Hello my name’s Jack and welcome to the weekly round-up called This Week on Premier Skills English.
In this week, we’ve got lots of interesting words and phrases to help you talk about football in English.
If you are listening to this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify you can also visit the Premier Skills English website at britishcouncil.org/premierskillsenglish where you’ll be able to download the podcast.
On the Premier Skills English website, you can read the transcript and join the Premier Skills English community by completing a language task in the comments section. This will really help you remember the new words and phrases from the stories from the Premier League.
The words and phrases from the stories this week that I want to talk about today are: on their way, to be threatening, sustained an injury, in good spirits, exasperating, to add insult to injury, to limp, acrobatic and to charge.
Listen out for these phrases in the headlines and stories.
After each story there will be a short language focus and then there will be a task for you to complete and then at the end of the podcast there will be a new football phrase.
But before that, I want to look at last week’s football phrase. If you didn’t hear it last week, here’s one more chance to guess now.
For these last couple of weeks, I have been testing you with idioms that come from the world of football that are used in general English. Last week’s phrase was to **** **** *** ** *** ****.
This means to pay attention to what you are doing at the time. So it kind of means to stay focused. People say you have to **** **** *** ** *** **** if you are doing something tricky where there are dangers or things that could go wrong if you **** **** *** ** *** ****.
Congratulations to GD26 from Russia. Well don efor being first this week. Congratulations to Hsn from Turkey, Achi from China - welcome to the podcast Achi, Tiago Delazari from Brazil, Wilson 2103 from Colombia, Hiracky16 from Japan and also Hajime and Goke both from japan and Mehmet Sisman from Turkey.
You all managed to work out that the phrase I was looking for was to keep your eye on the ball.
That wasn’t so many this week so I think these idioms are a bit too difficult. I’ve got one more today and then next week, I’ll choose some more straight forward football phrases. I have a few suggestions on my list to work through. It is another idiom today but I hope you can work it out so do listen till the end of the podcast to hear this week’s new football phrase.
OK! Now, it’s time to get on with this week’s three football stories!
A bad day for the Blues
Manchester City were the dominant side in their clash with Brentford on Saturday. They welcomed the Bees at the Etihad Stadium with a world class team. 10 of the 11 starting players will be setting off for the World Cup to represent their countries. Brentford’s starting 11, on the other hand did include 4 players who are on their way to Qatar, but their leading goal scorer Ivan Toney has been left out of the England squad. After his performance on Saturday, England Manager Gareth Southgate may be regretting that decision.
Despite enjoying 74% possession and making 29 shots on goal, The Blues only scored once. Ivan Toney opened the scoring for the Bees after 17 minutes. The striker had been threatening since kick off and had already had two good attempts saved. Phil Foden equalised just before half time with an unstoppable rocket.
In the second half, Brentford held off wave after wave of attack and still looked dangerous on the counter. After 90 minutes were played, the referee added 10 minutes following a lengthy stoppage for medics to patch up Aymeric Laporte who had sustained an injury when he accidentally clashed with the elbow of a Brentford defender. These added minutes proved decisive when on a lightning counter attack, the Bees swarmed towards City’s goal and a perfect Dasilva cross into the box was met by Ivan Toney who tapped home to score his second and win the match.
Final Score: Manchester City 1 - Brentford 2
The words and phrases that I want to talk about from this story are: on their way, to be threatening and to sustain an injury.
If you are on your way to a place, you are travelling towards a place. We normally use this phrase when we have started a journey but not reached our destination. So if you are running late on your way to a meeting you might phone ahead and say ‘I’m sorry I’m going to be a bit late. I’m on my way but the traffic is bad.’ We also use the phrase in a figurative sense to say that a process has started. So in the story, I said that Brentford played 4 players who were on their way to the World Cup. This is because they have been selected by their national team managers so will play in Qatar. The process has started and figuratively they are on their way.
The verb to threaten means to tell someone or show someone that you will hurt them or damage their interests in some way, usually to make them do what you want. If someone is threatening, it usually means they are behaving in a way that threatens. However, there is another use which means that there is a possibility of something unpleasant. I think this is most commonly used to talk about bad weather in the UK. So we talk about threatening clouds and threatening skies when we expect a storm or other bad weather. When it’s really cold, you might hear someone say: “it’s threatening to snow out there.” I said that Ivan Toney had been threatening, threatening to score, since kick off. From a Brentford perspective,
I could have said that he had been promising, but we normally use more aggressive language when we talk about sport so threatening seems more natural.
The third item I want to talk about from this story is to sustain an injury. Normally, the verb sustain means to keep alive or keep going. But we also use this formal sounding phrase to sustain an injury which just means to get an injury. I’m not sure why we say sustain an injury, but it’s quite common in new reports about footballers. It is quite formal, I don’t think football fans would use this phrase when talking about a player, in spoken English we’d normally say got injured or picked up an injury.
Let’s move on to the next story.
