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 I am focusing on this week are: To get off to a good start, tactical awareness, off the hook, takeover, wobble, a sign, composure, to inflict damage and to perfection.

Listen out for these words and 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.

Football phrase

But before that, I want to look at last week’s football phrase. If you didn’t hear it last time, here’s one more chance to guess now.

Last week, I chose an anachronism which means a thing that belongs to the past. The word was the ********. This means the goal posts and it is derived from the material that the posts and crossbar used to be made from. It’s been about 40 years since any top flight club had goal posts made from this material but we still talk about hitting the ********.
Congratulations to Wilson2103 from Colombia who was first yet again. Hayato from Japan. HarryKien from Vietnam - you got most of it in your first guess so you deserve congratulating, Vietnguyenngo from Vietnam, Hsn from Turkey - keep the jokes coming Hsn!, Gustavo Fonseca from Peru - welcome to the podcast Gustavo, Hermosillo Moreno from Mexico, Bicooz from Egypt, Tiago Delazari from Brazil - welcome back Tiago, Taher Koshen from Somalia, and another new commenter from the UK called - Eyhabkh2005 - I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’m supposed to be able to say that, am I? Valeek from Iran, Cristbala from Chile - welcome to Premier Skills English Cristobala, and Lobachyov_24 from Russia. I hope I’m pronouncing your name better this week.

You all managed to work out that the word I was looking for was woodwork.

I would like to mention Renan from Brazil who is another first time commenter and Hiracky16 from Japan as you both made decent attempts at the phrase, but didn’t get it quite right.

Listen till the end of the podcast for a new football phrase.

And now ... Let’s get on with this week’s three football stories!

Casemiro takes command of Manchester United’s midfield

Casemiro’s delayed full debut for the Red Devils did not get off to the best start. In fact, he hadn’t found his feet early on and had the ball taken from him which led to an Everton goal after 5 minutes from the boot of Alex Iwobi.

However, as the game progressed, Manchester United’s newest £60m Brazilian midfielder showed his quality and tactical awareness and he will be selected again.

Everton were on a seven game unbeaten run and after that early Iwobi goal looked like they could extend that run. However, they let United off the hook with a series of errors, playing with carelessness and a lack of focus.

Manchester United capitalised through an Antony equaliser and then Casemiro made amends for his early blunder when he read Iwobi’s intentions and skillfully intercepted the ball before slotting a quick pass through to Ronaldo who scored his 700th club goal.

Final score: Everton 1 - Manchester United 2

The phrases I want to talk about from this story are to get off to a good start, tactical awareness and off the hook.

In the story, I said that Casemiro did not get off to the best start. This is a form of the phrase to get off to a good start that just means to start well. I think that we use phrases with get to emphasize that the person or subject of the verb is active. Phrases with get have a sort of dynamic feel to them. I’m not sure you’ll find this aspect in most dictionaries, but it’s how they feel to me. So you could say Casemiro didn’t have the best start, but that could have been because of something that was out of his control. Perhaps it was raining or his laces broke. I chose the phrase get off to a good start, because he was more responsible for the start. It was his action, his mistake, that I’m referring to when I say he didn’t get off to the best start.

The next phrase is tactical awareness. This is some advanced football English. The noun awareness means how much you are aware of or how conscious you are, how much you can see and understand the importance of. It’s similar to knowledge, but it’s about the present, it’s what you know about where you are or the world at the moment. Footballers have to be aware of where their teammates are on the pitch, they have to know at all times where everyone is. Tactics are plans for movements or ways of attacking. So a good midfielder will need to understand how the players around them are moving and be aware of their positions and how opportunities can open up. This quality is tactical awareness.

The last phrase I want to talk about from this story is let off the hook. This is a fun expression that comes from fishing. When you are fishing, you cast a line with a hook on the end into the water. You put a little bait on the hook to attract a fish. If a fish nibbles on the bait, you can yank your rod and that will pull the hook through the fish’s mouth. The fish is then on the hook. You haven’t caught the fish yet, but it’s pretty much game over for the fish. Now if a fish is really lucky, it might get off the hook, but normally, if the fish survives, it is because the fisherman let the fish off the hook. So if you are on the hook, you are somehow caught. The phrase to be let off the hook means to be freed from a dangerous or difficult situation or a situation where you would normally lose something. For example, you might be asked to go on a really boring work trip. This work trip is something that you are dreading - it’s going to be awful, but then, at the last minute, the trip is cancelled and you have been let off the hook. Manchester United were a goal down and might have been facing defeat at Goodison park, but they were let off the hook by a series of Everton blunders.

Let’s move on to the next story.

Magpies flying high

Almost exactly a year after the Saudi takeover at Newcastle United, the Magpies are playing better than they have in years. When they welcomed Brentford on Saturday, they hadn’t lost a home game since April and the Bees were not the team to break that record.

An early defensive wobble gave Brentford a chance, when Shandon Baptiste slotted the ball past Ivan Toney and Newcastle’s Fabian Schar for Bryan Mbeumo to drive the ball into the net. It was a beautiful goal, but Ivan Toney was in an offside position and although he didn’t touch the ball, he was in the way of Schar and so the goal was disallowed.

