Chelsea are still way out in front of the chasing pack and can pretty much wrap up the title if they beat Arsenal in this weekend’s London derby. On the show, we also discuss some football words and phrases, including break the bank and some sent in by a long-time listener José – ‘dogpile’ and ‘piggy in the middle’. To start the show, we will review some of the footballing news in our good, the bad and the ugly section. And 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: London Derby

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Transcript of the show

DB: You’re listening to languagecaster’s football language podcast. My name’s Damon and I’m in a sunny Tokyo with spring not too far away. Now, unfortunately, we don’t have Damian down the end of the phone line in London this week, but I’m sure he is looking forward to the football this weekend just as much as I am and I hope you are too listener.

Line up

OK, we’re going to start the show with the good, the bad and the ugly – three stories from the week’s footballing news. Then we’ll discuss a few phrases from football, especially a couple sent in by José from Brazil – dogpile and piggy in the middle. And just before our predictions at the end of the show, we’ll have our weekly quiz question, which this week is connected with penalties.

Yes indeed. You are listening to languagecaster.com and that was in Brazilian. Drop us a line at [email protected] if you have the message “You are listening to languagecaster.com” in your language. OK, let’s kick off with some of the good news from the world of football.

Good

Congratulations to Egypt and Cameroon as both teams reached the final of the African Cup of Nations. Egypt squeezed past Burkina Faso 4-3 on penalties after the game was deadlocked at 1-1 after extra time. In the other semi-final, Cameroon had an impressive win over one of the pre-tournament favourites, Ghana. The Indomitable Lions beat the Black Stars 2-0. The final is on Sunday and there is no clear favourite. Hopefully it will be a cracker!

Bad

Now for bad. Things are looking very bad for the current reigning Premier League and English champions, Leicester. The East Midlands side that shocked the football world by claiming the Premier League title last year, are now sliding down the table towards the relegation places. The manager who took them to the title, Ranieri, could even face the chop, be sacked,  if he can’t stop the rot. The Foxes sit in 16th place, two points above Crystal Palace in 18th and the drop zone. Rumours of player unrest with the manager and a run of only 2 wins in 13 outings mean alarm bells are ringing at the King Power stadium.

Ugly

And I’m going to finish in the ugly section not with an ugly, we’ve had too much bad news in the world recently, haven’t we?

Another big weekend of Premier League football sees Manchester City hosting Tottenham – that’s fourth versus second – while there are also big games involving Arsenal and Chelsea taking place on Sunday and we’ll be featuring all those games in our weekly predictions battle. We also have some English for football, and this week we explain the phrases ‘non-league side‘ and ‘first choice‘. To start the show, however, we’ll review some of the footballing news in our good, the bad and the ugly section. 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 Premier League – Manchester City vs Tottenham

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Transcript of the show

DB: You’re listening to languagecaster’s football language podcast. My name’s Damon and I’m in a sunny but cold Tokyo and hoping to talk to Damian down the line and across a continent in London. Damian? How are things?

DF: Good thanks, Damon. It’s also sunny and cold here in London as we had some freezing conditions here last night. I am also recovering after the thriller at The Etihad Stadium in Manchester yesterday! What do we have on today’s show?

Line up

DB: Well, we’re going to start the show by looking at three stories from the week’s footballing news in our good, the bad and the ugly section. And remember if you have ideas for us for this section, just let us know by emailing us at [email protected]. Now, after that, we have a few phrases common to the beautiful game, and this week we feature ‘non-league side‘ and ‘first choice‘. That will bring us to our weekly quiz question and predictions. This pod goes out after most games were played on Saturday in the Premier League, but we’ll still take a look at what we thought would happen.

DF: Yes indeed. OK, let’s kick off with some of the good news from the world of football.

Good

DF: Well done to Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney whose last-minute equaliser against Stoke City meant that he has become the all-time leading goalscorer for the club. Now Rooney has now scored 250 goals for Manchester United – that’s one more than legend Sir Bobby Charlton – and let’s not forget that Rooney is also the top scorer for his country.

Bad

DB: Yes indeed. Well done. Now for bad I was going to say Juventus’ redesigned shirt badge or crest – another nail in the coffin for tradition – but when you look at the history of club crests they certainly have changed a lot through the ages, so Juve’s is no surprise. So, instead for my bad I want to talk about Manchester City’s goalkeeper, Claudio Bravo, who is having nightmare start to his career in the Premi...

