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The learn English through football podcast explains the language of football: the words, phrases, and cliches used in the game. This week, we look at the verb ‘to slalom’, and how it is used to describe dribbling with the ball . You can find a transcript of the show below, which is great for learners of English to practice listening and reading skills. Teachers of English can also use it to create activities, such as fill in the blanks, true/false, comprehension questions, sentence ordering activities, etc. You can also check out our massive glossary of footballing phrases here. We have hundreds of previous posts and podcasts too on our website. All A can access these resources for free. A Let us know if you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com.
Learn English Through Football
DB: Hello there. Welcome to languagecaster.com’s football language podcast. My name’s Damon, and I’m based in Tokyo. Damian, the other half of the team is based in London, and last week went to see his team Tottenham beat Burnley 2-1. That result sent Burnley down – they cannot avoid relegation, and kept Spurs 5th place and just ahead of Chelsea.
So, they still have something to play for in the last game of the season, unlike my team Liverpool who will finish 3rd no matter the result against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the last game.
The last game! The season is ending and it’s time to say good bye to Jürgen Klopp, Liverpool’s manager for the last nine years, but also Liverpool’s centre back, Joël Matip, who was a free transfer back in 2016.
And Joël Matip is connected with today’s football phrase – to slalom.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Swahili)
DB: Yes, you are listening to languagecaster and that message was in Swahili. And now it’s time to kick off and discuss the verb ‘to slalom‘.
Slalom
DB: ‘To slalom’ is a verb taken from skiing and it means to move in a side to side way, avoiding obstacles. In skiing, the skier goes down the slope and moves side to side, slaloms, through gates. In football, you can use the verb to describe a player running a long way with the ball and passing several defenders as he or she does so. They might go left past one opponent, then right past another, before beating another by taking the ball left, and so on.
Joël Matip was well known by Liverpool fans as a player who could bring the ball out of defence and slalom past several defenders, often taking the ball right up to the opponent’s box. The adjective form is also commonly used: a slaloming run, a slaloming dribble.
Some highlights of Matip, including a slaloming run
Here is what Anfield Offside website says about him. ‘An aspect of the defendera€™s game that cana€™t be quantified with statistics are his slaloming runs with the ball.’
Here slaloming, used as an adjective, describes a run or the dribble with the ball. And here’s another description of the slaloming Matip from Karl Koppak in the Anfiled Wrap:
“In 2013, I appeared on a podcast where Rob Gutmann likened a centre-half carrying a ball through midfield to a horse running through a housing estate. Ia€™ve seldom heard of a better analogy to describe Joela€™s awkward gait slaloming through a bemused midfield, wondering what the hell hea€™s doing there.”
Horse racing and football
DB: The phrase we’ve looked at today comes from another sport, skiing. Football borrows lots of phrases from other sports or areas of life, and because we were talking about horses, let’s finish today with a phrase from horse racing – down to the wire. This season, the Premier League has gone down to the wire in a two-horse race between Arsenal and Manchester City.
The ‘wire‘ is the finish line in horse-racing. To go down to the wire, means you do not know the result until the last moment. A A two-horse race means there are two teams with a chance of winning the championship. This year, 2024, Manchester City have just got their noses in front, meaning they are slight favourites.
Stinger: Your are listening to languagecaster.com (an Arsenal fan)
Goodbye
DB: Thank you for that message from an Arsenal fan. I wonder if Arsenal can do it. They’ll need Manchester City to slip up, but it’s not over until the final whistle.
Well, it’s final whistle time for this short podcast. Remember you can come along to languagecaster.com and leave a comment on this post or send us a message to admin@languagecaster.com. You can follow us on all the usual social media sites, just search for Languagecaster. Remember to like, follow, and spread the word.
Today, we looked at the phrases to slalom and slaloming run, and a few phrases borrowed from horse racing – go to the wire, two-horse race, and noses in front.A
Thanks for listening and enjoy all the football – and goodbye Joël Matip! Ta-ra!
