This Week: Leave it all on the field

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, I’m talking about Arsenal, who hosted Everton and Manchester City who hosted West Ham United. Arsenal were playing for a chance to win the league, but that chance depended on Manchester City losing at home. And Manchester City were playing to win a historic 4th consecutive title.

The words and phrases I am going to talk about today are:

• To leave it all on the field
• To keep an eye on something
• To rob someone
• Consecutive
• To make history
• Delirious

Listen out for this vocabulary in this week’s stories.

But before I get to the story, 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, the phrase was formation. This describes the way that a manager positions their players on the pitch. Sometimes, these are described as numbers, so some managers are said to favour a 4-4-2 formation while others might prefer a 3-2-4-1 formation.

Congratulations to Alex from Ukraine, Vietnguyenngo from Vietnam, Gapa from South Korea, Ryohei from Japan, Andretorre102 from Brazil, Alejandro Garmldo from Indonesia, Welcome to Premier Skills English Alejandro! Well doen to Roma Kisel from Russia, Lukáš from Czechia - I’ll try to give you a mroe difficult one this week, Congratulations to Hsn from Turkey, Denis2000 from Belarus, LeoFabiano from Brazil, ElChueco from Argentina and Wojciech M From Poland. 2

You all worked out that the phrase I was looking for was formation.

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

Now, it’s time for the first story.

Arsenal left it all on the field

On the last day of the season, Arsenal went out to play knowing that they had won more games than in their last title-winning season, which was 20 years ago, they had won more points than in any season since and had scored more goals any of their last 50 seasons. They were hosting Everton and they needed a win to be in with a chance of winning the title, but players and fans knew that it was unlikely to be enough. At the same time, on a similar pitch 200 miles to the north, Manchester City were playing West Ham and many fans were keeping one eye on the pitch while the other was on their phone watching the news from the North.

The best missed chance of the first half fell to Everton when Dominic Calvert Lewin found his way into striking range but slammed the ball into the post. It was clear that the Toffees were going to make their hosts work for their result whatever it meant to their title chances.

After 40 minutes, Thomas Partey was booked and shown a yellow card for a slightly reckless challenge on Dwight McNeil not too far from the penalty area. Everton lined up to take the shot, and the Arsenal players made a wall. Idrissa Gana Gueye took the shot which was looping over the wall. David Raya was diving in the right direction and might have stopped it, but the ball took a massive deflection off Declan Rice and sailed into the goal.

Just two minutes later, Tomiyasu restored hope for the home crowd when he equalised with a smart finish from an Odegaard cross.

In the second half, Arsenal launched wave after wave of attacks but couldn’t get the ball into the net, either because they hit the woodwork or because of Jordan Pickford’s heroics. It wasn’t until the 89th minute when Gabriel Jesus robbed the ball from Tarkowski. Following a short run, he passed to Odegard, who looked sure to score. But to make no mistake at all, he rolled the ball square for Kai Havertz, who was running in and was left with the simplest of tap-ins to score.

Final score: Arsenal 2 - 1 Everton

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

• To leave it all on the field
• To keep an eye on something
• To rob someone,

To leave it all on the field

This phrase means to put in maximum effort. The idea is that you use all of your effort or your energy or resources on something, that is, you do absolutely everything you can for the win, and you don’t hold anything back. Sometimes, when a team has an important match coming up, they might take their best players off early to rest them. But if they really want to win, they will leave their players on the field. This phrase is most commonly used by sports coaches to talk about their team’s performance, but it is sometimes used more figuratively when someone tries their hardest to achieve something and holds nothing back. The phrase comes from America, I think from American football. In the UK, we could say to leave it all on the pitch, but we don’t. We say that a team left everything on the field.

To keep an eye on something

I think that this is quite an easy idiom to understand. It just means to watch something or monitor something, usually to make sure that it is safe and is working properly. So I used to drive an old mini and the engine would get hot sometimes so I had to keep an eye on the temperature gauge on the dashboard to make sure the car wasn’t going to overheat. Or if you’re on a train and you want to use the bathroom, you might ask someone to keep an eye on your bags while you’re away. In the story, I used a slightly less common variation of the phrase. I said that the Arsenal fans were keeping one eye on the pitch while the other was following the results of the Man City game on their phones. So if you are monitoring two situations, you are keeping one eye on each situation. It’s a bit of a strange use. Obviously, you can’t divide up monitoring tasks between your eyes.

