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This week on the Learn English Through Football Podcast, we review the footballing news from the week, introduce two new football-language phrases – a curler and queueing up,A and we will be looking at some of the games in week 9 of the Premier league.A These games include Liverpool’s trip to Tottenham, the Languagecaster derby*. For those who wish to practise their English, there is a transcript below to help with reading and listening (Damian = DF, Damon = DB). *Damon is a Liverpool fan and Damian is a Tottenham supporter.
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Transcript of the show
DB: You are listening to Languagecaster’s football-language podcast. Hiya everybody my name is Damon and I am here in wet and soon to be windy Tokyo – we’re waiting for a typhoon to arrive tomorrow, so the weather is not good at all and my football match has been cancelled yet again. How are things in London Damian?
DF: Hi there Damon. London is also very windy as have another storm here. Hopefully the typhoon passes over Japan and everyone is safe. Things here in London are good though on Friday night at the London Stadium the home fans, that’s the West Ham fans of course, were not very happy as they fell to a 0-3 home defeat against newly-promoted side Brighton. I think it will be a tough week for those fans and also for their manager Slavan Bilic.
DB: West Ham are still struggling to make the London stadium feel like home it seems. OK, what’s the line up today on the show?
Line Up
DF: Well, Damon, we’ll start with the good, the bad and the ugly, our section that looks back at the footballing news of the week – and we’ll have stories from the European games, an update on Juan Mata’s charity initiative, and some more bad news for the English FA. After that, we have some listeners’ questions, a quiz question to test our listeners’ knowledge, followed by some football phrases – a curler and queueing up.
DB: Sounds good, and we’ve got predictions to finish, right?
DF: Yes, that’s right and the two Merseyside teams in the Premier League, Liverpool and Everton, will be taking on the two North London sides in the Premier League, Tottenham and Arsenal. Of course, Tottenham v Liverpool is the Languagecaster derby – your team, Liverpool, up against my team, Tottenham.
DB: I’m nervous already!
DF: Yes, it’s a big game!
DB: OK, let’s start with a look back at the footballing news in the good, the bad and the ugly.
Good
DF: Well, I’m going to start with good, and it was good for your team, Damon, Liverpool, who put seven past Slovenian side Maribor. After so many draws over recent games Liverpool finally put away the chances they created. That result leaves them joint top of the Group E table with Spartak Moscow. Bayern Munich bounced back from the 3-0 defeat to PSG in the previous Champions League round with a 3-0 victory against Celtic, although they still sit second in their group as PSG had an impressive 4-0 away win at Anderlecht. The Germans do look to have regained some form, though and will be eyeing revenge when PSG visit Munich in December.
DB: Indeed, now, I also thought Tottenham’s 1-1 draw away at Real Madrid is worth a mention in the good section. With Dortmund losing that puts them in a nice position to qualify.
DF: Yes, it was a good performance away against the current champions but we had to thank a stellar performance from French international captain and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to keep us in the game.
DB: And a final good – well, we mentioned a few months ago a charity, Common Goals, that Juan Mata of Manchester United is involved with. And footballers donate 1% of their salary to help grassroots football and disadvantaged children around the world. Well, Alfie Mawson of Swansea and Charlie Daniels of BournemouthA joined the scheme this week, adding to the number of players involved. Wouldn’t it be great if all top footballers signed up!
Bad
DF:A It would indeed. It would also be good if the English FA could get its act together and address the accusations of racism and discrimination, brought byA Eni Aluko, the former England international player. Now, this story has been going on for months – we talked about the sacking of former women’s coach Mark Sampson a month ago – and the FA has not come out of this story with any credit at all. Hopefully, there will be changes in the future though I am not too hopeful.
Ugly
DF: How about ugly Damon?
DB: Well, Everton and their defender and captain Ashley Williams could be in hot water after Williams pushed Lyon’s goalkeeper,A Anthony Lopes, un-necessarily into the advertising boards behind the goal line. This sparked a brawl amongst players from both sides, but more disturbingly was the fact that members of the Everton crowd became involved. And incredibly, a man holding a baby was seen throwing punches at Lopes – he’s been banned by Everton for life. Absolutely crazy. Now, Everton lost the game 2-1, continuing their dismal form, and these ugly scenes will only add to the club’s problems.
DF: Yes, that was crazy and Everton I think Everton will definitely be fined by UEFA and may even have to play behind closed doors for future games.
DB: Closed doors, now some people might not know the phrase Damian?
DF: Yes, this phrase means that the stadium is closed because of a punishment usually, and no fans are allowed in to watch the game – the match is played behind closed doors.
You are listening to languagecaster.com (Huddersfield fan).
Quiz question
DB: OK, now it’s time for our quiz question, this week’s quiz question is all about the Tottenham v Liverpool match on Sunday. Now, last year, Liverpool went to White Hart Lane and took the lead with a Milner penalty. The game ended, however, in a 1-1 draw, who levelled it for Spurs? Answer at the end of the show.
Follow us
DF: Yes, I remember watching that game on a TV in a bar in Paris, so I think I know who scored for Spurs that day. Right, we’d just like to remind people to get in touch with us and spread the word if you like our show and our site. It is always great to hear from our listeners and you can, of course, email us directly at admin@languagecaster.com and you can follow us on all the usual places, so that’s twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
This week we had a question from David in New Zealand who wrote:
As a fan of your podcast… I wonder if there are new words/phrases in English football in the last year or two. There are at least two in American football: 1) “into the tent” which means a player has been injured on the field and then goes into a tent. This year, the NFL, the American football league, decided to install a small tent on each side of the field for doctors to tend to players with injuries away from the view of fans and cameras. The tent gives privacy. The announcers now say, “He went into the tent.”