For Newcastle, this was a sign. Bruno Guimarães opened the scoring with a diving header following a clearly well practised set piece. Jacob Murphy scored the second following an awful clearance that was easily intercepted by Wilson and crossed to Murphy who practically had an open goal.

Shortly after the break, Ivan Toney gave the London side hope from the penalty spot, but it was fleeting as Guimarães restored Newcastle’s advantage just two minutes later. Brentford had chances and may have been unlucky not to have scored again, but the final result was not in doubt and it was Newcastle’s day.

Final score: Newcastle United 5 - Brentford 1

The words I want to talk about from this story are takeover, wobble and a sign.

A takeover is when a company or organisation is bought by another company; so the new company takes charge and is in control. Newcastle United used to be owned by an English businessman who had bought the club in 2007. Last year, he sold the club to a group of businesses that includes the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. This gave control of the club to the new owners; the new owners took control of the club and so it was a takeover.

The next word is wobble. A wobble is a little movement from side to side. The word can be a verb or a noun. To wobble means to move a little unsteadily. It often comes before a fall. Imagine a vase with flowers in it on a table. My mother used to love flowers and there were usually vases around the house. Now, when I had friends around, we would often play silly games and crash about the place. If I crashed into the table, the vase might wobble from side to side. If I crashed into the table hard enough, the vase might wobble and fall over, but a gentle wobble might be OK. In the story, I used the word to describe a moment in the game when it looked like Newcastle’s defence might have made a mistake. As it happened, the goal was disallowed so the defence hadn’t completely broken, it was just a wobble.

The last item I want to look at is a sign. If something is a sign, it shows you or tells you something more important. The word sign normally means a board with information, like a road sign or perhaps a no smoking sign in a restaurant. The phrase a sign is different. It’s not literal, it doesn’t mean a board with information, instead, we use it to say that an event has a special meaning.

I think most of the time, when people interpret something as a sign, they mean it’s a sign from God, or fate, or some higher power, telling them that something is right or true. For example, you might be thinking of changing your job, but be unsure. Then, something might happen at work, perhaps one of your colleagues leaves; you could take this as a sign that you should make up your mind and leave as well. In the story, I said that Newcastle took their lucky escape as a sign that they were going to win the match and they started playing with more confidence.

Let’s move on to the final story.

Chelsea ease past Wolves

Chelsea defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday in a comfortable win. The Blues performance was marked by composure and control. They looked happy and relaxed from the start.

Wolves looked slightly dangerous in the first half, but not dangerous enough. Diego Costa looked determined to inflict some damage on his old club, but it didn’t amount to much.

Just before halftime, Kai Havertz put the home side ahead when he gracefully floated a header over Wolves keeper Jose Sa. Chelsea’s second goal was the result of a slick build up and a well coordinated exchange between Mount and Pulisic. After a short cross to Mount, Pulisic timed his run to perfection and Mount knew exactly where he’d be. With the defence beaten, Pulisic faced the keeper. A confident flick over Jose Sa got Pulisic his first goal of the season.

In the final minutes of the game Armando Broja received a through ball having run past the shoulder of Max Kilman. Broja needed a touch to control the ball which gave Kilman the chance to take him on. One on one with Kilman, Broja took a couple of touches before rattling the ball into the bottom corner.

Final score: Chelsea 3 - Wolverhampton Wanderers 0

The first word I want to talk about from this story is the noun composure. This is the state of being composed which means being calm and in control. It’s like a formal word for cool. If you describe someone as composed, they are calm and confident. We normally use it to describe people who are operating in stressful situations that might cause most people to panic. If someone is composed, they are under control and not flustered and look calm.

The next phrase is to inflict damage. I have chosen this because it’s a very strong collocation; there aren't many things you can inflict, but when you do, they are bad. So to inflict means to cause someone to experience something and it’s always collocated with bad things. You can inflict damage or you can inflict pain or harm. The phrase ‘I wouldn’t want to inflict that on anyone’ is quite a common joke response when asked to do something that you are terrible at. Why don’t you sing a song? Oh, I wouldn’t want to inflict my singing on anyone. Why don’t you bake a cake? I’m a terrible cook. I wouldn’t want to inflict that on anyone.

The last phrase I want to talk about today is to perfection. If you do something to perfection, you do it in the most perfect way. I think the strongest collocations are timed to perfection and cooked to perfection. I think that the phrase cooked to perfection is easiest to understand. If you are cooking meat, you can under cook it or overcook it. If you cook it to perfection, you cook it for exactly the right amount of time so the meat is perfectly cooked. In football, you often hear of a pass or a run being timed to perfection. This means that the players perfectly anticipate the movements on the pitch so that the player receiving the ball is in exactly the right place when the ball is played.

OK. That’s 9 words or phrases today. The words and phrases from the stories were: To get off to a good start, tactical awareness, off the hook, takeover, wobble, a sign, composure, to inflict damage and to perfection.