This weekend sees one of the big rivalries in English football renewed: Liverpool v Manchester United.  – Liverpool travel to Manchester United for the North-West derby hoping to open up an eight point lead over the Red Devils. We try to predict the score for this game and others on this weeks show. We also have some English for football, and this week we explain the phrase ‘to sit up nicely‘ and one or two other phrases. To start the show, however, we’ll review some of the footballing news in our good, the bad and the ugly section, and the African Cup of Nations will feature. You can read the transcript for the show in our post below (Damian = DF, Damon = DB).

Learn English through Football Podcast: 2017 Liverpool v Manchester United

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Transcript of the show

DB: You’re listening to languagecaster’s football language podcast. Hello everyone! My name is Damon and I am based here in Tokyo and today has been a little cloudy and chilly outside – a nice day for watching re-runs of your favourite football matches. Now, Damian is in London and I hope he is down the line and ready to join us. Damian? How are things?

DF: Hi Damon. Good to hear from you! There has been snow and wind in some parts of the UK but here in London we have managed to escape that but it is still freezing here in London so a perfect day for watching football – and I am going to be cheering on my favourite team Spurs from the sofa later on this afternoon! What do we have on today’s show?

Line up

DB:  Well, on this week’s podcast we start by taking a look back at the football news in the good, the bad and the ugly and this week we  congratulate Real Madrid, feature a story from the African Cup of Nations, where there is trouble in Gabon, and remember a true football man who sadly passed away this week. After that, we take a look at the football expression ‘to sit up nicely‘ and answer a languagecaster follower’s question about the words ‘round, round up and fixtures‘. Then, we will have our regular weekly quiz question and look ahead to three of the big Premier League games taking place this weekend. 

DF: OK, let’s kick off with some of the good news from the world of football.

Good

DF: Well done to Real Madrid who came back to draw 3-3 with Sevilla in the second leg of their Copa del Rey game to break Barcelona’s record of 39 games unbeaten. The leaders of La Liga have now won 30 and drawn 10 of their last 40 matches and this has not only seen them claim a new unbeaten record but also go five points clear in Spain, qualify for the knock-out stages of the Champions League, reach the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey and of course win the Club World Cup in December. Great stuff for Real Madrid! What about bad Damon?

Bad

DB: Well, it’s always bad when a cloud hangs over a tournament, and the political situation in Gabon, hosts of the 2017 African Cup of Nations, is certainly not ideal. It is not just the usual complaints of money being wasted on new stadia – a new one is being built in Libreville, the capital, but bizarrely it won’t be ready for the matches; instead a pre...

It’s FA Cup 3rd round weekend and so on this week’s show we will be taking a look at some of the big games. Maybe there will be a cup shock as a minnow defeats a favourite as form goes out the window? On this week’s show we feature three of the games from the FA Cup – Chelsea v Peterborough, Tottenham v Aston Villa, and Liverpool v Plymouth, while we also introduce an English for football phrase ‘scorpion kick’. You can read the transcript for the show in our post below (Damian = DF, Damon = DB).

Learn English through Football Podcast: 2017 FA Cup 3rd Round

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Transcript of the show

DF: You’re listening to languagecaster’s football language podcast. Hello everyone and a happy New Year to you all wherever you may be. My name is Damian and I am based here in a wet and rather miserable London while of course Damon is over in Japan in Tokyo. Now Damon, unfortunately, is not with us this weekend but he’ll be back for next week’s show. Maybe he is still recovering from all the football over the festive season!

There is no Premier League football this weekend as the FA Cup takes centre stage in England with teams from the top two divisions joining 24 other teams from the lower two leagues, as well as some non-league sides. Football fans will no doubt hear phrases such as David and Goliath tie, giant killing, minnows, form going out the window and of course the romance of the cup over the weekend. So, the main focus of this week’s show will be the FA Cup 3rd round.

Line up

DB:  Now on this week’s podcast we have our regular look back at the football news in the good, the bad and the ugly and this week we feature stories from the FA Cup as some of the games have already finished. After that, we take a look at the football expression ‘scorpion kick‘ and then we will have our regular weekly quiz question, answer some of your football-language questions and look ahead to some of the cup games taking place tomorrow Sunday. 

DF: OK, let’s kick off with some of the good news from the world of football.