2) “Concussion protocol.” Last year, unaffiliated doctors, these are doctors that are not affiliated to the two teams playing, were required to be in attendance on the field to assess players who took big hits and then put them through a concussion protocol to ensure no severe brain injuries. The doc can remove a player from the field without the coach’s consent and put him through “concussion protocol” to assess his eyes and balance and so on…
DB: Thanks a lot David for the question and for the information about those new terms. We did feature the phrase VAR – the video assistant referee earlier on in the season, but I wonder if there are any others that our listeners know about. If you do then drop us a line at languagecaster.com.
DB: Yes. And just to remind you that if you are listening on a phone or a hand-held device then you should also be able to read the transcript while listening to us. Right, next up we explain some football language.
Football Language: A curler
DF: OK. I’m going to start with ‘aA curler’. ThisA is a shot that curves in the air. It moves out and back in. It can be used as a verb,A to curl the ball or shot, but is often used as a noun,A a curler. This type of shot can also be called a a€˜banana shota€™, but this phrase is a bit outdated now. The player uses the inside of their boot to apply spin on the ball. If you come along to our site and check out the glossary you can find other phrases for shots, such as,A screamer,A volley, andA bicycle kick. Here is an example of the use of ‘a curler‘ from a BBC match report back in March 2014: Fulham created the first chance when a left-foot curler from Lewis Holtby was palmed away by Krul (BBC 15 March 2014). Damon, have you ever scored with a curler?
DB: Maybe when I was about ten! certainly not in a competitive game. You?
DF: Hmmm, not for a while. Any more football language from the week?
Football Language: Queueing Up
DB: Yes, I’m going to explain the phrase ‘queueing up‘.
Many football phrases are taken from other sports. From boxing we haveA go toe to toe, from horse racing we haveA dark horseA and so on. Now this football phrase is taken from daily life. Often in life we have to make a line and wait, perhaps in the supermarket or at the bank. The verb for this isA to queue, meaning to wait in line. Now, if we add a preposition, up,A to queue up, we add the meaning that people are waiting for something good. TheyA are queueing up to do something good.
In football, we use this phrase, usually in the progressive form,A queueing up to score, to describe a situation when more than one player is free to score an easy goal. They are waiting for aA crossA and any of them could score. It means the opposition team have been completelyA carved openA and the attacking side can score easily. Here’s an example from the Daily Telegraph: a€˜Theya€™re queuing up to score for Liverpool, and it looks like ita€™s Salah who just beats Firmino to tap home Morenoa€™s lowA cross.a€™ (Telegraph minute-by-minute report, 17th October 2017).
DF:A Good stuff.
You are listening to languagecaster.com (Kawasaki fan).
Right, next up we have this week’s predictions.
DB: OK, leta€™s remind ourselves of the current leader board after the games that took place yesterday. Johnny Magicboots and Alexrr are still in front on 60 and 58 points respectively, neck and neck. You are in third but I’ve closed the gap slightly in you – 47 points to your 50 – I’m breathing down your neck! 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. Yep, looks like a four-horse race. Damon, I did not manage to score any points yesterday thanks mostly to the fact that Huddersfield beat Man United.
Predictions: Chelsea vs Watford
DB: Right the first game, Chelsea versus Watford, played yesterday, was an intriguing tie. The London side have been stuttering of late while Watford are the surprise package of the Premier League so far this season. They are coming off a 2-1 win over Arsenal and would have been confident they could cause Chelsea problems. I went for a 1-1 draw. How about you?
DB: Chelsea are not playing so well at the moment and I thoughtA they would slip up against Watford, the Hornets, maybe 2-1. The game turned out to be a 4-2 win for Chelsea, so no points for me, but Watford were leading 2-1 with 20 minutes to go and had chances to win the game. An exciting game and Chelsea may feel lucky to get all three points.
Everton vs Arsenal
DF: What do you think about Everton’s chances against Arsenal, Damon?
DB: Well, Everton have been dreadful recently. So bad that you wonder if their manager, Koeman’s,A position is under threat. One way to stop the critics is with a big win. You wonder if Rooney will come back into the side and score a wonder goal against Arsenal, as he did at the age of 17 – a moment that really kick started his career. I think Everton may get a draw but with no goals – 0-0. What do you reckon?
DF: Yes, Everton are in a bad place at the moment and so for this I think it will finish 1-1 – I can’t go for an Arsenal win, can I?
Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool
DB: OK, and the last game sees Liverpool off to London to play at fortress Wembley.A If I’m being honest, Tottenham are the better team, strong all over the pitch, while Liverpool need things to go their way quickly in a game to show what they can do. Of course I’m hoping for a win, but I’ll settle for a draw. 1-1. You?
DF: You mention Wembley and that has been a weak point for us this season as teams come for a ‘day out’ and usually defend deeply and try to counter attack us. I don’t think Liverpool will do this so it will be open… maybe 2-1 to us but I am not confident at all.
Quiz question answer
DB: OK, and before we go here’s the answer to the quiz question. We asked who scored the equaliser for Spurs last year against Liverpool at White Hart Lane. Damian?
DF: It was Danny Rose, Damon. He popped up on the left and blasted home from just outside the six-yard box.
DB: Yes, I remember being gutted, hugely disappointed, as I thought we’d done enough to get all three points.
Good bye
DF: Alright everybody, that’s it for this week. Enjoy all of the football and see you next week when we feature Manchester United’s game versus Tottenham.
DB: Ta-rah!
Check out our glossary of footballing phrases here
If you have any suggestions, contact us at admin@languagecaster.com
Learn English Through Football Podcast: A show for football fans to improve their English language skills