Listen to the headlines one more time to hear these words and phrases in context.

Casemiro takes command of Manchester United’s midfield

Casemiro’s delayed full debut for the Red Devils did not get off to the best start. In fact, he hadn’t found his feet early on and had the ball taken from him which led to an Everton goal after 5 minutes from the boot of Alex Iwobi.

However, as the game progressed, Manchester United’s newest £60m Brazilian midfielder showed his quality and tactical awareness and he will be selected again.

Everton were on a seven game unbeaten run and after that early Iwobi goal looked like they could extend that run. However, they let United off the hook with a series of errors, playing with carelessness and a lack of focus.

Manchester United capitalised through an Antony equaliser and then Casemiro made amends for his early blunder when he read Iwobi’s intentions and skillfully intercepted the ball before slotting a quick pass through to Ronaldo who scored his 700th club goal.

Final score: Everton 1 - Manchester United 2

Magpies flying high

Almost exactly a year after the Saudi takeover at Newcastle United, the Magpies are playing better than they have in years. When they welcomed Brentford on Saturday, they hadn’t lost a home game since April and the Bees were not the team to break that record.

An early defensive wobble gave Brentford a chance, when Shandon Baptiste slotted the ball past Ivan Toney and Newcastle’s Fabian Schar for Bryan Mbeumo to drive the ball into the net. It was a beautiful goal, but Ivan Toney was in an offside position and although he didn’t touch the ball, he was in the way of Schar and so the goal was disallowed.

For Newcastle, this was a sign. Bruno Guimarães opened the scoring with a diving header following a clearly well practised set piece. Jacob Murphy scored the second following an awful clearance that was easily intercepted by Wilson and crossed to Murphy who practically had an open goal.

Shortly after the break, Ivan Toney gave the London side hope from the penalty spot, but it was fleeting as Guimarães restored Newcastle’s advantage just two minutes later. Brentford had chances and may have been unlucky not to have scored again, but the final result was not in doubt and it was Newcastle’s day.

Final score: Newcastle United 5 - Brentford 1

Chelsea ease past Wolves

Chelsea defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday in a comfortable win. The Blues performance was marked by composure and control. They looked happy and relaxed from the start.

Wolves looked slightly dangerous in the first half, but not dangerous enough. Diego Costa looked determined to inflict some damage on his old club, but it didn’t amount to much.

Just before halftime, Kai Havertz put the home side ahead when he gracefully floated a header over Wolves keeper Jose Sa. Chelsea’s second goal was the result of a slick build up and a well coordinated exchange between Mount and Pulisic. After a short cross to Mount, Pulisic timed his run to perfection and Mount knew exactly where he’d be. With the defence beaten, Pulisic faced the keeper. A confident flick over Jose Sa got Pulisic his first goal of the season.

In the final minutes of the game Armando Broja received a through ball having run past the shoulder of Max Kilman. Broja needed a touch to control the ball which gave Kilman the chance to take him on. One on one with Kilman, Broja took a couple of touches before rattling the ball into the bottom corner.

Final score: Chelsea 3 - Wolverhampton Wanderers 0

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.

Number 1. He’s a good player, but the pressure is so great he loses ___________ in front of goal.

Number 2. He hopes that his team can _______ some ______ on their rivals in the upcoming derby.

Number 3. Marcus Rashford has timed his comeback __ ___________ with the World Cup on the horizon

Number 4. It was a different type of performance from the team today, but we ___ ___ __ _ ____ _____ with an early penalty.

Number 5. They are experiencing their first ________, but such spells of form are not unexpected

Number 6. When the manager was sacked, the striker took it as _ ____ that he should start looking for a new club.

Number 7. If AFC Bournemouth accepts the latest ________ bid, they will become the 10th Premier League club with American owners.

Number 8. He’s a brilliant captain, a proper midfield general. He has a real ________ _________ and amazing technique.

Number 9. The team didn’t look too clever at the back but they were ___ ___ ___ ____ when their striker missed that sitter.

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.

This week, I’ve chosen the phrase **** ****.I used this phrase the podcast today and it means that the target in a football match, I’m taking care not to use a really obvious football word, the target is undefended. There is nobody between say the striker and the target. Sometimes, when a player is in this sort of situation, the pressure is too much and they lose their composure. But usually, a player will not miss if they are presented with an **** ****.

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. City wanted to destroy their rival at the match on Sunday.

Number 2. The match was abandoned at half time because of the storm.

Number 3. The striker knew that victory was out of reach but kept playing for the glory.

Number 4. As an Arsenal fan, I enjoyed the North London Derby. I just hope they are still playing as well in January when Spurs host Arsenal.

Number 5. It was a long shot, but struck with so much conviction, the keeper didn’t stand a chance.

Number 6. After a tricky start at the club, he’s finally playing with confidence and looks more like the player we signed.

Number 7. The home fans welcomed the opposition with a mixture of polite applause and friendly booing.

Number 8. The captain did not even make the bench as he has been nursing an injury for the last two matches.

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.