This Week: A Tactical Masterclass
This Week: A Tactical Masterclass
Welcome to This Week from Premier Skills English, a weekly review of football action for learners of English from across the globe. In This Week, Rich, Laura and Jack talk about the latest action from the Premier League and have lots of football English for you to learn.
Transcript
This Week: A Tactical Masterclass
Laura: Hello my name’s Laura and welcome to our weekly round-up section called ‘This Week’ on Premier Skills English.
Jack: Hi there. I’m Jack. We’ve got lots of interesting words and phrases to help you talk about football in English.
Rich: My name’s Rich. If you want to listen and read at the same time we have a transcript of this podcast on the Premier Skills English website.
Laura: This week we focus on the new top three in the Premier League.
Jack: We’re going to look at three headlines from this weekend’s action and after each, we’ll look at a couple of useful phrases.
Rich: We want you to use and practise these words and phrases by interacting with Premier League fans from around the world in our comments section.
Laura: If you listen to us on Apple Podcasts, you can leave your comments in the review section. We do read all the reviews and would love to hear from you.
Jack: You can find all of our latest content on the Premier Skills English homepage or the Premier Skills-British Council Facebook page.
Rich: The words and phrases we are looking at this week are: a tactical masterclass, a disciplined defensive performance, momentum, to cruise to victory, ooze and umpteen.
Laura: Later on we’ll also have a language challenge for you to have a go at so you need to be ready for that.
Headline 1
Jack: Tottenham beat City to go top.
Laura: Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur produced a tactical masterclass to go to the top of the Premier League table. Spurs beat Manchester City 2-0 with the goals coming from Son Heung-min and Giovani Lo Celso. City had most of the possession but a disciplined defensive performance coupled with efficiency in front of goal secured all three points for the London club.
Rich: Yes, it was a true Mourinho performance. Tottenham scored with their only shots on target.
Jack: And Mourinho said Tottenham are not fighting for the title after the match.
Laura: I think he was probably playing things down there.
Rich: That’s a nice phrasal verb to play something down. It means to make something seem less important than it really is.
Jack: That Tottenham win sent Spurs to the top of the table. I think they are fighting for the title despite what the manager says.
Laura: Let’s look at a couple of phrases from the headline. I described Tottenham’s performance as a tactical masterclass.
Rich: If something is tactical it has been carefully planned previously. Managers decide the tactics - how a team will play. Jose Mourinho did a good job in this match.
Jack: Yes, Laura described it as a masterclass. A master class is a lesson which is given by an expert. Mourinho gave this tactical masterclass to everyone who was watching his team.
Laura: Our second phrase is a disciplined defensive performance. The keyword here is disciplined. If someone is disciplined they are good at following rules and showing control over their behaviour.
Rich: Mourinho asked his team to be very disciplined in defence and not to go forward too much. It was a disciplined defensive performance.
Jack: Let’s move on to our second headline.
Headline 2
Laura: Liverpool on the charge despite injuries.
Rich: Another team with momentum are reigning champions Liverpool who comfortably beat Leicester City by three goals to nil. The Reds who were without a number of players through injury and Mohamed Salah who has COVID-19 cruised to victory. An unfortunate own goal opened the scoring, Diogo Jota scored again and Roberto Firmino headed home the third. Liverpool are now second in the table.
Jack: Diogo Jota scored in his first four home matches for Liverpool. That’s the first time a new signing has done that for the Reds.
Laura: He’s looking like a very good signing.
Rich: Let’s look at some language from the headline. We said that Liverpool have momentum. This is a very important word in the world of sports.
Jack: Momentum describes continuing progress that keeps getting faster or stronger.
Laura: A team wins one match and then another and the season starts gathering momentum. We often describe a team with momentum as being difficult to stop.
Rich: We use it outside of sports, too. An idea or issue can gather momentum. An idea or protest might start with a small group of people but can gather momentum and soon there can be thousands or even millions talking about the issue.
Jack: Our second bit of vocabulary from the headline is to cruise to victory. It means to win a match easily.
Laura: Rich said Liverpool cruised to victory. We could also say things like cruised to the win or cruised to the three points or cruised to the finish line.
Rich: The word comes from cruising on a boat. When we cruise somewhere we are travelling at a leisurely pace. It is slow and easy as we’re on holiday.
Jack: Let’s move on to our third headline.
Headline 3
Rich: Chelsea are in the hunt at the top.
Jack: Chelsea oozed quality as they beat Newcastle two-nil to go third in the Premier League after a fifth win a row in all competitions. An own-goal opened the scoring and Chelsea had umpteen chances before they finally finished off a disappointing Newcastle when Tammy Abraham got Chelsea’s second.
