This Week: Something to prove

In this episode, Jack talks about Brentford’s attempt to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford for the first time since 1937 and Arsenal’s attempt to beat Manchester City in a league match for the first time in 8 years.

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 premierskillsenglish.britishcouncil.org 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.

This week’s podcast is a bit behind the times as there has been an international break since these matches were played. But it will be good to look back at the last round of Premier League matches before this weekend’s fixtures. We have an exciting weekend coming up with the Merseyside Derby, Brighton taking on Manchester City at home, and in London, Chelsea are hosting Arsenal and Fulham are travelling to Tottenham. I think in some of these matches, there is a clear favourite, but nothing is certain and as the top of the league is so tight, the impact these games make will be ... interesting.

The phrases I am going to talk about are:

• To have something weighing on you
• To be ecstatic
• A last ditch attempt
• To retire
• To have something to prove
• To be let off

Listen out for this vocabulary in the stories.

After the story there will be a language focus and then 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.

Last week’s football phrase was ** ***** ******. This phrase is used in football when a player is shown a red card and they have to leave the pitch. It’s a fun expression that suggests that the player will be the first one back in the changing room and will be able to clean up and get changed before their teammates.

Congratulations to Vietnguyenngo from Vietnam. Congratulations and Welcome to Premier Skills English Moataz9 from Sudan. Well done to Alex from Ukraine, Eshaan Shabeer from India, AndreTorre102 from Brazil, Denis2000 from Belarus, well done and welcome to Wojciech M From Poland, congratulations to Mobeckham from Turkey, Hasan from Turkey, Elchueco from Argentina and Ken from Japan. Well done and welcome to the new commenters who completed the language task but who didn’t quite get the football phrase.

The phrase I was looking for was an early shower.

Keep listening till the end of the podcast for a new football phrase.

Now it’s time for the first story.

McTominay Bursts Brentford’s Bubble

When Brentford travelled to Old Trafford, they knew it was going to be tough. The pressure to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford, must have been weighing on the players. Although going into the match, they were only one point behind their hosts, they had 86 years of expectations to deal with. Brentford hadn’t beaten Manchester United at Old Trafford since 1937.

United looked the better team on the day, but struggled to make it count. And then in the 26th minute, United fell apart. Casemiro played a lazy pass that was too easy for Mbeumo to intercept. Brentford sprang forward. Lindelof tried to clear the ball but failed and again, Brentford surged towards the United goal. Yoane Wissa managed to slot the ball through to Mathias Jensen who slid the ball into the goal under Onana’s outstretched glove.

Brentford were ecstatic. They kept up the pressure while United started looking increasingly desperate as the minutes ticked by.

With a few minutes of regular time on the clock, Ten Hag brought on Scott McTominay. This was a last ditch attempt to change the story. Brentford just wanted to hold on for a few more minutes, but McTominay had other plans. Garnacho ran the ball into the danger zone and cut it back for Dalot whose shot was not quite powerful enough and was blocked. The ball bounced out as far as McTominay who needed a touch to bring the ball down before slotting the ball into the bottom left.

When the scores were level with a few minutes left, Brentford probably felt a little cheated, having led for so long. But then things got worse.

It was in the 97th minute, with the last play of the match. Fernandes played the ball from a free kick over the crowd of players hanging around the edge of Brentford’s box. Maguire got there first and headed the ball towards the goal. McTominay was already running towards the goal and leapt and headed the ball hard past Strakosha and into the goal to score again and break Brentford hearts.

Final score: Manchester United 2 - 1 Brentford

The words and phrases from the story that I want to talk about are:

• To have something weighing on you
• To be ecstatic
• A last ditch attempt

To have something weighing on you

If something is weighing on you, it means you have a problem that you are thinking about a lot. You have a problem that is causing you stress, that you are worrying about. It’s like you are carrying something heavy, perhaps you have lots of books in a bag that you have to carry around. The constant weight of the books will bother you and stop you from moving freely. This is what it’s like when you have a problem weighing on you. There’s another expression that you can use if someone looks really worried about something. You can say that they look like they have the weight of the world on their shoulders, as if they are responsible for everyone in the world and so they are worried. I said that Brentford had the pressure of beating Manchester United for the first time in 84 years and that it would be weighing on them.

To be ecstatic

The adjective ecstatic means extremely happy. It is an extreme adjective so you can’t be very ecstatic, you can only say that you are really ecstatic or absolutely ecstatic. It’s related to the word ecstasy which is a noun used to describe a state of extreme happiness. You can say that you are in ecstasy. I think this phrase describes something more physical, like a feeling of bliss or absolute pleasure whereas ecstatic means happy and excited. If you won an amazing prize, perhaps a new car or a trip around the world, afterwards, you might say I was ecstatic when I heard that I had won.

