?

a. AC Milan
b. Inter
c. They have the same number of victories

Answer next week.

The answer to last week’s question was B Roma have won 59 times while Lazio only 44.
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Come along to our online shop and browse books and DVDs related to football and English language teaching and learning.

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Check out the site for the latest polls – at www.languagecaster.com | Click here admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast. You can also follow us at Twitter

For all students of the beautiful game

A controversial goal in England, some scandal at FIFA – again, feature in the Good the Bad and Ugly review section of the show, while we also look ahead to a great week of football derbies from around the world. For more football news come to our site, read the posts, listen to our main reports and check out our links section.
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PREDICTION

This week’s featured match sees Liverpool take on Chelsea in the Premier League. Below is Damian’s prediction – what do you think?

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FOOTBALL EXPRESSION

This week’s English football phrase is the expression to play to the whistle which basically means to keep playing until you hear the referee blow his whistle to stop the game. This phrase is used a lot when children first start playing football to teach them about the game and though it is not a rule it is regarded as very good advice. Unfortunately the Spurs and Brazilian goalkeeper did not play to the whistle in his team’s defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford last weekend. The keeper threw down the ball as he felt that it was a free kick after the opposing striker Nani had handled the ball. However, the referee had not blown his whistle for a foul and so the Manchester United player kicked the ball into the empty net. Of course, there are those who say Nani did not play to the spirit of the game while others blame the keeper for not playing to the whistle. To Play to the Whistle.
Click here for more football cliches and football phrases.
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This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

Who has won more derby matches, Lazio or Roma?

a. Lazio
b. Roma
c. They have he same number of victories

Answer next week.

The answer to last week’s question was D – Pele was 29 when he scored in the 1970 World Cup final.
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Come along to our online shop and browse books and DVDs related to football and English language teaching and learning.

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Check out the site for the latest polls – at www.languagecaster.com | Click here admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast. You can also follow us at Twitter

For all students of the beautiful game