Learn English Through Football Learn English Through Football

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 word ‘heavy’, and how can be used in football. 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  can access these resources for free.  Let us know if you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com.

Learn English Through Football

DB: Hi there everyone and welcome to Languagecaster.com’s football language podcast. My name’s Damon, and I’m enjoying the sun over here in Japan. Damian, the other half of the Languagecaster team is in London, where England have just lost a warm up game before the Euros in Germany.

Damian has posted recently about the phrase ‘do the double‘ and which teams achieved it or were close in Europe this year (2024). Come along to languagecaster.com to check that out, or subscribe to the podcast via your favourite podcast feed.

On this week’s football language podcast we’re taking a look at the word heavy and how it is used with other words to talk about football. But first, here’s a message from one of our supporters.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Turkish)

DB: Yes, you are listening to languagecaster and that message was in Turkish. Thank you Mert! And now it’s time to kick off and discuss today’s word – heavy.

Heavy Challenge

DB: OK, so heavy is used commonly in three phrases: a heavy challenge or tackle, a heavy defeat, and a heavy touch. Let’s start with the first one.

A heavychallenge is a strong tackle. It usually means that the player being tackled was hurt in the tackle or even injured. When we use the phrase, we are not usually criticising the tackler. The tackle is very physical but it may be a fair tackle. If it is a bad tackle, we might say it was a reckless challenge, a leg breaker, or a dirty tackle for example.

Here’s an example from the Guardian match report on the England vs Iceland game last night: ‘John Stones, who took a heavy challenge at the outset before making way at half-time, was off the pace. Stones would depart with his right foot heavily strapped.’

So, John Stones was hurt in a heavy challenge and was replaced to make sure he wasn’t injured further.

Heavy Touch

DB: Another way heavy is used is with touch, a heavy touch. This describes how a player controls the ball. It means the player receiving the ball does not control the ball as they wanted to. The ball moves further away from the player than they wanted. It makes the next touch more difficult. It is often used with ‘first’ – a heavy first touch.

Here’s an example from a Daily Mail match report on Chelsea v Bournemouth in the 2019-20 season: ‘Twice Josh King broke behind Chelsea lines in the second half. On the first occasion he was clean through and leaving Kurt Zouma for dead, but a heavy touch allowed Zouma to recover and block.’

So, King’s mis control, heavy touch, meant the defender, Zouma, could block King’s next touch, which was a shot. This example, also includes a wonderful phrase,

Do the double: In this football language podcast we look back at a weekend full of cup finals across Europe as many teams tried to do the double. You can read the transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com.

 

Learn English Through Football Podcast: Do the Double (2024 Domestic Cup Finals)

DF: Hello everyone. You’re listening to languagecaster.com’s football-language podcast. The show for everyone who wants to practice their English and who loves the beautiful game of football. My name is Damian and I am based in London and I am one half of the Languagecaster team – the other member is Damon who, of course for regular listeners who will know, is based in Tokyo, Japan.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Tagalog)

Now, last weekend saw lots of domestic cup finals being played across Europe and on this week’s podcast we are going to take a look at four of them. Now in all of these finals one of the teams was trying to complete a double: that’s winning the domestic league and cup. So, we are going to look at the FA Cup in England, the Coupe de France, the Scottish Cup and the Pokal from Germany. Do you remember which teams were going for the double in those finals and how many of them were successful?

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (from Umid in Tashkent (Uzbekistan))

Vocabulary

Now before we take a look at these finals let’s take a look at the phrase, ‘the double‘ and how different verbs can collocate or go with this word in football:



* To do the double

* To complete the double (To complete a league and cup double)

* To win the double

* To deny (a team) the double [so, to stop them from winning the double]

* To clinch the double

* To secure the double



Now, five of these phrases all really mean to win the double. So, to do the double; complete the double; clinch the double; secure the double – with one of them, ‘to deny the double’ is to stop the other team from winning the double.

