In this week’s football-language podcast we focus on language to describe managers under pressure – what kind of language is used by the media to describe this situation? We will also look at predictions from some of the big games this weekend including PSG versus Lyon and el clasico in Spain. You can read the transcript below, read some teaching tips on how to use these materials, check out our glossary here, or browse all our previous posts and podcasts.
For Teachers ▸ how to use this episode in class
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- Pre-Listening: Ask students to talk about which managers are doing well at the moment, and which managers are not doing well.
- Listening for meaning: Ask students to lsiten for these phrases and note down the meaning and any information they hear connected with them: run of poor results, throw under a bus, drop from the team.
- Listening for details: Who said this? – as students listen to the predictions section: identify which person said the following things (Damon, Damian, Both, Neither): Real Madrid will win comfortably; PSG will draw with Lyon; PSG will win 1-0; Barcelona will win.
- Follow Up from above: What are the students’ predictions for the match (language of predictions here).
- Discussion activity: Ranking. Students rank the follwoing issues as most to elast damaging for a manager: losing games; public criticism from players; fan protests; dressing-room disagreements between players; injuries to key players
Hello
DB: You’re listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.
Welcome everyone! How are you? My name is Damon and I am talking to your from a cloudy Tokyo – a typhoon and rain is forecast, which isn’t very nice at the weekend! Damian, the other half of the team, should be down the line in London. Damian, how are you? How’s the weather? Chilly? And more importantly, how are you feeling after Tottenham pick up their first win in the league?
DF: Hello Damon and hello everyone else. We are in the middle of not one but two majr storms hitting the UK so it is very windy and very, very wet! But of course I am delighted about Spurs finally picking up a win – do you know that we were the last team amon the top five divisions in England to record a victory! Ah finally!
How are you doing Damon? You must be pleased with the two wins for Liverpool this week?
DB: Yes I am! But we have a massive game against high flying and free scoring Brighton this weekend. That could change my mood. Right, let’s get on with the show, but first a message.
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English through football podcast (in Arabic from a Liverpool fan)
Today’s Show
DF: Yes, you are listening to the Learn English through Football Podcast and that message was in Arabic from a Liverpool fan.
OK, on today’s show, we take a look at some of the football language you may hear when a manager is under pressure and there’s criticism from players and fans. We’ll also take a look back at the predictions from last week – spoiler alert, I didn’t do very well! And Damon and I will give our predictions for two big upcoming games this weekend – one is from La Liga and the other is from Ligue 1. What big games do you think they are?
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English through football podcast (Chinese)
DB: Thank you for that message, which was in Chinese
OK, let’s get into the football language this week. And it’s all connected with Michael Carrick the manager of Manchester United and a run of poor results.
(a) Poor Run of Results
DB: We’ll start with the phrase, a poor run of results. A run, is a number of games one after the other. So, you could have a run of three wins, a run of four draws, a run of five losses, and so on. Now, if the run is mainly draws and losses, that is a poor run of results; it is not very positive. And that’s the situation at Manchester United, one of the ‘Big Six’ teams in the Premier League.
Manchester United have played 11 matches so far in all competitions and only have two wins. The other results are five losses and four draws. They are also winless in the last seven games. This poor run of results, or dreadful run of results, has led to pressure being put on the manager’s position.
(to) Throw Under the Bus
DB: That brings us to our second phrase – Thorw under the bus, The mananger, Carrick’s, position was made more difficult when his captain Fernandes gave an interview after a 4-1 loss in the Champions League to Como. He directly blamed the coaching staff for the tactics and approach to the match and previous matches.
Of course, Carrick, as the manager, represents the coaching staff, so the criticism was a direct one aimed at the manager by the club captain. Many news organisation sused the phrase, ‘to throw under the bus‘ to describe Fernandes’ words. This idiom means to betray or blame someone for something bad or a mistake to protect yourself or to improve your situation. Fernandes threw his manager under the bus; he directly plamed the manager for the style of play and poor run of results.
