This Week: Save of the season

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 we are looking at this week are: defiant, inevitable, point blank, blind panic, caretaker manager, magic wand, to not make something easy for someone, spirited, to waver and to rack up.

Listen out for these phrases in the headlines and stories.

After each story there will be a short language focus. After the stories, there will be a language challenge 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.

The word was ***. The word used to mean a kind of box that a soldier would use to carry all their equipment, but now means the set of clothes and equipment that someone uses for a special purpose. In football, it means the clothes that footballers wear. The person who looks after a team’s playing clothes and boots and shin pads is traditionally known as the *** man.

It was not too tricky last week. Congratulations to Hayato from Japan, Mobeckham from Turkey, Albertinho from Ukraine, Hsn from Turkey, Taha Gashout from Libya, Isshin from Japan and Daniel 06 from Mexico. You all worked out that the word I was looking for was kit.

Normally, I would give you the answer to last week’s language challenge now, but I have so much to talk about, I’m going to save last week’s answers for the end of the podcast and get on with this week’s three football stories!

Pickford pulls off the save of the season

Frank Lampard’s Everton have struggled this season and are in a three-way relegation battle with Leeds and Burnley. So when Chelsea visited at the weekend, everyone at Goodison Park knew it was going to be tough. And they were right. Chelsea dominated possession, completing 715 passes to Everton’s 195. Despite the pressure, Everton never gave up, and the fans, who never stopped supporting their team, were rewarded for that defiant spirit when Cesar Azpilicueta took his eye off the tireless Richarlison who leapt at the Chelsea Captain’s hesitant clearance and broke through. With a supporting touch from Gray, the ball fell to Richarlison who slipped the ball past Édouard Mendy into the far corner.

Chelsea’s response was inevitable and they pressed harder than ever, but could not break through. Mason Mount came close when his shot rattled off the post and rebounded across the goal into the path of Azpilicueta. Jordan Pickford scrambled to his feet and sprinted after the ball just in time to block the Chelsea Captain’s shot. His heroics continued with a string of top class saves including a brave block at point blank range, injuring himself in the process.

Pickford’s efforts, and the efforts of his team and the fans helped save their lead, the three points and their struggle for survival in the Premier League.

Final score: Everton 1 - Chelsea 0

The words I want to talk about from this story are defiant, inevitable and point-blank.

The first word is defiant. This is an adjective that describes a person or action that refuses to obey or accept authority or what everyone thinks is proper or correct. It’s made from the verb to defy which means to refuse to obey an authority or to challenge someone more powerful. People defy the police, people defy their governments and their bosses. If you defy someone, you are defiant.

I think it’s commonly used to describe someone who is being criticised or told off, often children. So if a teacher tells a pupil that they have done something wrong, but the pupil refuses to accept the reprimand, the telling off, then they are defiant.

In the story, Chelsea were the authority or the power. They are a very strong team and so it’s expected that they will beat a team from the bottom of the table. When Everton fought back so hard, when the crowd roared support, they refused to accept the idea that Chelsea should win, they displayed a defiant spirit.

The next word is inevitable. If something is inevitable, it is certain. It is impossible to avoid or resist. If you take risks, for example, if you gamble or drive a car too fast, it is inevitable that you will lose or have an accident. Maybe not right away, you might be lucky for a while, but in the end, your luck will run out and you will lose. It is inevitable.

The last phrase is point blank. This is usually used when talking about firing a gun. If you shoot at something from point-blank range, you are standing right next to the target. You are very close and there is very little chance that you will miss. In the story, Pickford blocked a shot at point-blank range. The striker was right in front of the goal when Pickford threw himself in front of the ball which he actually blocked with his face. He was hit by the ball struck at point-blank range, right in the face which looked very painful.

Let’s move on to the next story.

Brownhill boosts Burnley survival hopes

When Burnley sacked Sean Dyche, their manager of nine and a half years, one BBC football writer described the move as blind panic. At that point, the Clarets were stuck in the relegation zone, four points behind Everton. Burnley’s under 23 coach Mike Jackson took over as caretaker manager and the results have been remarkable. While Jackson insists he has not waved a magic wand, he has conjured up 10 points from the last 4 games, including three wins in a row.

After a slow start against Watford at Vicarage Road, the visitors were not looking good. An early own goal had put the hosts ahead. The Hornets were suffering a run of 10 home defeats and were playing with determination. It wasn’t until the 83rd minute that Burnley got the equaliser through a Jack Cork header. Just three minutes after the play restarted Josh Brownhill put the Clarets ahead with a low shot into the centre of the goal.

Final score: Watford 1 - Burnley 2

The phrases I want to talk about from this story are blind panic, caretaker manager and a magic wand.

