This Week: If at first you don't succeed ...

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.

This week, I’ve got three stories for you. I’m going to talk about Manchester City’s performance against Liverpool, Arsenal hosting Leeds United and Manchester United’s trip to Newcastle.

The words and phrases from the stories that I’m going to talk about this week are:

• To get the better of someone
• A heroic effort
• To overwhelm
• wobble
• To inspire
• Barely a sniff
• To pepper
• The proverb: if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

But before I get to this week’s stories, I want to give you the answer to 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 suggested by Hasan from Turkey. The phrase was a ***-*** ****. This is a movement used by two players to go between defenders. So if a player is running towards the opposition goal, when he or she meets a defender, they might **** the ball to a team mate and then keep running past the defender. If the movement is done right, the teammate ****** the ball back directly by kicking it into the path of their running teammate.

Congratulations to Denis2000 from Belarus, Vietnguyenngo for Vietnam, Ryohei from Japan, Shikabala from Egypt, Renan from Brazil, Welcome back Renan - great to have you back again. Congratulations to Cezario Abrantes from Brazil and to Watfa from Syria. Welcome to the podcast and Premier Skills English, Waatfa. We haven’t had any commenters on the site from Syria for quite a while so it’s lovely to hear from you.

I was really happy to read your responses to the task last week. I particularly loved the comments from Brazil. It seems that there are some different opinions on the state championships in Brazil. It’s great to hear about football culture in different parts of the world. I didn’t know that Al Ahly is the second most titled team in the world, but I did get a sense of the strong feelings between Zamalek and Al Ahly when I lived in Cairo. Ryohei brought up the complicated soccer / football conflict. This comes from a time when in England, rugby was called rugby football. When the Football Association was founded, the official rules were for association football and the word soccer comes from the soc in association, but most people just say football in the UK. In the USA, football is what we call American football so they call it soccer. So today, soccer is really the American term, even though it originated in the UK.

There will be a new football phrase and task for you to complete after the stories and vocabulary.

Now it’s time for this week’s first story. When you listen, I’d like you to try to answer the following question:

What did Jack Grealish do?

Grealish turned the tide against Liverpool

Manchester City are just too good. Even without their Norwegian goal machine Erling Haaland and ridiculous playmaker Phil Foden, City completely outplayed Liverpool.

However, Liverpool did manage to score first with a beautiful counter attack that started with a perfectly timed through ball for Jota who ran the ball all the way into City’s penalty area. Akanji looked like he might get the better of Jota, so the Portuguese forward stunned the ball for Salah who was running in and scored with a beautiful finish.

This goal fired up Liverpool’s players and fans. Klopp urged his team who soon had another chance when Salah beat City’s back and ran free towards City’s goal. It looked like a golden opportunity for the Egyptian striker, but he was denied by Jack Grealish who came tearing down the side of the pitch just in time to block Salah’s cross.

Normally, matches are decided by goals, but at the Etihad on Saturday, that heroic effort and block changed the game for the hosts. You could see the confidence in the Manchester side swell and from that moment on, even a goal down, the result was no longer in doubt.

City found another gear and dominated Liverpool, starting with a textbook team goal. The ball was played into the middle, then knocked wide to Grealish who fired it square for Alvarez to tap in. All this happened at an incredible speed. The team were playing with an automatic fluidity that left no time to think and no time to react.

De Bruyne got City’s second; Gundogan scored the third when a blocked shot fell to his feet and then Grealish sealed the win with a perfectly executed attack, when he and De Bruyne overwhelmed the Liverpool defence.

Final score: Manchester City 4 - 1 Liverpool

Before the story, I asked you:

What did Jack Grealish do?

The answer is: Well ... Grealish did lots of things. But the thing that seemed to turn the tide was when he blocked Salah’s cross. When I write these podcasts, I start with the stories and then look at the language. I’ve just seen that I have written the phrase to turn the tide against in the title and I’ve not explained it. The tide is the movement of the sea on the coast. The sea level rises and falls with the tides. Around the UK, the tidal differences can be quite great so the tide comes in and goes out a long way. When the tide is fully in, we say that the tide turns when it starts o go out again. So the idiom to turn the tides against means to change the direction or flow of something major. Liverpool had scored and were attacking, but then Grealish blocked Salah’s shot and Liverpool’s attacks seemed to stop and the action changed direction.

OK. Back to the phrases I meant to talk about. The phrases and word from the story that I want to talk about are:

• To get the better of someone
• A heroic effort
• To overwhelm

To get the better of someone

This idiom means to defeat someone in a competition or a competitive situation. I said that it looked like Akanji might get the better of Jota which meant that he might win the ball in a tackle. When two players are one-on-one, the player who gets the better of the ... other player will be the one who wins the ball.

