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 Print This Post | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

More trophies for Alex Fergeson as Man United pick up some silverware in England, good results for some of the big teams in last week’s international friendlies, a horror tackle and injuries put players out for the season 8and the World Cup), and some strange motivational tactics in the Bundesliga all feature in this week’s the Good the bad and the Ugly.

The Good

Good for Manchester United as they get the first silverware of the season in England – that’s if you don’t count the Community Shield, the season opener won by Chelsea. They beat Aston Villa 2-1 and lifted the Carling Cup trophy for the fifth time, equal second in the all time ranking with the team they beat, Villa but still behind Liverpool’s seven wins. The game was not without incident as Nemanja Vidic, as last man, should have been sent off for a blatant tackle in the penalty box in the fourth minute. Phil Dowd the referee decided simply to award a penalty. After escaping going a man down, Manchester United slowly took hold of the midfield and the game, and Owen and Rooney were on target to win the game. And with league leaders Chelsea also losing to Manchester city, it was a good weekend for the Red Devils. continue

 Print This Post | Subscribe: English Football Phrase

Each week we explain a soccer phrase or cliché on our weekly languagecaster podcast. You can find many more examples by going to our football cliché page here.

Listen here to the football phrase

This week’s English for football expression is the phrase to be a handful which means that something or someone is difficult to handle or control. In football this is used when one team has difficulty controlling or defending against a player from the opposing team. The phrase often collocates with the verb to prove as in ‘… Chris Maguire proved to be a handful for Celtic with his vigour‘ which means that the Scottish side Celtic were unable to control Chris Maguire because of his power or pace. The phrase can also be used without the verb to be in it. So, recently, Wayne Rooney has been playing very well for his club Manchester United and in this week’s Champions League game against AC Milan he scored twice and proved a real handful for the Rossoneri defence. To prove to be a real handful.

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On this week’s show we feature the Champions League knock-out stages as 16 teams battle it out to make the final in Madrid come May. Remember you can also:

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Another busy week in the world of football with a full programme of mid-week Premier League matches, the Copa del Rey semi-finals in Spain, the ongoing saga of Portsmouth’s possible demise and the 2012 European Championship draw that took place in Poland last weekend. On this week’s podcast we turn our attention to the Champions League as the knock-out stage begins. There are 4 games from the round of 16 taking place next week and they will all feature in our regular predictions battle, as well as the 5th Round of the FA Cup and the big games in Spain and Germany. We also have another English for football phrase. Come along to the site at languagecaster.com to read more.

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PREDICTION

This week’s featured match is AC Milan v Manchester United

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FOOTBALL EXPRESSION

This week’s phrase for football is ‘I’ve seen them given’. This phrase is used when there is a tackle in the box, or a ball hits a player’s arm. It looks like the referee might give a penalty but decides not to. This is when commentators use the phrase – ‘I’ve seen them given’ meaning they would not have been surprised if the referee had given a penalty. There is a further nuance. A person who says ‘I’ve seen them given’, perhaps also feels it would be a ’soft’ penalty, perhaps an unfair one.

Click here for more football cliches and football phrases.

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This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

How many different countries are represented in the last 16 of the Champions League this year?

a. 5
b. 6
c. 7
d. 8

Answer next week.

The answer to last week’s question, ‘How many points did WBA have when escaping relegation in 2005 – the lowest ever?’ The answer was 34.
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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.

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For all students of the beautiful game

Way back in our first podcast of the season, we previewed the English season and asked our listeners which team they thought would emerge as champions of the Premier League and which ones would be relegated. You can see how well (or badly) they did here. Now with 12 games to go in the Premier League we are asking you once more – post your predictions for the top 4 and bottom 3 below and remember you can also click on our Premier League poll in the sidebar on the right. If you need any help with your predictions then listen to last week’s podcast for some ‘expert’ tips!

were our former Icelandic owners and now our current bosses intentions to win the Championship within seven years or the Champions League? Our bi-annual dalliance with relegation is confusing me. Exciting as this is, i’m finding it difficult to summon any enthusiasm. Deeds please.

In this week’s poll we ask which team you think will be La Liga champions this season. The answers to the quiz on La Liga appear at the foot of the post.