Good

DF: It has been a good FA Cup weekend for the two Manchester clubs as City thrashed West Ham 5-0 on Friday night – a game I went to see at the London Stadium – while Manchester United eased into the 4th round after beating Championship side Reading 4-0. Their captain Wayne Rooney scored his 249th goal in 543 games for United which equalled the club record set by Manchester United legend Sir Bobby Charlton. So,

This week’s football-language podcast looks back at some of the big stories from the football week and also looks ahead to some of the big games taking place in the Premier League this weekend. We also explain some words and phrases from the past week including bomb forward and to kill off the game. The show also features three big games from the Premier League in our predictions battle – Bournemouth v Southampton, Manchester City v Arsenal and Everton v Liverpool, while we also answer your football-language questions. You can read the transcript for the show in our post below (Damian = DF).

2016-17 Learn English through Football Podcast: Bomb forward, kill off the game and the Merseyside derby

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DF: You’re listening to languagecaster’s football language podcast. Hello everyone, my name is Damian and I am here in a rather grey and cold London though I am looking forward to all the football taking place this weekend including Tottenham’s home game against Burnley tomorrow as I will be going along to White Hart Lane to see that one! Now this week Damon, who of course is in Tokyo in Japan, will not be with us as he is playing football – let’s hope he wins and tells us all about it next week.

Line up

DF:  Now on this week’s show we have our regular look back at the football news in the good, the bad and the ugly and this week we feature stories from the World Club Cup in Japan and of course the Premier League. After that, we take a look at a couple of football expressions including the phrase to ‘to bomb on‘. Then we have our predictions in which we look at three big games taking place this weekend – a couple of interesting derbies among them – and of course we also have a quiz question and we answer some of your football-language questions.

DF: OK, let’s kick off with some good news from the world of football.

Good

DF: Well done to Japanese side Kashima Antlers after their 3-0 defeat of Colombian side Atlético Nacional in the semi-final of the FIFA Club World Cup to become the first ever team from Asia to qualify for the final of this tournament. Antlers will face Real Madrid in the final this weekend and though few give them any chance of winning, they will have home advantage and the confidence of defeating the South American champions to fall back on.

Bad

DF: Well, it has been a bad week for Manchester City’s German midfielder Ilkay Gündoğan who tore his knee

This week, the Champions League group stages are done and dusted and the remaining 16 teams are waiting for the knock-out stage draw next Monday. We’ll be featuring news from that and other football stories in our good, the bad and ugly section on the podcast this week. We also have some English for football phrases including: dead rubbers, ball watching and one for the cameras. The show also features feature three big games from the Premier League in our predictions battle – Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea v West Bromwich Albion, and Liverpool v West Ham. You can read the transcript for the show in our post below (Damian = DF, Damon = DB).

2016-17 Learn English Through Football Podcast: Dead rubbers, ball watching and one for the camera

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Transcript of the show

DB: Your listening to languagecaster.com’s football language podcast. Welcome to our show listener. It’s a show for everyone who loves football and is interested in improving their English language skills. My name is Damon, and I am talking to you from Tokyo, Japan on a beautiful December’s day. For those of you who haven’t visited Tokyo, in winter, although it is cold, it is generally good weather, with blue skies and lots of sun. Now, down the Skype line is Damian in London, where winters are generally a lot greyer than in Tokyo. What’s the weather like there Damian?

DF: Hi Damon. Yes, the weather in the UK’s capital in winter tends to be on the grey side but today, Sunday, is cold but bright. Perfect weather for some Christmas shopping but think I might stay in and watch the football instead!

DB: Sounds good. I’m guessing you’ll be watching your team Tottenham’s game against Manchester United, a game we feature on the show today in the predictions section. Am I right and what else do we have on the show?

Line up

DF: Yes, I will be watching that game later on today – and after going to see Spurs play at Wembley during the week in the Champions League I am hopeful we will put in a good performance at Old Trafford. Right, on this week’s show, as always, we’ll start with some stories from the footballing world in the good, the bad and the ugly section. After that, we’ve got a quiz question for everyone – it’s a tough one this week. Then we will spend a bit of time talking about three English for football phrases: dead rubber, ball watching and the cliche, one for the cameras. And, of course, we’ll finish with our predictions for three key games in the Premier League this weekend.

DB: Let’s kick off with some good news form the world of football. What was good for you this week, Damian?