To rob someone

The verb to rob someone means to steal something from them, to take something from someone without their consent without their permission. There are lots of verbs that describe slightly different ways of stealing: to rob someone means to take something using force or the threat of force. So if you go into a bank with a gun, you are robbing the bank. However, if you go into a museum or house at night and are sneaky, you are burgling the place. If you steal something quickly, you are pinching or nicking it, and if you steal from a shop, you are shoplifting. Anyhow, in football English, a good tackle is sometimes described in this way. So I said that Jesus robbed Tarkowski because he took the ball through his speed and power.

Let’s move on to the next story.

Manchester City make history

Manchester City needed to beat West Ham to become the first team in top-flight history to win the league in four consecutive seasons. Anything less than a win would have left the league open to Arsenal who were just two points behind.

Phil Foden got the party started early with a gorgeous goal from outside the area. Bernardo Silva crossed the ball in for Foden who took a touch to get the ball into position before firing in a perfectly placed screamer that grazed the upright on its way into the back of the net.

About 15 minutes later, Foden scored again after Doku threaded a pass through the legs of the defenders. Foden made it two with his first touch, putting the ball squarely into the goal with enough power to beat Alphonse Areola.

Kudus got one back for the visitors just before halftime with a sensational scissor kick. West Ham fired the ball in from the corner. Kudus was challenged by Gvardiol for the ball, which resulted in the ball going almost straight up in the air. As the ball fell back down to earth, Kudus saw his opportunity and leapt before executing a perfect bicycle kick.

In the second half, City scored again following an extended series of passes on the edge of West Ham’s goal area. The champions were in no rush, passing the ball between them, looking for a gap. When the ball made it back to Rodri, he saw his chance and ‘calm as you like’ slotted the ball into the net.

It briefly looked like West Ham had clawed another goal back, but VAR revealed that it had come off Soucek’s arm.

In the end, to a deafening chorus of Blue Moon sung by 50,000 delirious City Fans, the referee blew the final whistle and history was made.

Final score: Manchester City 3 - 1 West Ham United

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

• Consecutive
• To make history
• Delirious

Consecutive

The word consecutive is an adjective that describes things that happen one after the other in an unbroken sequence. When a football team wins lots of games in a row, you might hear the pundits and commentators describing this as consecutive wins, or you might hear about a player who scored in consecutive matches. Jamie Vardy holds the record for the longest scoring run in the Premier League when he scored in 11 consecutive matches in 2015.
When Manchester City won the title this season, this was the fourth year in a row that they were crowned champions and they became the first team to win in four consecutive seasons.

To make history

If you do something that makes history, you do something that people will remember often because you are the first person to do it or because it’s something so extraordinary that people will still be talking about it for years to come. When Manchester City won their 4th consecutive title, they became the first team in history to win the Premier League in four consecutive seasons so they made history when they won the title this season. When I looked at news stories with this phrase, I found lots of stories about sports and also lots of stories about women and about people who have historically been discriminated against, for example, Kamala Harris made history when she became the first woman to be the US vice-president.

Delirious

The adjective delirious means confused or perhaps stunned and unable to think clearly, often because of illness or perhaps after an accident or after something really exciting or shocking. So, I had flu a few years ago and had to go to the doctor’s. I was living in Cairo at the time, and I remember having massive problems crossing the road because I was delirious. Thankfully, my wife was with me and led me safely to the doctor’s. In the story, I used the adjective in a more positive way. I described the City fans as delirious because they were so excited and happy. When was the last time you were deliriously happy? For me, I think it was watching my youngest son play the piano in a concert for his school. I was so proud of him that I couldn’t speak. I was deliriously happy.

Today, I’ve spoken about 6 useful words and phrases.

The words and phrases were:

• To leave it all on the field
• To keep an eye on something
• To rob someone
• Consecutive
• To make history
• Delirious

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

Arsenal left it all on the field

On the last day of the season, Arsenal went out to play knowing that they had won more games than in their last title-winning season, which was 20 years ago, they had won more points than in any season since and had scored more goals any of their last 50 seasons. They were hosting Everton and they needed a win to be in with a chance of winning the title, but players and fans knew that it was unlikely to be enough. At the same time, on a similar pitch 200 miles to the north, Manchester City were playing West Ham and many fans were keeping one eye on the pitch while the other was on their phone watching the news from the North.

The best missed chance of the first half fell to Everton when Dominic Calvert Lewin found his way into striking range but slammed the ball into the post. It was clear that the Toffees were going to make their hosts work for their result whatever it meant to their title chances.

After 40 minutes, Thomas Partey was booked and shown a yellow card for a slightly reckless challenge on Dwight McNeil not too far from the penalty area. Everton lined up to take the shot, and the Arsenal players made a wall. Idrissa Gana Gueye took the shot which was looping over the wall. David Raya was diving in the right direction and might have stopped it, but the ball took a massive deflection off Declan Rice and sailed into the goal.

