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2016-17 Last day of the Season: It’s the last weekend of the Premier League season and we take a look at some of the big games taking place this Sunday – with Champions League places up for grabs. We also explain some football language including the phrase ‘a no-look pass‘ and we have some predictions from those final matches of the season.A Of course you can read the transcript for the show in our post below (Damian = DF, Damon = DB).
Learn English Through Football Podcast: 2016-17 Last Day of the Season
Transcript of the show
DB: You’re listening to Languagecaster’s football-language podcast.A Hi everyone. Welcome to theA podcast for all those who love the beautiful game and want to improve their English skills. My name’s Damon and I’m in Tokyo, whichA today has seen glorious sunshine and there’s more promised over the next few days. Now, down the line is Damian in London. Damian, how are things Europe way?
DF: Hello Damon, good to hear from you. It’s a sunny day here today in London for the final day of the season; now, I’ve just posted a photo of the London version of the languagecaster balcony – and despite not being the most exciting end of season we are all looking forward to it. Damon, are you nervous about the Liverpool game today?
DB: I am very, very nervous. This could be a horrible way to end the season if we slip against Middlesbrough and drop out of the top four at the last hurdle. I’ll be watching through my fingers.
Line up
DF: Don’t worry Damon! And of course we’ll be featuring that game in our predictions battle later on in the show. Damon, what’s on the rest of the show today?
DB: Well, we’ll follow our usual format with three main sections: a review of some of the footballing news to start, followed by some football phrases that we will explain and finally our predictions for the weekend – and, as you said, we will feature Liverpool’s game and the other two games that can affect the race for the Champions League spots in the Premier League. Now, in between those three sections we will have a quiz question and some information on how to get in touch with us or see what we are up to!
DF: Yes, you are listening to languagecaster.com and that message was in Irish. Now, if you would like to record the message a€œYou are listening to languagecastera€ in your language then just send it on to us here at admin@languagecaster.com.
DB: OK, let’s start the good, the bad and the ugly section with some good news.
Good
DF: Congratulations to Juventus on winning the Coppa Italia – that’s the first part of a possible treble as they should wrap up the Italian title this weekend and then they face Real Madrid in the Champions League final at the start of June. Well done also to Benfica in Portugal for winning the league and to Monaco who won Ligue 1 for the first time in 17 years; they really were a fantastic side to watch. They join Chelsea, Celtic, Bayern Munich and Feyenoord in becoming league winners for 2017 – I wonder which of Real Madrid or Barcelona will be crowned La Liga title winners later on today? Madrid, Damon, are favourites as a draw away at Málaga will be enough to claim their first title in five years but I have seen some crazy end of season games in Spanish football before so who knows?
How about bad from this week?
Bad
DB:A Well I’m going to go for bad news for cheats! Yes, so not really a bad news story but it certainly will make some players worried. The FA in England has decided it will allow retrospective punishment if a player has tricked the referee in to giving a penalty or having another player sent off. So, if a player dives in the box and wins a penalty by conning the ref, a video panel after the game could look at the action again and give the diving player a ban. Similarly, if a player pretends to have been badly tackled or hit, for example, and the referee gives a red card to an innocent player, the FA can punish the player feigning injury, that is pretending to be hurt. Good news I think – but bad news for players who like a bit of simulation. What are yourA thoughts on that Damian?
DF: Yes, I think it could be a good thing as long as the technology is used wisely.
Ugly
DF: Now for ugly this week I am going to focus on some crowd trouble. Some fans ran onto the pitch at Wembley in the League 1 play-off this weekend between Millwall and Bradford City though … yes, this was nothing compared to the problems in a Greek Champions League play-off between Panathanaikos and PAOK. This game had to be abandoned after the PAOK coach was hit on the head with a bottle. The game itself had been an explosive one with four red cards handed out by the referee and a brawl, that’s a big fight, among the players. Pretty ugly indeed.
DB: Yes, indeed.
Follow us
DF: OK, we’d just likeA to remind people to get in touch with us and spread the word if you like our show and our site. You can of course email us directly at – Damon, what’s the address?
DB:A admin@languagecaster.com, Or you could go to our forum and ask a question there. We also have a Facebook page.
DF: Yes, that’s Learning English Through Football. And we have a twitter account too!
DB: And that is @languagecaster. We’d really like to hear from you, so drop us an email, a comment, a like or a follow and spread the word!
DF: Yes indeed, now next up we have some football language that emerged from the week.