Laura: A good performance by Chelsea. They’re scoring lots of goals and hardly conceding any - that was another clean sheet.
Rich: Yes, they’re looking good. Let’s look at a couple of words from that headline. These are more unusual words that you might not have heard before but I do see them regularly when talking about football.
Jack: The first is to ooze. I said that Chelsea oozed quality in their win against Newcastle. Ooze means to show a lot of a certain aspect or character. Chelsea showed a lot of quality - it seemed to come out of the team naturally.
Laura: We might use other nouns like charm, character, and style when we use ooze. James Bond oozes charm. The old country house oozes character with its traditional wooden beams and roof. The modern new bar in town just oozes style.
Rich: The other word we want to look at is umpteen. We said that Chelsea missed umpteen chances before they scored a second. Umpteen is a general word that means a lot of.
Jack: The strongest collocation in football is probably this one with chances. A team or player missed umpteen chances in the match.
Laura: OK. We’ve looked at three stories and six bits of vocabulary in our headlines. The words and phrases we’ve looked at are: a tactical masterclass, a disciplined defensive performance, momentum, to cruise to victory, ooze and umpteen.
Jack: Don’t forget to look at the website for the transcript if you want to check your understanding of this vocabulary.
Prediction
Rich: It’s time for this week’s Premier League prediction. Laura didn’t do so well last week. She predicted a draw between Liverpool and Leicester but Liverpool cruised to victory.
Laura: Yeah, the result was probably a bit of a reality check for Leicester. It’s your turn this week, Jack and there’s a big London derby, isn’t there?
Jack: Yes, this weekend sees Chelsea take on Tottenham. It’s not just a London derby but also a top of the table clash with Chelsea in third and Spurs at the top. Both teams go into this one in fine form with both teams scoring lots of goals and with strong defences. I was really impressed with Spurs and their win against Manchester City last weekend so for that reason, I’m going to go with Tottenham. It could be another tactical masterclass from Jose Mourinho. Final score: Chelsea 0-1 Tottenham.
Rich: A London derby, two closely matched teams this has got draw written all over it. One all.
Laura: We want all of you to make your predictions for this match and all the Matchweek 10 fixtures on the Premier Skills English website.
Language Challenge
Jack: To finish up the show we’ve got a quick language challenge connected to this week’s vocabulary.
Rich: Earlier we looked at the phrasal verb to play down. Jose Mourinho played down Tottenham’s title chances after that win against Manchester City.
Laura: We’ve got three more sentences that include phrases with play. We want you to write the missing word in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website.
Jack: That was definitely a foul. I can’t believe the referee told them to play _____.
Rich: Chelsea are playing ________ Tottenham this weekend.
Laura: Arsenal like to play the ball _____ from the back.
Jack: We want you to write the answers on the Premier Skills English website where we have some more questions and activities connected to this week’s show.
Rich: Or write your answer on Apple Podcasts if that’s where you listen to us. Just write the answers in the review section and say hi.
Laura: Before we finish we just wanted to say that we hope you found this lesson useful and we hope that all of you stay fit and healthy.
Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football.
Headlines
Tottenham beat City to go top
Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur produced a tactical masterclass to go to the top of the Premier League table. Spurs beat Manchester City 2-0 with the goals coming from Son Heung-min and Giovani Lo Celso. City had most of the possession but a disciplined defensive performance coupled with efficiency in front of goal secured all three points for the London club.
Headlines
Liverpool on the charge despite injuries
Another team with momentum are reigning champions Liverpool who comfortably beat Leicester City by three goals to nil. The Reds who were without a number of players through injury and Mohamed Salah who has COVID-19 cruised to victory. An unfortunate own goal opened the scoring, Diogo Jota scored again and Roberto Firmino headed home the third. Liverpool are now second in the table.
Headlines
Chelsea are in the hunt at the top
Chelsea oozed quality as they beat Newcastle two-nil to go third in the Premier League after a fifth win a row in all competitions. An own-goal opened the scoring and Chelsea had umpteen chances before they finally finished off a disappointing Newcastle when Tammy Abraham got Chelsea’s second.
Vocabulary Alert
Language in the headlines
We looked at six words and phrases in our headlines that you can learn to improve your English. Take a look at the phrases in bold. Do you understand what they mean?
Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur produced a tactical masterclass to go to the top of the Premier League table.
A disciplined defensive performance secured all three points for the London club.
Another team with momentum are reigning champions Liverpool.