A last ditch attempt

This is quite a strange phrase. We use this phrase to say that we are going to try to do something one more time before we accept that we can’t do it or that we have somehow lost. It comes from a quote from William of Orange, a Dutch ruler who became King of England, Ireland and Scotland. When he was ruling in Holland in 1672, the French army were attacking, with support from some other countries including England ... history is confusing ... anyhow, at one point, it looked like the Dutch were going to lose and when William was asked if he wanted to surrender, he replied “I mean to die in the last ditch”. And so the last ditch, came to mean the last defence or final attempt to stop something from happening. When Ten Hag brought on McTominay with only two minutes of normal time to play, this was the last change he could make so it was a last ditch attempt to change the result.

Now it’s time for the next story.

Arsenal take on the champions

Arsenal hadn’t beaten Manchester City in a league match in 8 years and fans were starting to worry that City could be their bogey team. After last season, when they led for so long only for Manchester City to overtake them, they must have had some strong feelings towards their opponents. When Arteta retired from playing the game, he went to be an assistant manager under Guardiola at City and spent three years there learning from his old friend. Last season, Arsenal beat almost everyone, but they couldn’t beat City. When Arteta shook Guardiola’s hand at the beginning of the match the two Spaniards looked friendly enough, but Arteta knew he had something to prove.

The match started with a nervous looking Arsenal mostly defending against a more confident Manchester City. Arsenal were let off a couple of times in the first 25 minutes after making mistakes that could have been costly. But slowly, the home side seemed to gain confidence and looked like they were going to be able to control the champions. Most importantly, they were able to control Haaland who never really got into the game.

Arteta knows very well how Guardiola likes to play and did a good job defending against his old boss, but this didn’t leave much for his team to attack with, so neither team made many chances. In the end, Arsenal managed more shots on goal, but it took a stroke of luck to finally go ahead.

When Partey played a long ball from just past the halfway line, Tomiyasu headed the ball down for Havertz who was being crowded by Nathan Ake and only able to push the ball out to Martinelli who struck the ball well towards the top right hand corner. However, the ball was intercepted by Ake ... well, it caught Ake on the face and deflected into the bottom left. It looked painful and painful. There was nothing Ederson could have done.

Final score: Arsenal 1 - 0 Manchester City

The words and phrases from the story that I want to talk about are:

• To retire
• To have something to prove
• To be let off

To retire

To retire means to stop doing something as a job, usually because you are old. In the UK, people usually retire between the ages of 65 and 70. It always used to be 65, but the retirement age has gone up. Some people retire when they are younger, either because they have made lots of money and don’t need to work or because they are not well and can’t work because of their health. Footballers and other sports people use the word retire to talk about giving up playing or competing professionally. Most footballers retire when they are in their 30s so they don’t stop working, they just stop playing football professionally; they retire from the professional game.

To have something to prove

We use the phrase to have something to prove when someone wants to show that they can do something really well. Usually, the person who has something to prove, wants to prove or show that they are good because someone thinks that they aren’t or that they can’t do something. So if someone tells you that you aren’t good at something and you think that you are, then if you get the chance to show how good you really are, you will really want to prove it to the person that doubted you. It’s not the best source of motivation, but it can be really powerful. If someone tells you to give up, that you’ll never be any good, that can make you angry and can motivate you to really try hard to show that person they were wrong.

To be let off

I think I’ve spoken about this before. If you are let off, you avoid a punishment or the negative consequences of something that normally, you’d have to suffer. In active uses, you say to let someone off. So if a police officer catches you driving too fast in your car, they could give you a ticket and make you pay a fine or worse. But sometimes, they will let you off with a warning if you promise that you will pay more attention and drive more slowly in the future. The passive form of the phrase is more common in football. If a defender makes a mistake and loses the ball in a dangerous position, if the attacking team gets the ball and shoots and misses, then you can say that the defending team were let off because they did not concede a goal.

Today, I’ve spoken about 6 useful words and phrases. The phrases I have spoken about are:

• To have something weighing on you
• To be ecstatic
• A last ditch attempt
• To retire
• To have something to prove
• To be let off

Listen to the stories one more time to hear this language in context.

McTominay Bursts Brentford’s Bubble

When Brentford travelled to Old Trafford, they knew it was going to be tough. The pressure to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford, must have been weighing on the players. Although going into the match, they were only one point behind their hosts, they had 86 years of expectations to deal with. Brentford hadn’t beaten Manchester United at Old Trafford since 1937.

United looked the better team on the day, but struggled to make it count. And then in the 26th minute, United fell apart. Casemiro played a lazy pass that was too easy for Mbeumo to intercept. Brentford sprang forward. Lindelof tried to clear the ball but failed and again, Brentford surged towards the United goal. Yoane Wissa managed to slot the ball through to Mathias Jensen who slid the ball into the goal under Onana’s outstretched glove.

