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This week’s Learn English Through Football Podcast starts off with the good, the bad and the ugly stories from the footballing world, then explains some football phrases, and finishes off with some predictions from the Premier League. This week, the focus is on the Man United v Spurs game. For those who wish to practise their English, there is a transcript below to help with reading and listening (Damian = DF, Damon = DB).
Learn English Through Football Podcast: 2017 Man Utd v Spurs
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Transcript of the show
DF: You are listening to Languagecaster’s football-language podcast. Hello everyone. Welcome to the show for all those who love the world’s favourite game and who want to improve their English skills. My name’s Damian and I’m based in London where the clocks have gone back an hour which means not only that winter is definitely upon us here but that Damon is an hour further away in Tokyo! Hi Damon, how are things there? I remember you said there was a typhoon on its way. How about this weekend?
DB: Hi there Damian. Well, yes, another typhoon is just south of Tokyo as we speak. So that’s another wet and windy weekend. Last weekend there was so much rain the river next to the football grounds, where I play, flooded and the pitches were covered in water. You could just see the goalposts!
DF: Wow! A waterlogged pitch. Well, I hope the rain isn’t as bad this time. Did you watch any football last week?
DB: Damian, you know very well that I did. Unfortunately…
DF: …oh sorry!
DB: … I saw your team Spurs destroy my team Liverpool in the ‘Languagecaster Derby’ 4-1. A total embarrassment. You must have enjoyed it!
DF: A good win indeed for Spurs but at the start Liverpool made it easier for them.
DB: Yes. I want to forget it as quickly as possible. Let’s move on. And what’s on the show?
Line Up
DF: Well, Damon, we’ll start with the good, the bad and the ugly and this is the part of the show where we talk about some news stories from the week of football. We’ll have news of England’s win in the under-17s World Cup, another manager losing his job in the Premier League and some very distasteful scenes in Italy. Then, we’ll have a quiz question to test listeners’ footballing knowledge, and we’ll also explain a football cliche that is very relevant from the week. Anything else, Damon?
DB: Well, we will also talk about some football phrases from our archives – we have hundreds of football phrases explained in our football glossary which can be found on our homepage. For those who don’t know about the glossary come along to languagecaster.com and click on the letters at the top of the page. For example, last week we explained the phrase ‘curler‘, so if you hear or read this phrase and want to know what it means come to the site and click on the letter ‘C‘ and it will take you to a list of footballing phrases beginning with ‘C’.
DF: It’s well worth checking out. And if you, the listener, have any ideas for the glossary or want a word or phrase explained then let us know by emailing admin@languagecaster.com.
DB: OK, Back to the show’s line up. We’ll finish by talking about three of the games this weekend. These took place yesterday, so we’ll review our predictions.
You’re listening to languagecaster.com (Greek)
Good
DF: DB: So, Damon what was good from the week in football?
DB: Well, it was a great weekend for England under-17s at the World Cup, as they defeated Spain 5-2 in the final in India yesterday. The young England team gained revenge for the defeat earlier in the year – in May – to Spain in the European Championship on penalties. It was especially good for Rhian Brewster, no relation, who scored a hat-trick in the quarter-finals against the USA and another three against Brazil in the semis before scoring the first in England’s remarkable come-from behind win yesterday to finish as top scorer in the tournament.
DF: So, he won the Golden Boot award?
DB: Yes, he did. He finished with 8 goals in the tournament. It has been a really good year for the England youth teams. England’s age-group teams featured in four finals in 2017, winning the under-17 and under-20 World Cups and the under-19s European Championship. Now, will the senior team be able to do as well next year in Russia? Now, I doubt it!
DF: Great stuff from England yesterday. I saw the second half and they were fantastic in beating a very strong Spanish side. Damon, as for the senior England team, I think that with a bit of luck and the right draw they might cause a few surprises. Anything else that was good for you this week, Damon?
