Here is the Guardian newspaper’s preview of the German football season. WE have provided a brief summary at the start to help readers with comprehension, while vocabulary support for learners of English can be found at the foot of the post.
Background Information
The writer, Raphael Honigstein, previews the 2010-11 Bundesliga season in this article and since he is writing for a British audience he mainly discusses the former England manager Steve McClaren who has recently taken over at Wolfsburg. He does so in a rather tongue in cheek manner and makes constant reference to the image of McClaren holding an umbrella during his worst moment as Englland manager when he became known as the ‘Wally with the Brolley’
So, in paragraph 1 he begins the article with a humourous story that mentions the umbrella for the first time before moving on to discuss McClaren in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4. Paragraph 5 discusses some of the main transfers during the close season in Germany, while paragraph 6 discusses the financial state of the game there. In the next two paragraphs (7 and 8), he mentions the teams that might threaten Bayern Munich’s dominance, while in the following short paragraph those teams he thinks may be relegated are talked about. in the final paragraph he once more returns to the subject of the umbrella and McClaren by suggesting that the good weather forecast will mean the Englishman will not need his umbrella this evening and therefore will not be known as a wally anymore.
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Vocabulary
tongue in cheek manner: Not being so serious
‘Wally with the Brolley’: The idiot (wally) carrying the umbrella (brolly)
malicious rumours: Nasty gossip
bedazzled his audience: Impressed greatly those watching him
curtain-raiser : The opening game of the season
pits Double winners Bayern Munich against : To play against (one team versus another)
HM’s Bestest XI: A humourous reference to the England national side
to dampen: (The enthusiasm) Despite some problems people are still enthused by this year’s football
saying a lot of extremely flattering things: Saying very nice things
Schalke have miraculously snared Real Madrid icon Raúl: Schalke have signed Raul
the perennial favourites : Every year they are the favourites, the team to beat is always Bayern
Teutonic: Adjective to describe something German