Good

DF: Well, it was a good week for Lionel

It’s a great week of football this week! The big game in the Premier League is Man City v Chelsea, third versus first, Pep vs Conte, sky blues against the blues. We also have some English for football phrases including the multi-word verb ‘to sit out‘, and feature three big games from the Premier League in our predictions battle – Manchester City v Chelsea, West Ham v Arsenal and Everton v Manchester United. You can read the transcript for the show in our post below (Damian = DF, Damon = DB).

2016-17 Learn English Through Football Podcast: Man City v Chelsea

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Transcript of the show

DF: Welcome to languagecaster.com’s football language podcast. This is the show for all fans of football who want to learn more about the language of the beautiful game. My name is Damian, and I am talking to you from London on a bright but chilly December day. Now, down the Skype line is Damon in Tokyo. Damon, how are things over there?

DB: Very good Damian. just getting ready for my team’s quarter-final game under the floodlights!

DF: Wow! Sounds good. Good luck to you and your team. How do you rate your chances?

DB: Slim! We only have 11 players and a few key members are out this weekend! But we’ll give it our best! Anyway, what have we got this week on the show?

Forza Chape

DF: Well, Damon before we talk about what is coming up on the show perhaps we should take a moment to pay our respects to all those who died in the air crash earlier this week in Colombia. As many of you will know, the Brazilian side Chapecoense were travelling to Colombia to face Atletico Nacional for the final of the Copa Sudamericana when their plane crashed killing 71 passengers. This included 19 players and members of the coaching staff, as well as many football journalists from Brazil. An extremely sad story from the football world this week.

Line up

DF: Right, on this week’s show we’ll start as we usually do with some news from the footballing world in the good, the bad and the ugly. After that, we’ve got a quiz question for our listeners before our focus on some of the footballing language we picked out from this week. And, of course, we’ll finish with our predictions for the results of three key games in the Premier League.

DB: Sounds good. Now talking of good, what was good this week for you Damian?.

Good

DF: Well, it was a good day today for Chelsea as they travelled to Manchester City and beat their rivals 3-1 and this after being one down in the first half. Conte’s men have now won seven games in a row and have a three-point lead at the top of the table.

DB: I can’t believe you didn’t mention Ben Woodburn, the youngest Liverpool player to score, who also comes from my home village back in the UK!

DF. Sorry. Great news and congratulations.

This weekend sees our 15th podcast of the season and we look at one of the big London derbies of the season: Chelsea v Spurs. We also take a look at some language from football world, and feature three of the big games from the Premier League in our predictions battle – Chelsea v Spurs, Arsenal v Bournemouth, and Southampton v Everton. (Damian = DF and Damon = DB).

2016-17 Learn English Through Football Podcast: Chelsea v Spurs

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Transcript of the show

DB: You’re listening to languagecaster.com’s football language podcast. Welcome everyone to the show for all fans of football who wish to learn more about the language of the beautiful game. My name is Damon, and I am talking to you from Tokyo on a sunny but chilly November afternoon.

This weekend, Damian is off to his home country of Ireland to meet with family, so it’s just me for a short podcast this time.

Line up

I’m going to start with a look at some of the news from the footballing world that caught my eye this week in the good, the bad and the ugly section of the show. After that, I’ll talk a little about our football phrase of the week, ‘off the ball incident’. And I’ll wrap up the pod with a look at three games from this weekend’s Premier League fixtures – Chelsea v Tottenham, Arsenal v Bournemouth, and Southampton v Everton.

Good

OK. The good, the bad and the ugly and for good, I’m going to start with Steven Gerrard, who has retired from football at the age of 36. Now, this isn’t good exactly, but more of a congratulations to the Liverpool midfielder from Huyton, Liverpool, who was one of the best players of the last decade in the English game. Just a few stats: 710 appearances for Liverpool, 212 goals for club and country, 9 trophies, including the famous Champions League win in Istanbul 2005, and captain of both Liverpool and England. Famously, he didn’t win the league championship, but he won a lot of supporters for his passion and dynamic play. Well done Stevie G!

Bad

As for bad, well it’s been a bad few weeks for Bayern Munich. The German giants are so used to being on the top of the table, that it must be a shock to be in second six points behind leaders Leipzig. The have drawn with Hoeffenheim and lost to big rivals Dortmund in their last two league games, while also losing 3-2 to Rostov in the Champions League. That result drops them into second place in the group. All doesn’t seem well under the new management this season of Carlo Ancellotti and their game this weekend against Bayer Leverkusen is suddenly much more important than the Bavarian side would like.