We also use the idiom to talk about mistakes we make because we are emotional. So is an emotion gets the better of you, you might do something that you wouldn’t do if you were calm. Recently, Marcus Rashford admitted that emotions got the better of him when he was shouted at by a Manchester United supporter. He reacted badly, well, actually .. I don’t think it was that badly, but it would have been better if he had ignored the fan. His emotions got the better of him.

A heroic effort

A hero is someone who people admire, usually because they have done something brave. However, you can describe anyone you admire as your hero. Normally we use the word hero to describe men and heroine to describe women. The adjective heroic is used to describe an act that people admire. If someone does something heroic, they do something very brave. We use the term a heroic effort when someone does something that took a lot of hard work or determination.

To overwhelm

This verb has two meanings that are related. In a battle or competition, if one side is much more powerful than the other, they can overwhelm their opponents. So, to overwhelm can mean to defeat someone by using a lot of force. You might read about troops being overwhelmed in a battle. We also use the verb to describe how you feel when you see or experience something that causes you to feel very strong emotions, so you are kind of defeated by the strength of the emotions you feel.

Now it’s time for this week’s second story. When you listen, I’d like you to try to answer the following question:

How did Jesus start scoring again?

Gabriel Jesus is back in scoring form

Leeds' trip to the Emirates Stadium must have been frustrating for the players and fans. In the first half, the Whites created some great chances but were denied by Aaron Ramsdale, the Arsenal keeper. Despite some early defensive wobbles, the home side looked comfortable.

The team member who looked the most comfortable was Gabriel Jesus. Jesus’ arrival at Arsenal in the summer inspired Arteta’s young squad. His goal-scoring at the start of the campaign and his leadership on the pitch helped Arsenal to their best start in years. When he was injured at the World Cup, lots of pundits suggested that Arsenal's form would suffer. However, the Gunners managed to keep on winning without him, but fans were still very keen to have him back.

Although Jesus has still not played for a full 90, he has recovered well from his injury and started the scoring in the first half after winning and converting a penalty. This was his first goal since October and since his injury. Ben White put Arsenal 2 in front after the break and Jesus got his second off a Trossard assist in the 55th minute. This was Trossard’s seventh assist since joining Arsenal in January.

Leeds got a consolation goal in the 76th minute from Rasmus Kristensen, but that was all it was. Granit Xhaka sealed the win when he headed in a fine ball from Martin Ødegaard.

Final score: Arsenal 4 - 1 Leeds United

Before the story, I asked you:

How did Jesus start scoring again?

The answer is: Gabriel Jesus won and converted a penalty. He scored a regular goal later in the match, but the penalty was his first goal since being injured at the World Cup.

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

• Wobble
• To inspire

Wobble

I like the word wobble. There’s something funny about it. Wobble can be a verb or a noun. The verb form means to shake a little. If something wobbles, it moves from side to side. Jelly wobbles. Sometimes, things wobble and then fall down. If you have a jug of water on a table and someone runs into the table, the jug might wobble from side to side. So when something wobbles, it is unsteady and could fall, or it might settle and be OK. I described some problems that Arsenal had at the start of the match as defensive wobbles. Arsenal’s defence was not as strong as it should have been and Ramsdale had to block a few shots, but they were just wobbles as the team adjusted and looked strong again soon after.

To inspire

If you inspire someone, you make them feel confident; you make them want to do something and think that they can do it. I said that Jesus inspired his teammates at Arsenal. Jesus has won the Premier League four times and is a good leader. He made the younger players feel confident and the team played better after he joined them.

Now it’s time for this week’s third story. When you listen, I’d like you to try to answer the following question:

Who saved Manchester United from humiliation?

Newcastle leapfrog United into third

Not long ago, I was praising Ten Hag for having found a working formula at Manchester United. And then they were humiliated at Anfield. When they travelled to Newcastle on Sunday, they were looking for their first Premier League win in six weeks. The last time these two clubs met was in the Carabao Cup when the Red devils denied the Magpies their first major domestic trophy in ... a long time.

As soon as the referee blew his whistle, Newcastle were on top, playing fast paced aggressive football. They overwhelmed the visitors all over the pitch. Only De Gea seemed to be able to put up much resistance as he blocked shot after shot. Despite the onslaught, Newcastle failed to break through and by the time the referee signalled for half time, Newcastle had racked up 11 attempts on goal. Whereas Man Utd had barely a sniff at goal.