Spurs and Leeds deliver a rollercoaster of Rodrigos
When Leeds visited Tottenham at the weekend, they had just beaten Liverpool and Bournemouth and were in good spirits. There was an electric atmosphere at the stadium and the fans sensed that they were in for an exciting afternoon of football. And when the whistle was blown for kick off, Spurs and Leeds didn’t disappoint and were exhilarating and exasperating in turn.
Crysencio Summerville scored first for Leeds. Harry Kane equalised. Just before halftime, Moreno Rodrigo put Leeds back into the lead. Just after the break, Ben Davies equalised. And then after 76 minutes, Rodrigo scored again for Leeds. With just 14 minutes to play, things were looking grim for Spurs until their Uruguayan midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur equalised bringing Spurs level for the third time in the match.
Leeds American manager seethed on the sideline as it had really looked like Leeds had the win in the bad and then, to add insult to injury, Rodrigo Bentancur scored again.
Final score: Tottenham Hotspur 4 - Leeds United 3
The words and phrases that I want to talk about from this story are: in good spirits, exasperating and to add insult to injury.
If you are in good spirits, you are feeling happy. We use this phrase to refer to someone’s general state of mind. So during a football match, a player might experience a range of emotions, but if they are generally more positive and recover from disappointments and frustrations quickly, you might still say that they were in good spirits.
The next adjective I want to talk about is exasperating. This is quite an advanced adjective and means really annoying. It’s a combination of irritating and frustrating. So if you are trying to help someone and they are ignoring you, it’s exasperating. We often use it when something we care about personally is annoying. I like the word because it’s very expressive.
The middle syllable comes out like a little roar of frustration. I love my team but they can be exasperating sometimes.
The last phrase from this story is to add insult to injury. This is an ancient idiom that dates back to Roman times. It means to do something that makes a bad situation worse. So if you’re having a bad day because your car has broken down. If you try to catch a bus and then forget to take any money with you, you might say to add insult to injury, I couldn’t even get on the bus.
Let’s move on to the final story.
Brilliant Barnes storms West Ham
All eyes were on James Maddison on Saturday after his late World Cup call up. And within minutes he had shown why he deserved to be in the England squad when the ball rebounded in his direction and he confidently struck the ball past the West Ham keeper. However, after 22 minutes, the 25-year-old limped off the pitch and fans on both sides of the ground looked concerned about his injury.
For the next 50 minutes the teams looked fairly well matched and West Ham could have equalised on a couple of occasions if it weren’t for the acrobatic efforts of Danny Ward, the Leicester keeper who made a series of spectacular saves.
After 78 minutes, the definitive moment came when Perez slotted a perfect pass through the West Ham defence into the path of a charging Harvey Barnes whose single touch finish was driven past Lukasz Fabianski and into the goal.
Final score: West Ham United 0 - Leicester City 2
The words that I want to talk about from this story are: limped, acrobatic and charging.
These are all quite simple words that relate to the way that a person moves.
If you limp, it means you walk with difficulty. If you hurt your ankle, you will walk in a kind of asymmetrical way. Your steps will not be even. Usually you will try to put less weight on your injured ankle. This style of walking is limping. When people are old, if they walk in an uneven way, we say they hobble, but when a footballer leaves the pitch with an uneven gait or style of walking, we say they limped off the pitch.
The adjective acrobatic means involving powerful movements that take physical skill and are usually graceful or attractive to watch. If you go to the circus, you will see acrobats who can do flips and somersaults. The movements that an acrobat performs are acrobatic. When a footballer leaps in the air or has to jump and turn, we often describe their movement as acrobatic. Footballers are professional athletes so when they move, they are often graceful and their movements are attractive. I think if I were to leap for a diving header or attempt a bicycle kick, my movements probably wouldn’t be described as acrobatic.
The last item I want to talk about today is the verb to charge. In the story, I used the adjective form when I said that Perez slotted a perfect pass into the path of a charging Harvey Barnes. Harvey Barnes was charging. So to charge means to move forwards with force and purpose. It’s what soldiers used to do on the battlefield when they were ordered to run towards the enemy. On the football pitch, to charge means to move quickly and forcefully. Off the pitch, if someone charges, for example if someone charges through a crowd, it’s often because they are angry or very excited and worked up.
OK. That’s nine words and phrases from the stories today. The words and phrases were: on their way, to be threatening, to sustain an injury, in good spirits, exasperating, to add insult to injury, to limp, acrobatic and to charge. Listen to the stories again to hear the language in context.
A bad day for the Blues
Manchester City were the dominant side in their clash with Brentford on Saturday. They welcomed the Bees at the Etihad Stadium with a world class team. 10 of the 11 starting players will be setting off for the World Cup to represent their countries. Brentford’s starting 11, on the other hand did include 4 players who are on their way to Qatar, but their leading goal scorer Ivan Toney has been left out of the England squad. After his performance on Saturday, England Manager Gareth Southgate may be regretting that decision.
Despite enjoying 74% possession and making 29 shots on goal, The Blues only scored once. Ivan Toney opened the scoring for the Bees after 17 minutes. The striker had been threatening since kick off and had already had two good attempts saved. Phil Foden equalised just before half time with an unstoppable rocket.