The Reds who were without a number of players through injury cruised to victory.
Chelsea oozed quality as they beat Newcastle two-nil .
Chelsea had umpteen chances before they finally finished off a disappointing Newcastle.
Prediction
Premier League Predictions: Chelsea v Tottenham
Chelsea host Tottenham in Matchweek 10 and Jack has made this week's prediction. Here are the other Premier League fixtures for Matchweek 10:
Fixtures
Crystal Palace v Newcastle
Brighton v Liverpool
Manchester City v Burnley
Everton v Leeds
West Brom v Sheffield United
Southampton v Manchester United
Chelsea v Tottenham
Arsenal v Wolves
Leicester v Fulham
West Ham v Aston Villa
Talk about the matches and make your predictions in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
Language Challenge
Jack, Laura and Rich set you a language challenge. In the podcast, Laura said Jose Mourinho was just playing down Tottenham's chances. Here are three more football sentences which include phrases with play. Can you guess the missing words?
That was definitely a foul. I can’t believe the referee told them to play _____.
Chelsea are playing ________ Tottenham this weekend.
Arsenal like to play the ball _____ from the back.
Write the correct answer in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
Discuss
Talk about the headlines
Jack, Laura and Rich looked at three stories in the news and some vocabulary that might be new to you. Now it's your turn! Have a look at the questions and write your answers in the comments section below.
- Who gave a tactical masterclass at the weekend?
- Which teams have momentum at the moment?
- Which teams cruised to victory in matchweek 9?
- Talk about this week's Premier League matches and make your predictions.
- Can you do our language challenge?
Write your comments and answers in the section below.
Leave a comment
Log in to leave a comment
Comments
10/02/2021
points
Jose Mourinho planned a tactical masterclass for weekend's match, winning against City with 2-0 oozeing character and scoring twice, altough they could had more goals than that but the strikers been missing umpteen chances to score. They cruised to victory afer the second goal so they close the gap for the first place in Premier Legue, the pack of wolfs been close to them.
10/02/2021 12:35
Chelsea
154
Jose Mourinho planned a tactical masterclass for weekend's match, winning against City with 2-0 oozeing character and scoring twice, altough they could had more goals than that but the strikers been missing umpteen chances to score. They cruised to victory afer the second goal so they close the gap for the first place in Premier Legue, the pack of wolfs been close to them.
30/11/2020
points
The answers to the language challenge were:
That was definitely a foul. I can’t believe the referee told them to play ON.
Chelsea are playing AGAINST Tottenham this weekend.
Arsenal like to play the ball OUT from the back.
Well done of you got all three!
Rich - The Premier Skills English Team
30/11/2020 18:35
0
The answers to the language challenge were:
That was definitely a foul. I can’t believe the referee told them to play ON.
Chelsea are playing AGAINST Tottenham this weekend.
Arsenal like to play the ball OUT from the back.
Well done of you got all three!
Rich - The Premier Skills English Team
28/11/2020
points
1. Morinho's Tottenham gave a tactical masterclass at the weekend.
2. Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea have momentun at the moment.
3. In addition to the three teams previously designated, Everton and West ham cruised to victory.
Predictions for next week:
City, Liverpool and West Ham will grab their three points.
28/11/2020 12:55
Manchester City
3988
1. Morinho's Tottenham gave a tactical masterclass at the weekend.
2. Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea have momentun at the moment.
3. In addition to the three teams previously designated, Everton and West ham cruised to victory.
Predictions for next week:
City, Liverpool and West Ham will grab their three points.
28/11/2020
points
Hi, first, there is my vocabulary challenge result
That was definitely a foul. I can’t believe the referee told them to play _hard____.
Chelsea are playing ****** Tottenham this weekend.
Arsenal like to play the ball ****** from the back.
28/11/2020 12:46
Manchester City
3988
Hi, first, there is my vocabulary challenge result
That was definitely a foul. I can’t believe the referee told them to play _hard____.
Chelsea are playing ****** Tottenham this weekend.
Arsenal like to play the ball ****** from the back.
28/11/2020
points
Language Challenge :
That was definitely a foul. I can’t believe the referee told them to play ******.
Chelsea are playing ****** Tottenham this weekend.
Arsenal like to play the ball ****** from the back.
28/11/2020 12:37
Manchester United
6539
Language Challenge :
That was definitely a foul. I can’t believe the referee told them to play ******.
Chelsea are playing ****** Tottenham this weekend.
Arsenal like to play the ball ****** from the back.