Just two minutes later, Tomiyasu restored hope for the home crowd when he equalised with a smart finish from an Odegaard cross.

In the second half, Arsenal launched wave after wave of attacks but couldn’t get the ball into the net, either because they hit the woodwork or because of Jordan Pickford’s heroics. It wasn’t until the 89th minute when Gabriel Jesus robbed the ball from Tarkowski. Following a short run, he passed to Odegard, who looked sure to score. But to make no mistake at all, he rolled the ball square for Kai Havertz, who was running in and was left with the simplest of tap-ins to score.

Final score: Arsenal 2 - 1 Everton

Manchester City make history

Manchester City needed to beat West Ham to become the first team in top-flight history to win the league in four consecutive seasons. Anything less than a win would have left the league open to Arsenal who were just two points behind.

Phil Foden got the party started early with a gorgeous goal from outside the area. Bernardo Silva crossed the ball in for Foden who took a touch to get the ball into position before firing in a perfectly placed screamer that grazed the upright on its way into the back of the net.

About 15 minutes later, Foden scored again after Doku threaded a pass through the legs of the defenders. Foden made it two with his first touch, putting the ball squarely into the goal with enough power to beat Alphonse Areola.

Kudus got one back for the visitors just before halftime with a sensational scissor kick. West Ham fired the ball in from the corner. Kudus was challenged by Gvardiol for the ball, which resulted in the ball going almost straight up in the air. As the ball fell back down to earth, Kudus saw his opportunity and leapt before executing a perfect bicycle kick.

In the second half, City scored again following an extended series of passes on the edge of West Ham’s goal area. The champions were in no rush, passing the ball between them, looking for a gap. When the ball made it back to Rodri, he saw his chance and ‘calm as you like’ slotted the ball into the net.

It briefly looked like West Ham had clawed another goal back, but VAR revealed that it had come off Soucek’s arm.

In the end, to a deafening chorus of Blue Moon sung by 50,000 delirious City Fans, the referee blew the final whistle and history was made.

Final score: Manchester City 3 - 1 West Ham United

Language challenge

Right, now it’s time for you to think about this language again. I have used AI to come up with examples of today’s words and phrases. I have removed the vocabulary from the stories, so I want you to fill in the gaps with the correct forms of the language from the podcast.

Question 1. The movie is about a group of friends who team up to ________ a casino.

Question 2. The team’s groundbreaking research in medicine _________ and saved countless lives.

Question 3. The lack of sleep over several days left him feeling ___________ and disoriented.

Question 4. She told her team to __________ and have no regrets after the game.

Question 5. His _________ victories in the tournament made him the top contender.

Question 6. I need to __________ my plants to make sure they get enough water.

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

Football phrase

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

I always struggle a bit with this football phrase. I want to challenge you, but I also love to see your comments and if the phrase is too difficult, then there aren’t so many comments. And Lukáš said it was too easy last week so I’m going to try challenging you with two football phrases. The first will be something that I hope is quite easy, not too easy, but something that I think most of you will be able to work out and the second will be a fiendish football phrase and will be really difficult.

This week, the football phrase is ******* **** or ******** ****. This is an acrobatic strike that involves the player leaping in the air to shoot with their feet above their head. It’s a very hard move to pull off, and it’s not something that I would try as I’m pretty convinced I’d injure myself, but the young athletes of the Premier League sometimes score sensational goals with this type of strike.

This week, the fiendish football phrase is to *** **. This is an interesting phrasal verb that means to provide an assist. Remember, this is the fiendish football phrase so I’m not looking for the obvious phrasal verb that means to provide an assist. The phrase I’m looking for comes from a different sport. I got this phrase from a match report on the Premier League website that described Rodri’s goal when he side-footed the ball “beyond the dive of Areola after being **** ** by Bernardo Silva on the edge of the area.

If you know the answer to the football phrase or the fiendish football phrase, be sure to leave them 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.

Question 1. The sudden, bizarre appearance of crop circles in the field sparked rumours of alien activity.

Question 2. She wore an understated necklace that complemented her outfit without drawing too much attention.

Question 3. The team's strategy went out of the window when their star player got injured in the first half.

Question 4. The young pianist held her nerve and performed flawlessly in front of the large audience.

Question 5. In the middle of the presentation, he pulled out a statistic that caught everyone's attention and supported his point.

Question 6. After failing the exam, he remained philosophical about his performance, seeing it as a stepping stone rather than a setback.

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 everyone stays fit and healthy and safe.

Bye for now and enjoy your football.