Football Language: (a) No-Look Pass
DB: Yes and our first football language phrase was suggested by listener,A José from Brazil, and it is ‘a no-look pass‘. As it suggests this is a pass made without looking in the direction the ball travels. The player with the ball knows where his teammates are, or will be, and can pass the ball into that area without looking. This usually fools the defenders, who look at the opposition players eyes and where they are looking as well as their feet. Playing a no-look pass shows the player’s confidence and control of the ball and understanding of the game. The player hasA skill and vision and perhaps shows off a little by playing a no-lookA pass.A ThanksA José! Damian, do you haveA any football language for us?
Football Language: To nick a goal
Yes, I do. I’ve got the phrase ‘to nick a goal‘. And this phrase was used in the First Division play-off final this weekend when Millwall defeated Bradford City 1-0 at Wembley to qualify for next season’s Championship – the London side were promoted to the second tier. Their striker nicked a goal at the end to win the game. The idea behind this phrase is that maybe the goal came against the run of play and possibly this is due to the fact that ‘nick something‘ is slang for stealing something. So, for example, the team defended all game and then nicked a goal at the end from a set piece. Now, on some occasions the phrase will use a K at the start of the word. So in this example from www.goal.com ‘Bale was happy that Wales were able ‘to knick a goal‘ from the game’ and the site used a K – so, K-N-I-C-K, though usually, I think, it is spelled with an N at the start: So, to nick a goal.
DB: Yes, I agree it’s got to be with an N, not a K.
Quiz question
DF: OK, now it’s time for a quick quiz question. This week we would likeA to know who is the highest scorer in the Italian top division, Serie A? Of course, there are still some games to go there, but before this weekend’s action, the top scorer in the Premier League is Harry Kane with 26, in Spain’s La Liga it’s Leo Messi on 35, in Germany Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leads the pack with 30, and in France PSG striker Edinson Cavani has netted the most with 35. What about Italy, Damon? What do you reckon?
DB: That’s a really tough one, I’m hoping you’re gonna’ tell me at the end of the show.
DF: Yes, we’ll have the answer at the end of the show.
Predictions
DB: OK. Now, predictions. And Damian, congratulations! It is now mathematically impossible for me to catch you;A you’ve run away with this year’s predictions competition! I’m 35 points behind with a maximum of 30 points on offer this weekend. Well done! And also a big well done too to Alexrr, who in the last few month has shown bothA Damian and myself how to do predictions – topping the monthly leagues consistently. So, this weekend, I’m playing for pride and I’m hoping you’ll be on the beach!
Liverpool vs Middlesbrough
DF: Right, our first game in the final round of predictions for the Premier League. Damon, it’s your team, Liverpool needing a win against already-relegated Middlesbrough. What do you reckon?
DB: Well it certainly is squeaky bum time here. We have to win this to make sure of fourth spot and an outside chance of third. We’ve beatenA and not lost against all theA sides around us in the top seven but managed to lose against sides from the bottom half of the table – Crystal Palace, Hull, Swansea, Bournemouth, Burnley. So, am I confident? Yes, I am! The Reds to win 5-0! You?
DF: It will be easy for your team Liverpool – I think 2 or 3 nil.
Arsenal vs Everton
DB: I hope so. OK, next is an interesting one. I’ve heard a lot of people say that Everton won’t want to do their Merseyside rivals Liverpool any favours by getting a result against Arsenal. But I don’t buy that. Ronald Koeman, the Toffees manager, will want to win this to finish the season on a high. And of course, Arsenal must win this too, so I’m going to go for a draw – 1-1. You?
DF: I hope Everton win – 4-0. That would be fun!
DB: Yes, I hope so too.
Watford vs Manchester City
DF: Now, the last game sees Watford, who this week parted ways with their Italian manager Walter Mazzarri, host Manchester City who need a point to confirm Champions League football next season. Damon, what do you think?
DB: A walk in the park for City – 3-0 to the Manchester side.
DF: Yes, I agree… they will win – 2-0 for me.
Quiz Answer
DB: Now before we go,A what’s the answer to the quiz question we asked earlier in the show? Damian?
DF: The question was, who is the top scorer in Serie A as it stands before this weekend’s games and the answer is… Edin Dzeko of Roma who has scored 27 league goals.
DB: Wow!
Good bye
DF: Now just before we go Damon and talking about quizzes, many of our regular listeners will know our website has lots of resources for learners and teachers of football language including our huge glossary with hundreds of words and phrases from the beautiful game. We also have some football language quizzes and this week we added a new one that is all about the language of football passing. Come along and try the quiz and have a look around the site and let us know what you think.
DB: Sounds brilliant!
DF: Right. That’s it for this week’s podcast – drop us a line and let us know what you think of the show. Enjoy all of the football this week and see you next week when we are looking forward to the FA Cup final. Bye.
DB: Ta-rah!
Check out our glossary of footballing phrases here
If you have any suggestions, contact us at admin@languagecaster.com