28/11/2020
points
Gameweek 10 Predictions :
Crystal Palace 0-2 Newcastle
Brighton 0-3 Liverpool
Manchester City 3-0 Burnley
Everton 2-2 Leeds
West Brom 1-1 Sheffield United
Southampton 1-2 Manchester United
Chelsea 2-2 Tottenham
Arsenal 1-1 Wolves
Leicester 3-0 Fulham
West Ham 2-1 Aston Villa
28/11/2020 12:33
Manchester United
6539
Gameweek 10 Predictions :
Crystal Palace 0-2 Newcastle
Brighton 0-3 Liverpool
Manchester City 3-0 Burnley
Everton 2-2 Leeds
West Brom 1-1 Sheffield United
Southampton 1-2 Manchester United
Chelsea 2-2 Tottenham
Arsenal 1-1 Wolves
Leicester 3-0 Fulham
West Ham 2-1 Aston Villa
28/11/2020
points
1. Mourinho and his players gave a tactical masterclass last weekend but I think Pep helped them to achieve their goals with the lack of concentration of his defenders.
2. I think Chelsea , Tottenham and Manchester United have momentum at the moment and hopefully I'm correct in choosing the last choice.
3. I think Liverpool cruised to victory because everyone was expecting a win from Leicester City or at least a draw whereas Liverpool won it very easily.
PS ( Could it be better to ask by which rather than who in this question ? )
28/11/2020 12:27
Manchester United
6539
1. Mourinho and his players gave a tactical masterclass last weekend but I think Pep helped them to achieve their goals with the lack of concentration of his defenders.
2. I think Chelsea , Tottenham and Manchester United have momentum at the moment and hopefully I'm correct in choosing the last choice.
3. I think Liverpool cruised to victory because everyone was expecting a win from Leicester City or at least a draw whereas Liverpool won it very easily.
PS ( Could it be better to ask by which rather than who in this question ? )
30/11/2020
points
Yes, I made a mistake there. I've corrected it now. You could go with 'which teams' or 'who' but definitely not 'who teams'!! Thanks for letting me know.
Rich - The Premier Skills English Team
30/11/2020 08:16
Liverpool
594
Yes, I made a mistake there. I've corrected it now. You could go with 'which teams' or 'who' but definitely not 'who teams'!! Thanks for letting me know.
Rich - The Premier Skills English Team
01/12/2020
points
Good to hear that from you , Rich
Have an enjoyable Champions League evening :)
01/12/2020 19:01
Manchester United
6539
Good to hear that from you , Rich
Have an enjoyable Champions League evening :)
25/11/2020
points
1-Maurinho
2-Tottenham -Liverpool
3- Liverpool
4-My prediction;
Chelsea (1) – Tottenham (1)
Both of teams got the wind at their back and are cruising to victory.Maurinho well experienced than Lampard it could be an advantage of him in this match.
5-
That was definitely a foul. I can’t believe the referee told them to play ******.
Chelsea are playing WITH Tottenham this weekend.
Arsenal like to play the ball IN from the back.
25/11/2020 16:36
Tottenham Hotspur
5560
1-Maurinho
2-Tottenham -Liverpool
3- Liverpool
4-My prediction;
Chelsea (1) – Tottenham (1)
Both of teams got the wind at their back and are cruising to victory.Maurinho well experienced than Lampard it could be an advantage of him in this match.
5-
That was definitely a foul. I can’t believe the referee told them to play ******.
Chelsea are playing WITH Tottenham this weekend.
Arsenal like to play the ball IN from the back.
25/11/2020
points
That was definitely a foul. I can’t believe the referee told them to play ******.
Chelsea are playing ****** Tottenham this weekend.
Arsenal like to play the ball ****** from the back.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Who gave a tactical masterclass at the weekend?
- Jose Mourinho gave a tactical masterclass at the weekend
Which teams have momentum at the moment?
- All the top three teams in the premier league's table are having momentum.
Who teams cruised to victory in matchweek 9?
- Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham cruised to victory in matchweek 9.
Peace!
25/11/2020 11:51
Manchester United
21
That was definitely a foul. I can’t believe the referee told them to play ******.
Chelsea are playing ****** Tottenham this weekend.
Arsenal like to play the ball ****** from the back.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Who gave a tactical masterclass at the weekend?
- Jose Mourinho gave a tactical masterclass at the weekend
Which teams have momentum at the moment?
- All the top three teams in the premier league's table are having momentum.
Who teams cruised to victory in matchweek 9?
- Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham cruised to victory in matchweek 9.
Peace!