DB: Yeah, I wanted to highlight a brilliant initiative at Lewes football club. First of all, Lewes FC are a non-league side in England founded in 1885, and the men’s side play in the eighth level of the football pyramid – the Isthmian South League. And the women are in Non-League Division One. Now Lewes are the first football team to give equal pay to the women and men’s teams. Now, of course, neither the women nor men are paid the huge wages the top footballers get in the top leagues around the world, but the principle remains one we should applaud. Now, I’m waiting for Lewes to get promoted in seven consecutive seasons and join the Premier League – now imagine the women and men still getting the same salary then! How about bad from the week, Damian?
Bad
DF: Well done to Lewes – that’s fantatsic isn’t it? Not such a good week, however, for Ronald Koeman who was sacked as manager of Everton after a poor run of form that left the Toffees in the relegation zone. The Dutch manager spent a lot of money on new players in the close season but they never really gelled together, while they never really replaced their main striker Romelu Lukaku who moved to Manchester United either. A bad week for Everton.
DB: I wonder who will take over? Now, how about an ugly story from the week?
Ugly
DF: Well, this story involves some of the fans from Roman side Lazio whose anti-semitic behaviour this week was pretty ugly indeed. The club could be in trouble after their fans placed photos of Anne Frank wearing a Roma shirt around the stadium which of course they share with rivals Roma. The club have condemned the action but yet again Lazio are in the news for all the wrong reasons.
You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Thai).
Quiz question
DF: OK, now it’s time for our quiz question. We focus a lot on English and European football, so this week’s quiz question takes us further afield to South America. It’s the semi-final stage in the Copa Libertadores, with Brazilian side Grêmio, two teams from Argentina: that’s Lanús and River Plate and Barcelona from Ecuador all hoping to make the final. We want to know which team has won this cup the most times. A hint – it is none of the teams in this year’s semis! We’ll have the answer at the end of the show!
Follow us
DB: Remember you can always get in touch with us via admin@languagecaster.com and you can follow us on all the usual places: twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. It’s always good to hear from you, so spread the word and get in touch!
DF: Yes and Damon this week we’ve had some questions and comments from some of our listeners who have got in touch on Facebook. Mohamed asked us about the phrase ‘marauding full-back‘.
DB: Oh, sounds like me…
DF: That’s your position, isn’t it, yes? He wanted to know whether it was a player who wandered around the pitch looking for an opportunity to assist or score or maybe to bully an opponent. Well, Mohamed, a marauder is someone who carries out an attack, maybe not always a planned attack, so in football a marauding full-back is a defender who goes forward a lot and tries to attack the opposing team – he or she bombs forward quite a lot. Any other questions, Damon?
DB: Yes. Amadeu from Brazil asked a question about the phrase a ‘crisp finish‘. Well, we have explained the phrase ‘crisp pass‘ before on the show – a pass that is quick and accurate – so a crisp finish is when the player scores with the minimum of fuss; it’s quick, accurate and effective, like Son’s second against Liverpool last weekend.
Football Cliche: 2-0 is the most dangerous of leads
DF: Right, next up we explain some football language and I am going to start with a football cliche that was very much part of the football week. So, if a team is leading another team by two goals then there is a very, very good chance that this team will go on to win the game – in most cases comfortably. But sometimes, the opposing side scores a goal and the complexion or the character of the game changes; maybe the team that has reduced the lead starts to up its game, while the winning side starts to feel the pressure and then there is an equaliser and the 2-0 lead has disappeared. This week Tottenham let a two-goal lead slip in their Carabao Cup match against London rivals West Ham. They were winning 2-0 but ended up losing 3-2. Then in yesterday’s Premier League match West Ham raced to a two-goal lead over Crystal Palace only to allow Palace back into the game – it finished 2-2 – so I wonder if the 2-0 lead is indeed the most dangerous of leads?
DB: Well, England also came back to win after being 2-0 down against Spain in the final of the under-17 World Cup final so I wonder if there is anything in that cliche at all?
DF: Could be. What other football language do we have, Damon?