In the second half, the Magpies proved the old proverb, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. And they tried and tried and tried again and eventually after peppering the Manchester United goal with chances, Joe Willock found the back of the net.

When Callum Wilson headed home from a Trippier corner in the 88th minute, the match, the points and third place in the league were won.

Final score: Newcastle United 2 - 0 Manchester United

Before the story, I asked you:

Who saved Manchester United from humiliation?

The answer is: David De Gea. It might be overstating it a bit to say he saved Manchester United from humiliation, but he blocked quite a few shots in the first half so the score would have been a lot more humiliating than 2-0 if he wasn’t in goal.

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

• Barely a sniff
• To pepper
• And the proverb: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

Barely a sniff

This is quite a strange phrase. It’s not very common, but it was used by the commentator and I like it. It means a very very small amount of something. The adverb barely means by the smallest amount. If you have barely enough money to buy something, you can buy it, but you don’t have any more money. A sniff is an act of sniffing. To sniff means to breathe in through your nose to smell something. It’s quite a crude act. In a fine restaurant, you might be encouraged to smell the food. I don’t think you would be invited to sniff anything. Dogs sniff things. Also, when my children have a cold, they sniff a lot to stop their noses from running. When you try something, you might taste it. So you can do taster sessions or go wine tasting. If someone offers you a taste of their meal, they are offering you a small amount so you know what it tastes like. A sniff, is even less. You’re not even getting to taste something. All you can do is sniff it. So ... if you get barely a sniff of something, you are getting a tiny amount by the smallest amount. I said that Manchester United had barely a sniff at goal. They didn’t have any chances to score. They could see the goal, but that was about it.

To pepper

Pepper is a powder that is made from crushing peppercorns that you use to add flavour to a meal. On most tables, you have salt and pepper. The verb, to pepper something, comes from the act of adding pepper to a meal. When you sprinkle pepper on food, the food is hit by lots of grains that are spread over the food. Some guns fire lots of little grains of lead that spread out so they hit a target like sprinkled pepper. So anything that is shot with this sort of gun could be peppered. We use the verb more frequently to talk about an attack or assault that involves lots of hits. I said that Newcastle peppered the Manchester goal. They fired again and again. You might also hear about a politician being peppered with questions.

The last bit of language I want to talk about today is the proverb: if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. This comes from a poem or a song, from around the 1840s, and is still very common today. I think the meaning is quite clear. If you are not successful the first time you try to do something, try again until you are successful. However, I think it’s worth noting the form because it’s often used and adapted in stories and articles. There are thousands of news stories that quote, at least, the first part of this proverb. I saw one story about a politician in trouble that said: “If at first you don’t succeed, lie, lie again!”

OK, that's 7 words and phrases and a proverb from the stories today. They were:

• To get the better of someone
• A heroic effort
• To overwhelm
• wobble
• To inspire
• Barely a sniff
• To pepper
• The proverb: if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

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

Grealish turned the tide against Liverpool

Manchester City are just too good. Even without their Norwegian goal machine Erling Haaland and ridiculous playmaker Phil Foden, City completely outplayed Liverpool.

However, Liverpool did manage to score first with a beautiful counter attack that started with a perfectly timed through ball for Jota who ran the ball all the way into City’s penalty area. Akanji looked like he might get the better of Jota, so the Portuguese forward stunned the ball for Salah who was running in and scored with a beautiful finish.

This goal fired up Liverpool’s players and fans. Klopp urged his team who soon had another chance when Salah beat City’s back and ran free towards City’s goal. It looked like a golden opportunity for the Egyptian striker, but he was denied by Jack Grealish who came tearing down the side of the pitch just in time to block Salah’s cross.

Normally, matches are decided by goals, but at the Etihad on Saturday, that heroic effort and block changed the game for the hosts. You could see the confidence in the Manchester side swell and from that moment on, even a goal down, the result was no longer in doubt.

City found another gear and dominated Liverpool, starting with a textbook team goal. The ball was played into the middle, then knocked wide to Grealish who fired it square for Alvarez to tap in. All this happened at an incredible speed. The team were playing with an automatic fluidity that left no time to think and no time to react.

De Bruyne got City’s second; Gundogan scored the third when a blocked shot fell to his feet and then Grealish sealed the win with a perfectly executed attack, when he and De Bruyne overwhelmed the Liverpool defence.

Final score: Manchester City 4 - 1 Liverpool

Gabriel Jesus is back in scoring form

Leeds' trip to the Emirates Stadium must have been frustrating for the players and fans. In the first half, the Whites created some great chances but were denied by Aaron Ramsdale, the Arsenal keeper. Despite some early defensive wobbles, the home side looked comfortable.