Here’s a headline from a report on Fernandes’ interview in The Mirror: ‘Jamie Carragher calls Bruno Fernandes a DISGRACE for ‘throwing Michael Carrick under the bus‘.
(to) Drop from the Team
DB: After Fernandes’ comments, the manager has a decision to make. Does he drop his captain from the team or put him in the starting line up. To drop from the team, is to not select a player, usually because of bad performances or, in this case, maybe a bad attitude or off the field behaviour.
Here is the Guardian writing on the team selection: ‘…when the team is announced whether Fernandes has the armband will intrigue. Could he even drop the playmaker?’
I’m old school and I would personally drop Fernandes. Carrick will likely lose his job soon as the poor run of results really is looking very bad, and it also looks like he’s lost the dressing room. So, why not drop the Portuguese playmaker from the team and change the atmosphere?
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English through football podcast (from )
Contact
DF: Great suff! It’s always tough for managers when the pressure is on! We have done a couple of podcasts before on the language of managers – check them out at learn English through football.com! Remember that you can find us on Facebook, Bluesky, Instagram and YouTube.
Predictions Review: Two Champions League Matches
Listen to our previous podcast on the language of predictions here.
DB: OK, let’s take a look back at our predictions from two games we chose from last week’s Champions League fixtures: PSG v Barcelona and Bayern Munich v Arsenal. Now, I didn’t give my predictions – I was too sick with a terrible cold – but Damian thought first that the clash between PSG and Barcelona would be a 2-2 draw. It was another impressive victory for PSG, who put four past the Spanish side, winning 4-2! Wow!
In the Bayern Munich v Arsenal clash, Damian guessed it would end 2-1 to the Germans – I think that’s because he can’t bring himself to imagine Arsenal doing well – remember he’s a Tottenham fan! – the tie ended in a 2-2 draw. So, no correct predictions this week!
Let’s see how we do this weekend.
Predictions: Ligue 1: PSG v Lyon
DB: OK, first, a top of the table clash with first place Lyon travel to PSG in Ligue 1. My heart wants Lyon to win this and open a gap at the top of Ligue 1 but I think it will be a 2-1 home win. Damian?
DF: Well, I have a soft spot for Lyon after watching them defeat Auxerre earlier on in the season; but this will be difficult away at PSG. Of course, it sees the top two in France playing which adds to the spice of the game; I know there is no love lost between the two sets of fans either! PSG have some big injuries after their Champions League win over Barcelona so I’m going for a 2-2 draw!
Predictions: La Liga: Barcelona v Real Madrid
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English through Football Podcast (from a Stuttgart fan)
Language Review
DF: Thank you for that message, which was from a German fan of Stuttgart. And yes, you are listening to the Learn English through football podcast. If you would like to send in a message like this; we’d love to hear from you. Maybe mention your name, where you are from and which team you support. Or simply say, ‘you’re listening to the Learn English through Football Podcast’ in any language that you wish!
DB: We’re coming to the end of the show, so let’s just review the main language phrases. We looked at some language you may hear when a manager comes under pressure. There was ‘a run of poor results’, ‘to throw under the bus’ and ‘to drop from the team‘. Let us know if you have any ideas for football phrases to look at or have examples of interesting phrases in another language. just drop us a line at contact@learnenglisththroughfootball.com or come along to the site and add a post to our Forum.
DF: One more thing, if you come along to our site and open this post, you’ll see some teaching ideas at the top of the page in which we suggest a few ways to possibly use these materials with your students or even when you’re learning by yourself. We also have a thread for teaching ideas on our forum so again come along and take a look and maybe share some of the ways that you might use these with your learners.
Goodbye
DB: Right, that’s the end of the show for this week. Listen out for the shorter Weekly Football Phrase episode coming mid-week. Until then, enjoy the football. Ta-ra!
DF: Bye!
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