25/11/2020
points
Hi, I leave my answer down:
1. Tottenham
2. Tottenham and Liverpool have momentum this season.
3. Liverpool cruised to victory despite many injuries.
25/11/2020 01:51
Liverpool
133
Hi, I leave my answer down:
1. Tottenham
2. Tottenham and Liverpool have momentum this season.
3. Liverpool cruised to victory despite many injuries.
24/11/2020
points
My dear teachers ROWAN-LAURA-JACK AND RICH today is November 24 .2020. Happy "World Teachers' day". I wish a prosperous and healthy life to you and members of your families.
From Turkey with love.
24/11/2020 15:35
Tottenham Hotspur
5560
My dear teachers ROWAN-LAURA-JACK AND RICH today is November 24 .2020. Happy "World Teachers' day". I wish a prosperous and healthy life to you and members of your families.
From Turkey with love.
25/11/2020
points
Thanks, HSN!!
Rich (and Rowan, Laura & Jack) - The Premier Skills English Team
25/11/2020 12:13
Liverpool
594
Thanks, HSN!!
Rich (and Rowan, Laura & Jack) - The Premier Skills English Team
24/11/2020
points
Che 2-0 Tot
Eve 0-2 Lee
Cry 0-0 New
WBA 0-1 Shu
Sou 2-1 Mun
Ars 0-2 Wolves
Lei 3-0 Ful
Whu 1-1 AVL
24/11/2020 13:55
Chelsea
93
Che 2-0 Tot
Eve 0-2 Lee
Cry 0-0 New
WBA 0-1 Shu
Sou 2-1 Mun
Ars 0-2 Wolves
Lei 3-0 Ful
Whu 1-1 AVL
24/11/2020
points
I think Chelsea will win.
My prediction Chelsea 3-1 Tottenham.
24/11/2020 11:16
Arsenal
2337
I think Chelsea will win.
My prediction Chelsea 3-1 Tottenham.
24/11/2020
points
If, as I predict, Spurs lose ans Reds win at the week-end, Liverpool will be on top at last.
24/11/2020 05:03
Liverpool
6578
If, as I predict, Spurs lose ans Reds win at the week-end, Liverpool will be on top at last.
24/11/2020
points
Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham are having momentum at the moment.
24/11/2020 05:01
Liverpool
6578
Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham are having momentum at the moment.
24/11/2020
points
Tottenham and Liverpool gave a tactical masterclass at the weekend.
24/11/2020 05:00
Liverpool
6578
Tottenham and Liverpool gave a tactical masterclass at the weekend.
24/11/2020
points
Crystal Palace 3 : 1 Newcastle
Manchester City 2 : 0 Burnley
Everton 1 : 1 Leeds
West Brom 0 : 0 Sheffield United
Southampton 2 : 2 Manchester United
Arsenal 1 : 1 Wolves
Leicester 3 : 1 Fulham
West Ham 1 : 1 Aston Villa
24/11/2020 04:58
Liverpool
6578
Crystal Palace 3 : 1 Newcastle
Manchester City 2 : 0 Burnley
Everton 1 : 1 Leeds
West Brom 0 : 0 Sheffield United
Southampton 2 : 2 Manchester United
Arsenal 1 : 1 Wolves
Leicester 3 : 1 Fulham
West Ham 1 : 1 Aston Villa
24/11/2020
points
Hi, language challenge answer is
That was definitely a foul. I can’t believe the referee told them to play ******.
Chelsea are playing match Tottenham this weekend.
Arsenal like to play the ball build from the back.
24/11/2020 04:58
Liverpool
76
Hi, language challenge answer is
That was definitely a foul. I can’t believe the referee told them to play ******.
Chelsea are playing match Tottenham this weekend.
Arsenal like to play the ball build from the back.
24/11/2020
points
Chelsea 2 : 1Tottenham
Werner, Abraham, Son
24/11/2020 04:55
Liverpool
6578
Chelsea 2 : 1Tottenham
Werner, Abraham, Son
24/11/2020
points
Brighton 0 : 2 Liverpool
24/11/2020 04:53
Liverpool
6578
Brighton 0 : 2 Liverpool
24/11/2020
points
Arsenal like to play the ball right from the back.
24/11/2020 04:50
Liverpool
6578
Arsenal like to play the ball right from the back.
24/11/2020
points
Chelsea are playing ****** Tottenham this weekend.
24/11/2020 04:49
Liverpool
6578
Chelsea are playing ****** Tottenham this weekend.
24/11/2020
points
That was definitely a foul. I can’t believe the referee told them to play ******.
24/11/2020 04:48
Liverpool
6578
That was definitely a foul. I can’t believe the referee told them to play ******.