The team member who looked the most comfortable was Gabriel Jesus. Jesus’ arrival at Arsenal in the summer inspired Arteta’s young squad. His goal-scoring at the start of the campaign and his leadership on the pitch helped Arsenal to their best start in years. When he was injured at the World Cup, lots of pundits suggested that Arsenal's form would suffer. However, the Gunners managed to keep on winning without him, but fans were still very keen to have him back.

Although Jesus has still not played for a full 90, he has recovered well from his injury and started the scoring in the first half after winning and converting a penalty. This was his first goal since October and since his injury. Ben White put Arsenal 2 in front after the break and Jesus got his second off a Trossard assist in the 55th minute. This was Trossard’s seventh assist since joining Arsenal in January.

Leeds got a consolation goal in the 76th minute from Rasmus Kristensen, but that was all it was. Granit Xhaka sealed the win when he headed in a fine ball from Martin Ødegaard.

Final score: Arsenal 4 - 1 Leeds United

Newcastle leapfrog United into third

Not long ago, I was praising Ten Hag for having found a working formula at Manchester United. And then they were humiliated at Anfield. When they travelled to Newcastle on Sunday, they were looking for their first Premier League win in six weeks. The last time these two clubs met was in the Carabao Cup when the Red devils denied the Magpies their first major domestic trophy in ... a long time.

As soon as the referee blew his whistle, Newcastle were on top, playing fast paced aggressive football. They overwhelmed the visitors all over the pitch. Only De Gea seemed to be able to put up much resistance as he blocked shot after shot. Despite the onslaught, Newcastle failed to break through and by the time the referee signalled for half time, Newcastle had racked up 11 attempts on goal. Whereas Man Utd had barely a sniff at goal.

In the second half, the Magpies proved the old proverb, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. And they tried and tried and tried again and eventually after peppering the Manchester United goal with chances, Joe Willock found the back of the net.

When Callum Wilson headed home from a Trippier corner in the 88th minute, the match, the points and third place in the league were won.

Final score: Newcastle United 2 - 0 Manchester United

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

Language challenge

Your challenge this week is to complete the gaps in the following sentences with the correct forms of the words and phrases that I’ve spoken about in this podcast. I have taken all of these sentences from news websites and edited them slightly.

Number 1. A popular farm has been ___________ by community support after almost £8,000 was raised within just days to help repair fire damage.

Number 2. It's been a sweltering few weeks in Bristol with temperatures regularly in the high-20s and with _______________ of rain for a month.

Number 3. At 3.30 pm on Sunday afternoon, our wonderful postie Susan appeared at our door, having waded through knee-deep snow and pulling our mail and parcels on a child’s sledge. This was a _____________, and went way above and beyond any duty.

Number 4. Novac Djokovic overcame an early _______ and injury worry to reach his 10th final.

Number 5. Riyad Mahrez ________________ Mohamed Salah in a showdown between African stars as Manchester City thrashed Liverpool 4-1 in the Premier League at the weekend.

Number 6. Evan Ferguson’s brilliant backheel helped ________ Brighton to win at Bournemouth.

Number 7. Chipotle has been _________ with a wave of complaints from customers because its salsa is 'too spicy'.

I really liked number 7. Leave your answers to the language challenge in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website.

Task

Your task this week is to complete the following sentence.

The best thing to do before a big game is ...
The best thing to do before a big game is ...

Share your ideas in the comments section on the page for this podcast on Premier Skills English.

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

Football phrase

This week’s football phrase is an ******. This this word is what used to recognise that a player has made the pass that sets up the goal scorer. It’s an officially recognised achievement that’s listed on the match reports on the Premier League website. The word is also used as a verb that means help or support.

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.The manager told reporters: 'It's not luck, the winning formula behind a successful academy programme is a holistic approach to sport and education.’

Number 2. The cherry blossom bloom is short-lived but it doesn’t diminish their overwhelming beauty.

Number 3. There was a moment of confusion when 3 cyclists crashed by the finish line.

Number 4. The travel industry anticipated record numbers of travellers this summer now that covid restrictions have been eased.

Number 5. If the court's decision goes your way you can expect a payout of nearly million.

Number 6. Flight delays and cancellations are inevitable during the peak summer holiday period.

Number 7. Last weekend, shoppers rushed to find fabulous Mother's day presents.

Number 8. The agreement between the region’s heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Iran has brought a ray of hope for stability and peace in the Middle East.

Number 9. Strong winds and relentless rain are forecast for the remainder of this week in the UK.

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.