La Liga Quiz results

1. Which team has won most La Liga titles?
b. Real Madrid

2. Which was the last team apart from Barcelona or Real Madrid to win La Liga?
c. Valencia

3. Three teams have never been relegated from the top division in Spain. Real Madrid and Barcelona are two of them – who is the other team?
b. Athletic Bilbao

4. Which current La Liga side play at San Mamés
b. Athletic Bilbao

5. What is the Pichichi
a. The award for the top scorer in the league

6. Who was the top scorer in La Liga last season?
b. Diego Forlán

The winter transfer window is about to close, meaning that clubs have only a few more days to buy, sell, loan and trade players. Speculation abounds as gossip, whispers and rumours fill newspapers and websites with the language of football transfers.

One area that my football-loving students find difficult to understand is the language used to describe the world of football transfers, particularly when they appear as headlines in newspapers or websites. Let’s take a look at some of the headlines that have recently appeared on the Sky Sports website and see if we can break down their meaning a little.

Strachan eyes Nak deal

Espanyol confirm Boro interest

Stoke to hijack Pompey keeper

Norwegian snubs English interest

Kaboul seals return to Spurs

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A busy period in the football calendar sees the African Cup of Nations final take place this weekend, as well as the transfer window closing. There has also been some big football news this week with an explosive Manchester derby, the England captain facing up to another scandal, the Argentinian Clausura about to begin and I went to see Tottenham beat Fulham at White Hart Lane! On this week’s podcast we turn our attention to the Spanish League as it reaches the half way mark and we offer some predictions on how we see La Liga finishing this season. We also have another English for football phrase and predictions. Come along to the site at languagecaster.com to read more.

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FEATURED POSTS

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PREDICTION

This week’s featured match is Arsenal v Manchester United

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FOOTBALL EXPRESSION

This week in our look at English phrases used in football we focus on ‘to take to the cleaners‘. The original meaning of this expression is to take all of somebody’s money, usually by tricking or cheating them. They have no money, they are stripped clean of money, they are cleaned out of money – therefore the phrase, to take to the cleaners. In a football context, it is used to mean defeat or beat a team, or to dominate a player. The image is of a team or a player that has been stripped naked or bare of its or their skill, they look vulnerable, they have been taken to the cleaners. This week, Martin O’Neill, Premier League side Aston Villa’s coach, said that his player, Ashley Young, had taken Arsenal’s left back to the cleaners, meaning he had completed dominated the Arsenal defender.

Click here for more football cliches and football phrases.

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This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

Which of the following Spanish teams have not won the league title?

a. Villareal
b. Sevilla
c. Real Betis
d. Deportivo

Answer next week.

The answer to last week’s question, ‘Which German state (Länder), or region, has won the most titles and is therefore the most successful in the Bundesliga?’ The answer was Bavaria with 34 titles thanks mainly to the 21 titles Bayern Munich have won.
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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

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

For all students of the beautiful game

 Print This Post | Subscribe: Main Report

The Spanish League has reached the half way stage of the season - la primera vuelta – and so the languagecaster team thought it would be a good time to review what has been happening in La Liga and also to predict how it may all end in May. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Let’s start at the top where the usual suspects can be found. Barcelona lead Real Madrid by 5 points and Valencia by 10 so they look odds-on to retain the title they won so impressively last year. Indeed, the Catalan side have not lost a game so far this season and though they are not as free scoring they still play with the swagger of champions. Ibrahimovic has settled in well with 11 goals but he trails the league’s top scorer, his team mate Leo Messi who has 15. continue

The African Cup of Nations kicks off this week and we want to know which country you think will be victorious when the tournament finishes at the end of January. Choose from one of the teams below and don’t forget to post a comment as well.

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Possible crisis at Manchester United, the demise of the FA Cup and poor tackles all feature in this week’s review of the football world in the good, the bad and the ugly section of the podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

Leeds striker - Beckford

Good for Leeds United and Leeds’ striker Jermaine Beckford. The Division 1 side, that’s the third tier of football in England, beat English Champions Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup 1-0 away. The Yorkshire side brought back the old glory days when they were a force in the Premier League and outplayed a poor Manchester side. They now get a tie in London against Premier league high-fliers Tottenham. It was Jermaine Beckford’s goal which secured the win for Leeds, but his positive and powerful display up front has attracted the interest of some bigger clubs including Championship leaders Newcastle, so he could be in for a move onward and upward in the transfer window. continue