The first phrase I want to talk about from this story is blind panic. To panic means to be suddenly scared and confused so that you can’t think properly. If you panic, you might scream and try to run away without thinking where you are running. If you panic, you lose control. A blind panic refers to a state where you are so scared and confused it is as if you can’t even see anymore.

The next phrase is caretaker manager. A caretaker in the UK is a person who looks after a building. In American English, the word is janitor. You normally find caretakers in schools and large buildings and they do simple repairs and special cleaning if there’s been a problem. We use the word caretaker with managers to describe someone who is in charge for a short period, after a full-time contracted manager has left and before a new manager has been appointed. It’s similar to the phrase temporary manager or interim manager.

A magic wand. I think that because of the popularity of Harry Potter, everybody knows what a magic wand is. It’s the short stick that a magician uses when they are performing magic tricks. In the Harry Potter world, it’s like a wizard’s tool for doing magic. In the story, I used the phrase to wave a magic wand. Sometimes we use the phrase to describe a problem that has no easy solution. You can say ‘you can’t just wave a magic wand at the problem’. Burnley’s performance since Jackson took over as caretaker manager has been so much better that it’s like Jackson has used magic on the team, but he has denied this.

Let’s move on to the final story.

Leeds lose to league leaders

Leeds United is the third team in the battle for survival. They are currently in 17th place sandwiched between Everton and Burnley. They are on the right side of the line for now, but only 2 points clear of Everton. Every point counts at this stage of the season. However, they were up against Manchester City and the league leaders are in a battle with Liverpool for the league title and were not going to make it easy.

The home side started well and even after going 1-nil down put up a spirited defence and did not make it easy for City. The crowd roared and Leeds players responded with an aggressive style of play that might have caused another team to waver. But not Manchester City. They kept playing calm, confident football and waited for the inevitable.

When a team plays with that much energy, there is always the risk of giving away cheap free kicks. Leeds racked up 13 fouls during the match. When Stuart Dallas’s enthusiasm got the better of him during a challenge on Raheem Sterling, the referee awarded a free kick which Phil Foden swung in from the left for Rodri to head home.

Leeds still looked positive and prevented City from finding their rhythm until a second goal, this time Foden crossed from the corner finding Ruban Dias who headed the ball to Nathan Ake who scored from close range.

With a two goal lead, City settled down and the final result was inevitable.

Final score: Leeds United 0 - Manchester City 4

The words and phrases I want to talk about from this story are to not make something easy for someone, spirited, to waver and to rack up.

The phrase to make something easy for someone is easy to understand. The words in the phrase are all very common. I have chosen to include this phrase because it’s often used in a negative way to say that somebody tried to stop someone from doing something or at least, put up some resistance, even if they couldn’t actually stop it. It’s something that a winner might say to their opponent to praise their performance. Yes, I won, but you didn’t make it easy for me, meaning you were a difficult opponent.

I spoke about the word spirited a few weeks ago and it’s come up again here. The word spirited here means determined and almost brave. When Leeds faced Manchester City, they were not expected to win, but they showed courage and determination in their attempts to stop the league leaders. They showed that they had spirit which means courage and determination.

The verb to waver means to lose determination. Often the verb is used when someone is making a tough decision. Perhaps you are thinking about quitting your job to start a business. This is a tough decision so if something happens to discourage you, you might waver, you might lose your confidence and start thinking about doing something else. It’s not the same as to change your mind, it just means to lose confidence in your own judgement. When Man City faced Leeds, the noise of the crowd and confidence of their opponents might have made Man City feel less confident, their confidence might have wavered a little.

The last phrase I want to talk about is to rack up. This means to gradually get more things. You can rack up points when you are playing a game. If you don’t have enough money, you can rack up debts. In the story, Leeds United racked up 13 fouls, they got 13 fouls throughout the course of the match, not all at once, but one by one, the number grew as they racked up the fouls.

OK. Today I have broken the record for new vocabulary. That’s ten words and phrases today. The words and phrases from the stories were: defiant, inevitable, point blank, blind panic, caretaker manager, magic wand, to not make something easy for someone, spirited, to waver and to rack up.

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

Pickford pulls off the save of the season

Frank Lampard’s Everton have struggled this season and are in a three-way relegation battle with Leeds and Burnley. So when Chelsea visited at the weekend, everyone at Goodison Park knew it was going to be tough. And they were right. Chelsea dominated possession, completing 715 passes to Everton’s 195. Despite the pressure, Everton never gave up, and the fans, who never stopped supporting their team, were rewarded for that defiant spirit when Cesar Azpilicueta took his eye off the tireless Richarlison who leapt at the Chelsea Captain’s hesitant clearance and broke through. With a supporting touch from Gray, the ball fell to Richarlison who slipped the ball past Édouard Mendy into the far corner.

