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Week 27: Vocabulary

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Learn some of the words and phrases from languagecastera€™s Good, Bad and Ugly section of the podcast. For more English practice check out our worksheets, football glossary and English for football phrases.

  • Outfielder: all players except the goalkeeper on a football team

Example: David Beckham receives his 108th cap for England. That equals Bobby Moore’s record as an outfielder with the most caps for England.

  • Look set to do: ready to do, will do

Example: The LA Galaxy stroke AC Milan star looks set to beat Moore and move second in the all time list behind England goalkeeper, Peter Shilton.

  • Powerhouse: (in football) strong team, usually with a long history and tradition

Example: Some of the powerhouses of international football scored impressive victories over tough opposition.

  • Comprehensive: thorough, complete, absolute

Example: Admittedly, England were without some of their bigger names like Rooney and Gerrard, but this was still a comprehensive victory.

  • Feisty: lively, aggressive

Example: Messi and Guitierrez found the net in a competitive and feisty game (with France).

  • Be booted out: lose your job, be ejected, thrown out

Example: Felipe Scolari and Tony Adams are unceremoniously booted out of their positions as coaches of Chelsea and Portsmouth respectively.

  • Short-termism: A lack of long term-planning or thinking, reacting to current events with no thought about the future

Example: While it is difficult for me as a Spurs fan to have any sympathy for anything to do with London rivals Chelsea or former Arsenal captain Tony Adams it seems to me that short-termism has won out yet again.

  • Be in charge: be in control, be the boss, lead

Example: Scolari was in charge at Chelsea for 7 months while Adams was at Portsmouth for only five.

  • Rats leaving (deserting) a sinking ship: a phrase used to refer to a lack of loyalty; when there is trouble some people abandon their former friends

Example: Some of the news coming out of the Chelsea camp that ‘senior’ players were not happy with Scolari as manager and that the dressing room was divided. It’s like rats leaving a sinking ship!

  • To set (something) on fire: Literally to burn, but used to mean excite, thrill, amaze

Example: Well Michael, you’re hardly setting the Premier League on fire and it’s not because of Scolari’s training methods.

  • To bad mouth: to say bad things about, to disparage

Example: It’s always ugly to see players bad-mouthing departing coaches.

  • Taunts: insults, derision

Example: First up Craig Bellamy had to be led away from the Middlesbrough supporters after reacting to their taunts.

Author
grell

I was born and brought up near Chester in the north west of England. I have always loved playing and talking about sport, especially football!
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