We are also going to be looking at the phrases, ‘to pounce on‘; ‘the Old Firm‘; ‘ to battle past‘ and ‘to defy‘ – do you know what these words mean?

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Hungarian)

FA Cup: Manchester United v Manchester City – Defy the odds

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Before this year’s FA Cup final between Manchester rivals United and City, no one really gave United (The Red Devils) any real chance of stopping City of winning their seconda href="https://languageca...

In this football language podcast we take a look back at the final day from the 2024 Women’s Super League which saw Chelsea win their fifth successive title. We also look at the phrase ‘romped to victory‘. You can read the transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com.

 

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Learn English through Football Podcast: Fifth Successive Title

DF: Hello everyone. You’re listening to languagecaster.com’s football-language podcast – the show for everyone who wants to practice their English and who loves the beautiful game of football. My name is Damian and I am one half of the Languagecaster team – the other of course is Damon who is based in Tokyo, Japan. Now, regular listeners to the show will know that Damon has recently posted some great podcasts around the phrases, ‘cameo‘; ‘to slalom through the defence‘ and ‘to claw‘. Come along to Languagecaster.com to listen or to subscribe to our football-language podcasts. 



Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Dutch).  



Now on today’s short podcast I will be looking at the final weekend of the Women’s Super League (WSL) season here in England and to talk about Chelsea who won their fifth title in a row; their fifth successive title. And to help me do this I will be looking at some of the language used in a BBC match report on the game, including the phrase, ‘romp to victory‘. 



Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in French)



Introduction

OK, so, the final day of the Women’s Super League here in England saw two teams with a chance of winning this year’s [2024] title – a two-horse race between holders Chelsea and Manchester City. City were in the driving seat two weeks ago when they were winning 1-0 against Arsenal which would have put them six points clear of Chelsea only for two late goals to give Arsenal the win. Chelsea then thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 and then won their game in hand to draw level on points and have a better goal difference before the final match of the season.

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 a cliche that is used especially at the end of the season: If you’d offered me that… . 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  can access these resources for free. Let us know if you have any suggestions or questions by contacting us at admin@languagecaster.com.

Learn English Through Football

DB: Hi there everyone. I’m your host on this football cliche podcast brought to you by languagecaster.com. The place for all learners of English who love the game of football and want to improve their English. I’m based in Tokyo, which is enjoying some beautiful May weather. I wonder if it is sunny over in London, where the other member of the team, Damian, is based?

While it might be sunny here, myself, and probably Damian, are a bit more gloomy, the opposite of sunny, after both our teams, Liverpool and Tottenham, had some poor results over the last few weeks.

May is the crunch time in the leagues in Europe and it’s a time when fans of all the clubs who cannot win the title or a European trophy start to reflect on their team’s season.

And that’s why on this week’s podcast, I’ll be talking about the football cliche, ‘If you’d offered me that...’ A phrase used to try and see the positives when the season doesn’t finish so well.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (a Liverpool fan)

DB: Yes, you are listening to languagecaster and that message was from a Liverpool fan. Right, time to kick off with a great football language cliche.

If you’d offered me that…

DB: At the beginning of your club’s football season, what did you expect? Did you think your team would win the league? Win a cup? Finish in the top half of the league? Avoid relegation? Beat your local rivals? All fans look ahead and imagine what a good season would be.

At the end of the season, fans look back at their team’s performance and decide whether it was a good or a bad season. Very often, how a team finishes the season, the last four of five games, can influence how we feel about the team.

In my team’s case, the end of the season is a bit disappointing. Liverpool are out of the race for the title, they were knocked out of the Europa League at the quarter final stage, and the team has looked tired and Klopp, their manager for nine years is leaving.

How to use the cliche

DB: But on the positive side, they have won the League Cup. They also will qualify for the Champion’s League; last year they missed out in fifth place. They have some good new players, and at one point in the season, were playing for a quadruple – the league, the two domestic cups, and a European trophy.