Football Language: Get the boot
DB: OK. I had a look at our glossary and found this phrase which could be used to talk about Ronald Koeman’s sacking at Everton this week. The phrase is to get the boot. The meaning of this expression is to be dismissed from your job, to be kicked out, to be sacked or fired. Being a football manager is a precarious job as there is always a possibility of getting the boot due to poor results and this is what happened to Koeman who was fired by Premier League side Everton this week. He got the boot for the poor results this season despite the club buying so many players. He won’t be the only manager to get the boot this season, though, I’m sure.
DF: Yes, Koeman was the third Premier League manager to get the boot this season. Whose your money on to get the boot next Damon? Who do you think will lose their job next?
DB: Slavan Bilic at West Ham? You?
DF: I’m not sure, maybe Arsenal’s manager might get the boot?
Football Language: See out the game
DB: Ha! Very good. Anything else from our glossary Damian?
DF: Yes, I chose ‘See out the game’. This means that a team can protect its lead and win the game. The phrase means the team in the lead is able to control the game, not panic and reach the final whistle with a victory. Sometimes we use the phrase ‘to manage the game well’, that is, the winning team, despite coming under pressure, still wins the game – they are careful and are able to see out the game. Now, this week, Tottenham were leading West Ham comfortably 2-0 in the League Cup, but couldn’t see out the game, as the Hammers overturned the lead and won 3-2. Maybe that 2-0 lead is the most dangerous!
DB: Now you can concentrate on the League and Europe!
DF: Yes, I wasn’t too disappointed to lose, although it’s never nice losing to a big rival!
Right, next up we have this week’s predictions.
DB: Well, we have a new leader as Alexrr has had a good week so far and leads Johnny Magicboots 66-63. Damian, you are on 56 and I am on…yes, 51. Now, remember it’s three points for the perfect score and one if you get the right result. Come along to the site and join in!
DF. Alright, let’s take a look at what we thought would happen in yesterday’s three big games.
Predictions: Manchester United vs Tottenham
DB: First it was Mancehster United versus Totenham and I felt this one would be tight – I couldn’t see Mourinho’s United being too adventurous. And with Harry Kane out for Spurs I reckoned this would be a 0-0 draw.
DF: Well, I went for a 1-2 Tottenham away win but I also had a bad feeling that United would nick it and sure enough that’s what happened. No points for Spurs and no points for me.
Liverpool vs Huddersfield
DF: Now, the next game saw your team Liverpool host Huddersfield. I knew that Liverpool would bounce back after last weekend and they were too good for Huddersfield yesterday. I went for a 2-0 home win. How about you?
DB: Well, yes me too. But I wasn’t quite as confident as you. I was surprised there weren’t more changes to the side that lost to Tottenham, except for those forced by injury. And without Mane, Coutinho and Lallana scoring three was a good result. So we both get a point each for that one.
Crystal Palace vs West Ham
DB: And then we have Crystal Palace versus West Ham. Now this one really could have gone either way but I thought West Ham would be inspired by the League Cup win midweek and win this one 2-1. That late, late goal by Zaha meant I missed out of three points.
DF: I thought Palace would win 1-0 but they finished up with a 2-2 draw – I’m going to say it again, it’s another dangerous 2-0 lead!
Quiz question answer
DB: Indeed it is. Now before we go here’s the answer to the quiz question. We asked which team in South America has won the Copa Libertadores the most times and the answer is…
DF: Well, the answer is Club Atlético Independiente from Argentina, Independienet, who have won this competition seven times!
Good bye
DB: Alright folks, that’s it for this week. Enjoy all of the football, now remember there are some big games in Europe this week, and see you next weekend. Ta-ra!
DF: Yes, Real Madrid visit Wembley to face Spurs and Liverpool host Maribor in the Champions League.
DB: Come on you Reds!
DF: Goodbye everyone.
Check out our glossary of footballing phrases here
If you have any suggestions, contact us at admin@languagecaster.com
Free football language podcast for learners of English brought to you by Damian and Damon. Interviews, match reviews, predictions all with full language support for football fans around the world who wish to improve their English language skills.