In the second half, Brentford held off wave after wave of attack and still looked dangerous on the counter. After 90 minutes were played, the referee added 10 minutes following a lengthy stoppage for medics to patch up Aymeric Laporte who had sustained an injury when he accidentally clashed with the elbow of a Brentford defender. These added minutes proved decisive when on a lightning counter attack, the Bees swarmed towards City’s goal and a perfect Dasilva cross into the box was met by Ivan Toney who tapped home to score his second and win the match.
Final Score: Manchester City 1 - Brentford 2
Spurs and Leeds deliver a rollercoaster of Rodrigos
When Leeds visited Tottenham at the weekend, they had just beaten Liverpool and Bournemouth and were in good spirits. There was an electric atmosphere at the stadium and the fans sensed that they were in for an exciting afternoon of football. And when the whistle was blown for kick off, Spurs and Leeds didn’t disappoint and were exhilarating and exasperating in turn.
Crysencio Summerville scored first for Leeds. Harry Kane equalised. Just before halftime, Moreno Rodrigo put Leeds back into the lead. Just after the break, Ben Davies equalised. And then after 76 minutes, Rodrigo scored again for Leeds. With just 14 minutes to play, things were looking grim for Spurs until their Uruguayan midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur equalised bringing Spurs level for the third time in the match.
Leeds American manager seethed on the sideline as it had really looked like Leeds had the win in the bad and then, to add insult to injury, Rodrigo Bentancur scored again.
Final score: Tottenham Hotspur 4 - Leeds United 3
Brilliant Barnes storms West Ham
All eyes were on James Maddison on Saturday after his late World Cup call up. And within minutes he had shown why he deserved to be in the England squad when the ball rebounded in his direction and he confidently struck the ball past the West Ham keeper. However, after 22 minutes, the 25-year-old limped off the pitch and fans on both sides of the ground looked concerned about his injury.
For the next 50 minutes the teams looked fairly well matched and West Ham could have equalised on a couple of occasions if it weren’t for the acrobatic efforts of Danny Ward, the Leicester keeper who made a series of spectacular saves.
After 78 minutes, the definitive moment came when Perez slotted a perfect pass through the West Ham defence into the path of a charging Harvey Barnes whose single touch finish was driven past Lukasz Fabianski and into the goal.
Final score: West Ham United 0 - Leicester City 2
Language Challenge
Right, now it’s time for you to think about the language again.
Here are 9 sentences with gaps in them and you have to complete the gaps with the correct form of the words and phrases from this podcast. For some of these, I have not used the complete phrase so you may have to use part of the language from the stories.
Number 1: We were 2-0 down at half time. You should have seen the way the manager came ________ into the dressing room.
Number 2: My brother tried climbing the tree in the garden, but a branch broke and he fell. He tried to pretend that he was fine, but I saw him _______ out of the garden.
Number 3: In an accident at work, he _________ __ _______ to his right shoulder that needed full reconstruction.
Number 4: I missed my bus so was already running late and then, to ___ _______ __ _______, I spilled my coffee all over myself.
Number 5: Look at that sky. It’s ___________ to rain
Number 6: He seemed so sad the last time I saw him, so I'm glad he's in ____ _______ tonight.
Number 7: They’re __ ______ ___ to the meeting and should be there in five minutes.
Number 8: After scoring the winning goal, he did an _________ leap into the air to celebrate.
Number 9: I only want to help. It's so ____________ when he ignores all my advice.
Leave your answers in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website and I will go through them next week.
Football phrase
Now it’s time for this week’s football phrase.
I am going to test you again with another idiom that comes from the world of football and has found its way into general English. Today’s phrase is to ***** **** *** *********.
If you ***** **** *** *********, you are interested in something, but you are not taking an active role. You can also be ** *** ********* which means to not be involved in something that affects you, but The phrase I am interested in means to deliberately hold back and not become involved. So if there is a problem at work between two of your colleagues, you might decide not to take a side and try to stay neutral and simply ***** **** *** *********. I think that this is too difficult without an extra clue. This is what substitutes are forced to do if they are not brought on by the manager.
If you know the answer, be sure to leave it in a comment on the page for this podcast on Premier Skills English.
Before I finish, here are the answers to last week’s language challenge.
Number 1: The young midfielder marked his return from injury with a seventh strike of the season and sealed the win.
Number 2: I know it’s very long and quite silly in places, but it’s still my favourite book by a mile.
Number 3: We had a fantastic time. The hotel was lovely and the weather was gorgeous for the whole week.
Number 4: I was really delighted to see my old friends again
Number 5: Since retiring as a player, he has built a successful career as a football pundit.
Number 6: He can still impress on occasions, but such performances have been few and far between since his move to the new club.
Number 7: I do feel the pressure, you know, people expect me to score in every game now I've hit a purple patch.
Number 8: The winger celebrated scoring, even though it was only a consolation goal.
Number 9: I think that the protestors mean well, but their message is hopelessly muddled.
That’s all I have time for today. Before I finish, I just wanted to say that I hope you found this podcast useful, and I hope all of you stay fit and healthy and safe.
Bye for now and enjoy your football.
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