Chelsea’s response was inevitable and they pressed harder than ever, but could not break through. Mason Mount came close when his shot rattled off the post and rebounded across the goal into the path of Azpilicueta. Jordan Pickford scrambled to his feet and sprinted after the ball just in time to block the Chelsea Captain’s shot. His heroics continued with a string of top class saves including a brave block at point blank range, injuring himself in the process.

Pickford’s efforts, and the efforts of his team and the fans helped save their lead, the three points and their struggle for survival in the Premier League.

Final score: Everton 1 - Chelsea 0

Brownhill boosts Burnley survival hopes

When Burnley sacked Sean Dyche, their manager of nine and a half years, one BBC football writer described the move as blind panic. At that point, the Clarets were stuck in the relegation zone, four points behind Everton. Burnley’s under 23 coach Mike Jackson took over as caretaker manager and the results have been remarkable. While Jackson insists he has not waved a magic wand, he has conjured up 10 points from the last 4 games, including three wins in a row.

After a slow start against Watford at Vicarage Road, the visitors were not looking good. An early own goal had put the hosts ahead. The Hornets were suffering a run of 10 home defeats and were playing with determination. It wasn’t until the 83rd minute that Burnley got the equaliser through a Jack Cork header. Just three minutes after the play restarted Josh Brownhill put the Clarets ahead with a low shot into the centre of the goal.

Final score: Watford 1 - Burnley 2

Leeds lose to league leaders

Leeds United is the third team in the battle for survival. They are currently in 17th place sandwiched between Everton and Burnley. They are on the right side of the line for now, but only 2 points clear of Everton. Every point counts at this stage of the season. However, they were up against Manchester City and the league leaders are in a battle with Liverpool for the league title and were not going to make it easy.

The home side started well and even after going 1-nil down put up a spirited defence and did not make it easy for City. The crowd roared and Leeds players responded with an aggressive style of play that might have caused another team to waver. But not Manchester City. They kept playing calm, confident football and waited for the inevitable.

When a team plays with that much energy, there is always the risk of giving away cheap free kicks. Leeds racked up 13 fouls during the match. When Stuart Dallas’s enthusiasm got the better of him during a challenge on Raheem Sterling, the referee awarded a free kick which Phil Foden swung in from the left for Rodri to head home.

Leeds still looked positive and prevented City from finding their rhythm until a second goal, this time Foden crossed from the corner finding Ruban Dias who headed the ball to Nathan Ake who scored from close range.

With a two goal lead, City settled down and the final result was inevitable.

Final score: Leeds United 0 - Manchester City 4

Language Challenge

Right, now it’s time for you to think about the language again.

Here are ten sentences with gaps in them and you have to complete the gaps with the words and phrases from this podcast.

Number 1. The actor got into a _____ _____ that he would forget his lines on stage.

Number 2. After the manager was sacked, the assistant was brought in as a _______ _______.

Number 3. The naughty child stuck out her tongue in a ______ gesture.

Number 4. I knew that I wasn’t going to win, but I was determined not to ____ __ ____ ___ them.

Number 5. The teacher told her student that she had no _____ ____ to solve the problem.

Number 6. When you get a large group of people together, it is ________ that some will not get on.

Number 7. The manager never _______ in his support for the young striker.

Number 8. Mohamed Salah has ______ __ an impressive 22 goals so far this season.

Number 9. The gunman fired into the car at _____-_____ range.

Number 10. The junior team put in a _____ performance against the seniors.

Leave your answers in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website.

Football phrase

Now it’s time for this week’s football phrase.

I’ve selected another easy word this week from the Premier Vocabulary section, though it’s a bit harder than last week, I think.

The word is ******. Normally, a ****** is a person, or an animal or an object that brings you or your team luck. Or it can be something like that, usually a character that represents a n organisation. Football teams have *******. Liverpool has Mighty Red and Arsenal has the Gunnersaurus.

Is that an easy one? Let me know what you think in the comments section.

Before we finish, here are the answers to last week’s language challenge.

Number 1. After a string of wins, the fans had high hopes of promotion to the Premier League.

Number 2. She felt rejuvenated after two weeks of relaxation on a beach in Spain.

Number 3. You need a different strategy when you are playing against Liverpool.

Number 4. If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you ...

Number 5. Did your holiday live up to your expectations?

Number 6. The way he coped with the problems and overcame his fears showed resilience.

Number 7. When she quit her job and went into business on her own, she was taking a risk, but it paid off in the end.

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.