Ugly

Very ugly scenes in Sweden last week as Jordan Larsson, the son of former Barcelona and Celtic player Henrick Larsson, was confronted after the last game of the season by hooded men, who forcibly took his shirt off.

This weekend sees our 14th podcast of the season and we look at one of the big grudge matches of the season: Mourinho versus Wenger. We also take a look at some language from the football world last week including the phrases ‘to sweat on‘ and ‘to wallop‘ and feature some of the big games from the Premier League in our predictions battle – including Manchester United vs Arsenal, Southampton v Liverpool and West Ham away at Tottenham in a big London derby. (Damian = DF and Damon = DB).

2016-17 Learn English Through Football Podcast: Manchester United vs Arsenal

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Transcript of the show

DB: You’re listening to languagecaster.com’s football language podcast. Welcome everyone to the show for all fans of football who wish to learn more about the language of the beautiful game. My name is Damon, and I am talking to you from Tokyo where it is currently raining, which means my team’s second round tournament match was called off today!

I’m hoping Damian in London is enjoying a better start to the weekend and I also wonder how his trip to Spain was last week. Damian, how are things?

DF: Hello Damon. Or Hola Damon! Sorry to hear that your game was postponed; the weather here in London is bright but cold – a lovely winter’s day. Yes, last weekend I enjoyed an international break as I was in Málaga in the south of Spain which was great fun. I used to live there a few years ago so it was nice to go back and see all the changes that have occurred there, including the local side Málaga CF,Club de Fútbol, who are now a fairly well-established side in the first division in Spain. However, today they take on the powerhouse of Barcelona so not much chance of moving up the table this week!

DB: Sounds very nice indeed! OK, well, what’s on the show?

Line up

DF: Well, domestic football returns after the international break and so this means we will be focusing on some of the stories from the World Cup qualifiers that took place earlier in the week. We will also have a couple of new football phrases, including the multi-word verb ‘to sweat on’.

Welcome everyone to the football podcast for learners of English. On this week’s show we’ll be looking back at some of the big football news from the past week and of course looking at the World Cup qualifiers. We also have some new football language to explain, including ‘glancing header‘, we also have a quiz question for you to ponder, and we finish with some predictions. (Damon = DB).

Learn English Through Football Podcast: World Cup Qualifiers November 2016

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Transcript of the show

DB: You’re listening to languagecaster.com’s football language podcast. Welcome everyone to the show for all fans of football who wish to learn more about the language of the beautiful game. My name is Damon and I am talking to you from a sunny Tokyo where I’m looking forward to catching up with the week’s World Cup qualifiers. Damian is in Spain enjoying himself, so today it’s just me listeners!

Line up

It’s World Cup qualifiers so we’re going to take a look at a few games at the end of the show. We will have our good, the bad and the ugly section, with some of the footballing stories this week, a football phrase or two, including a glancing header, and a quiz question.

OK, let’s start with our good, the bad and the ugly section. Damon, what was good for you this week?

Good

Good for Brazil as they put in a performance against Argentina that helps ease the pain of the 7-1 defeat suffered in the World Cup against Germany. The Brazilians were playing at Belo Horizonte, the scene of their thrashing by the German side, but the outcome this time was much happier. A 3-0 victory over their fierce rivals puts Brazil top of the CONMEBOL qualifying table on 24 points and Argentina, struggling in 6th, outside the automatic qualifying places. 

Bad

And bad? Well, it was obviously bad for Argentina, but in another World Cup qualifying game featuring two massive rivals, Scotland were thumped, also 3-0, by England. This is the oldest international fixture, and when the teams clash it is always a big game. This is the first time the two sides have been in the same World Cup qualifying groups and Scotland came in to the game under pressure with only one win, a draw and a big defeat, to Slovakia. England, by contrast, were top of the table with seven points. The 3-0 defeat is bad for Scotland’s qualifying hopes but also bad for Gordon Strachan, their manager, who looks as though he will be show the door, or fired,  at some point soon.

Ugly

Finally, ugly. Staying with the World Cup qualifiers, an ugly incident in the Romania versus Poland match saw flares thrown on the pitch: one burning a while into the net of one goal and another exploding near Polish captain, Robert Lewandowski. The game was suspended for a long period before it resumed with Poland running out 3-0 winners. There was also trouble in the stands to round off an ugly night for organisers of the match.

Yes, you are listening to languagecaster.com.