Brentford were ecstatic. They kept up the pressure while United started looking increasingly desperate as the minutes ticked by.

With a few minutes of regular time on the clock, Ten Hag brought on Scott McTominay. This was a last ditch attempt to change the story. Brentford just wanted to hold on for a few more minutes, but McTominay had other plans. Garnacho ran the ball into the danger zone and cut it back for Dalot whose shot was not quite powerful enough and was blocked. The ball bounced out as far as McTominay who needed a touch to bring the ball down before slotting the ball into the bottom left.

When the scores were level with a few minutes left, Brentford probably felt a little cheated, having led for so long. But then things got worse.

It was in the 97th minute, with the last play of the match. Fernandes played the ball from a free kick over the crowd of players hanging around the edge of Brentford’s box. Maguire got there first and headed the ball towards the goal. McTominay was already running towards the goal and leapt and headed the ball hard past Strakosha and into the goal to score again and break Brentford hearts.

Final score: Manchester United 2 - 1 Brentford

Arsenal take on the champions

Arsenal hadn’t beaten Manchester City in a league match in 8 years and fans were starting to worry that City could be their bogey team. After last season, when they led for so long only for Manchester City to overtake them, they must have had some strong feelings towards their opponents. When Arteta retired from playing the game, he went to be an assistant manager under Guardiola at City and spent three years there learning from his old friend. Last season, Arsenal beat almost everyone, but they couldn’t beat City. When Arteta shook Guardiola’s hand at the beginning of the match the two Spaniards looked friendly enough, but Arteta knew he had something to prove.

The match started with a nervous looking Arsenal mostly defending against a more confident Manchester City. Arsenal were let off a couple of times in the first 25 minutes after making mistakes that could have been costly. But slowly, the home side seemed to gain confidence and looked like they were going to be able to control the champions. Most importantly, they were able to control Haaland who never really got into the game.

Arteta knows very well how Guardiola likes to play and did a good job defending against his old boss, but this didn’t leave much for his team to attack with, so neither team made many chances. In the end, Arsenal managed more shots on goal, but it took a stroke of luck to finally go ahead.

When Partey played a long ball from just past the halfway line, Tomiyasu headed the ball down for Havertz who was being crowded by Nathan Ake and only able to push the ball out to Martinelli who struck the ball well towards the top right hand corner. However, the ball was intercepted by Ake ... well, it caught Ake on the face and deflected into the bottom left. It looked painful and painful. There was nothing Ederson could have done.

Final score: Arsenal 1 - 0 Manchester City

Language Challenge

Right, now it’s time for you to think about the language again. I have found examples of the words and phrases in stories online and edited them slightly. I have removed today’s vocabulary so I want you to fill in the gaps with the correct form of the language from the podcast.

Number 1. The new employee felt like she _________________ at her job to demonstrate her competence to her boss and colleagues.

Number 2. The teacher was supposed to give his students homework, but he decided to ______ them ____ as they had all worked so hard in class.

Number 3. She couldn't enjoy the party because the deadline for her project was ____________ her mind.

Number 4. The young couple was _________ about their upcoming wedding.

Number 5. He was forced to _________ from professional sports due to a knee injury.

Number 6. In ________________ to revive the failing project, the manager called an emergency meeting to brainstorm ideas.

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

Football phrase

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

This week’s football phrase is a ***** ****. This is the team that your team just can’t seem to beat. Some clubs develop something like a phobia and no matter how much they prepare, they just fall apart when they are up against their ***** ****.

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, I am going to go through the answers to last week’s language challenge.

Number 1. Brighton busker returns after three strokes of bad luck. The busker, who has had three pianos stolen in the dead of night, is back behind the keys.

Number 2. After losing her job, Sarah's landlord decided to raise the rent on her apartment, adding insult to injury in an already difficult time.

Number 3. After making a serious mistake at work, Susan worked tirelessly to redeem herself in the eyes of her colleagues and supervisor by taking on extra responsibilities and ensuring the project's success.

Number 4. Before the final round of negotiations, everyone in the room understood that the stakes were high. A successful deal could secure the company's future, but failure would likely lead to bankruptcy.

Number 5. Chris had been struggling to find a job for months, but when his friend offered him a position at their company, it was like they put it on a plate for him.

Number 6. A reckless motorist caused a crash that left a young woman with a life-changing condition.

Number 7. Generation Z deserves some credit for responsible card use. The youngest adults are using credit cards more responsibly than their older peers, even during the current period of high inflation

Number 8. Southampton Council has upheld its decision to close its last care home despite protests from campaigners.

And 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.