This is where we use the cliche: If you’d offered me that. The full phrase is ‘If you’d offered me that at the beginning of the season, I would have bitten your hand off’. I would have bitten your hand off, means I would have taken the offer quickly with no questions. It is like a dog snatching food from someone’s hand.

The ‘that‘, in ‘If you’d offered me that‘, is the offer of course, So, in my case,

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 word ‘claw’, and how it is used in combination with other words. 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  can access these resources for free.  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 and based in London, has recently posted a podcast on the Champions League semi-finals and describing close ties. Remember, all four quarter finals were close games, with teams either drawing the first leg or only having a one-goal lead. Check it out to learn how to use phrases like slender advantage, in the balance, and others.

On this podcast, I’ll be talking about the verb ‘to claw’. But first let’s hear a message from a French fan of the show.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in French)

DB: Yes, you are listening to languagecaster and it’s time to kick off and discuss the verb ‘to claw‘.

Claw out

DB: Did you watch the FA Cup semi final between Chelsea and Manchester City? It was an interesting game, and Man City were perhaps lucky to win 1-0. I was reading a BBC match report and read this description of a key moment:

Jackson also shot low and tamely for Ortega to save in the second half, then saw a header clawed out by the keeper seconds later when the striker should have done better.

The Manchester City keeper made a good save to stop a header by Chelsea forward, Jackson. The keeper clawed out the header.

To claw something is to scratch something. Imagine a cat fighting another cat. It uses its paws and sharp nails to cut its opponent. If a human claws something, they use their fingers to grab something and pull, or dig. In football and used with out, to claw out, it means to use the fingers or hand to grab the ball and pull it away from the goal. It is almost in the goal but the goalie keeps it out.

Another Example

DB: Here is another example from a game in the Women’s Champions League between Chelsea and Madrid earlier in 2024:  She hit an audacious, dipping effort that was just clawed out from underneath the crossbar.

This time it is a shot not a header, but the idea of the ball nearly going across the line is the same. To claw out a shot or a header is to just stop the ball going across the line. You might also hear claw the ball away too.

Claw Back

DB: To claw is also used with back – to claw back – in football, to mean recover from a losing position or get one goal back. So, to claw back a goal,

In this football language podcast we look back at some of the language that described the four first-leg quarter finals of the Champions League which are all delicately poised as all eight sides feel they still have a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals. You can read the transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com.

 

Learn English Through Football Podcast: Delicately Poised – 2024 Champions League Quarter Finals

DF: Hello everyone. You’re listening to languagecaster.com’s football-language podcast – the show for everyone who wants to improve their English and who loves the beautiful game of football. My name is Damian and I am one half of the Languagecaster team – the other of course is Damon who is based in Tokyo, Japan. I’m in London where the weather is a little more spring-like – the sun is shining and the birds are singing – maybe they are excited as we approach the business end of the season!  

Now on today’s show we will be looking back at those wonderfully exciting last-eight first-leg matches in the [2024] Champions League in which all four matches are delicately poised. And this phrase means that none of the games are decided yet – all eight of the teams still think they can qualify for the semi-finals. The phrase ‘delicately poised‘ means that something is balanced but the smallest touch or movement might change this situation. So, for example, in football, none of these ties from the Champions League have been decided yet with all eight sides in with a chance of making the last four. It means that we cannot really predict the winners in any of the matches – or at least with any certainty! So, we will go through each of the four quarter-final first legs and choose a phrase that sums up the fact that they are all delicately poised – the ties are all delicately poised.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Spanish).

Vocabulary

So, here are some of the expressions that we are going to look at from each of the four quarter-final ties:



* Far from over

* Hanging in the balance

* Hold a slender lead/advantage

* Nothing to choose between the sides



PSG v Barcelona: Tie is far from over 

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Paris Saint Germain hosted Barcelona in their first-leg match on Wednesday and this thriller ended 3-2 to the away side Barcelona; they came...