This Week: Off their game

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 find the script for this podcast so you can read what I’m saying as you listen. If you find this podcast difficult to understand, it will help you to visit the Premier Skills English website and then open the transcript on the page for this podcast. As well as the transcript, you can 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.

I’m afraid I didn’t get a podcast out last week because I was away on a trip to Brightton where I was filming an interview with Vicky Losada, the Spanish captain of Brighton and Hove Albion’s women’s team. Vicky was being interviewed by a group of children from Madrid who had prepared some questions for her and asked them online in a video chat. It was really lovely for me to get down to Brighton and to get to meet Vicky and some of the staff at Brighton and I’ll have some really great videos to share with you all soon.

Now I’m back home in Scotland and ready to record the rest of this podcast. So ...

Today, I’m talking about Spurs' surprising result at the Etihad and a south coast battle between Brighton and Bournemouth.

The phrases I am going to talk about are:

• To hold someone off
• All eyes were on ....
• The cherry on top
• To be thrown off their game
• To rattle someone
• A frantic scramble
• A glimmer of hope

Listen out for this vocabulary in the story.

But before I get to the stories, I want to look at the last football phrase and fiendish football phrase. If you didn’t hear them in the last podcast, here’s one more chance to guess now.

Last time, the football phrase was *********. This is another way of describing the results, that is how many goals each team have. You can talk about this during the match and you can talk about the final *********.

Last time, the fiendish football phrase was ** *** *******. This is a funny phrase. A ****** is a type of shelter that is recessed into the ground or into a hillside. I think that in the past, the teams manager and other coaches would watch the match from these little ... holes. Now, the phrase is used to say who the manager of a team is. In the article, it talks about Manchester United’s performance against City in the past when both teams had different managers ** *** *******.

Congratulations to Alex from Ukraine, you got there in the end. Well done to MoBeckham from Turkey, AndreTorre from Brazil, Ahmed Abouzeid from Egypt, Lukáš from Czechia, Hasan from Turkey, Leo Fabiano from Brazil, and Denis2000 from Belarus.
You all managed to work out that the football phrase was scoreline and the fiendish football phrase was in the dugouts.

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

Now it’s time for the first story.

Manchester City shocked at home

Nobody beats Manchester City at the Etihad... or so we thought. They hadn’t lost at home in 52 matches. Looking at the stats, City had most of the possession with 59%. They took 23 shots compared to Spurs’ 9, and they attacked relentlessly, winning 9 corners to Spurs’ 3. But they just couldn’t find the back of the net.

Haaland had chance after chance—he shot wide, had shots blocked, saved, and even hit the crossbar. Yet, no goals. Meanwhile, when Spurs got on the ball, they were absolutely clinical.

James Maddison celebrated his 28th birthday in style, stealing the show with a brace. His first goal came thanks to Kulusevski, who delivered an inch-perfect ball. After collecting a long pass and holding off his marker, Kulusevski spotted Maddison charging towards goal. He floated the ball over the defenders, and Maddison hammered it home with a clean volley.

Maddison’s second was a beauty. It came from a clever one-two with Son Heung-min. Maddison crossed to Son, who had just had a shot blocked. All eyes were on the Korean as Maddison darted into space. Son coolly laid the ball into his path, and Maddison finished with a cheeky chip over Ederson.

In the second half, Dominic Solanke set up Pedro Porro with a perfect pass after a long cross. Porro smashed it into the net with an unstoppable strike.

The cherry on top came three minutes into stoppage time. Timo Werner, fresh off the bench, made the most of his fresh legs to outrun City’s defenders, storming down the left wing. He sent a low cross flying across the goal, and Brennan Johnson slid in to guide it into the net, sealing an unforgettable win for Spurs.

Final score: Manchester City 0-4 Tottenham Hotspur

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

• To hold someone off
• All eyes were on ...
• The cherry on top

To hold someone off

If you hold someone off, you prevent them from attacking or advancing, usually in a competitive or challenging situation. So in football, if a team stops their opponents from attacking, you might hear the commentator say that the defence were able to hold off the opposing attackers. In the story, I said that Kulusevski held off his marker. So when he received the ball, a City defender tried to intercept the ball and then tried to tackle him, but Kulusevski managed to stop them and found space to control and pass. Most of the time, we use it to describe a team that is under attack for a long time. Normally, that would be the team that were playing against City. If a team is able to stop a stronger team from scoring, you might say that they held them off.

All eyes were on ...

If you say that all eyes were on someone or something, that means that everyone was watching or paying attention to someone or something. To have your eyes on something means to watch something. If you are driving and you get distracted by something your passenger might ask you to keep your eyes on the road. As Son had just taken a shot, everybody expected him to take another shot when he had the ball in the area so they were all watching Son. All eyes were on Son which gave Madison the chance to run through into a better position.

The cherry on top

This is a fun expression that I’ve spoken about before. It means an extra good thing that makes something nice even nicer. It comes from cakes. So a cake is the sweet food that you bake in the oven. Cake is nice. My wife prefers it straight out of the oven without anything else. But most of the time, people put icing on top of the cake. And then to top it off, to make it look lovely and add a little extra sweetness, people sometimes put a cherry on top. So the phrase the cherry on top is used as a metaphor to describe an extra positive thing, a result or perhaps a gift during a situation that is already really great. So Spurs were winning 3-0. They didn’t need another goal, but when Brennan Johnson scored, it was nice. The situation was already pretty good for Spurs, but that extra goal was the cherry on top. There’s another expression: the icing on the cake, which has the same meaning. If you really wanted, you could use both and say Spurs had a two goal lead so when Pedro Porro blasted the ball past Ederson, that was the icing on the cake and then at the end when Brennan Johnson made it 4, that was the cherry on top.

Time to move on to the second story.

Brighton go to Bournemouth in south coast battle

My mate Matt is from Brighton, but oddly enough, he’s a Bournemouth fan. I asked him why, and he said it’s because Bournemouth always play exciting, attacking football. They’re just fun to watch. And when Brighton went to Bournemouth on Saturday, both teams made sure to put on a show. Bournemouth started strong, making it clear they meant business. But Brighton, enjoying their best-ever start to a Premier League season, weren’t about to let the Cherries throw them off their game.

Just four minutes in, Brighton surged forward with style. There was a cheeky backheel, a nifty nutmeg, and a decent shot that was blocked. But the rebound fell perfectly for João Pedro, who had followed the play and slotted the ball home to put the Seagulls ahead.

Bournemouth didn’t let the early goal rattle them. They pushed hard, driving attackers forwards and creating chances. They thought they’d equalised just before half-time, but the goal was swiftly ruled out for offside.

Brighton doubled their lead early in the second half. João Pedro, deep in Bournemouth’s half, spotted Mitoma making a run. He rolled the ball perfectly into the Japanese midfielder’s path, and Mitoma struck it beautifully, finding the far corner of the net.

Everything seemed to be going well for the visitors until the 62nd minute when Baleba picked up a yellow for a slightly late challenge on Kerkez. The problem was, it was his second of the match so the20-year-old Cameroonian was sent off, leaving Brighton a man down with half an hour left to play.

What followed was a relentless onslaught from Bournemouth. Evanilson and Semenyo came agonisingly close to scoring multiple times but were denied again and again. Finally, in the second minute of stoppage time, Bournemouth found a way through. David Brooks, somehow unmarked in the goal area, had plenty of time to control a cross before smashing it home from close range.

The final minutes of the match were a frantic scramble as that late goal gave Bournemouth a glimmer of hope, and they threw everything at Brighton.

In the dying seconds, they won a corner, and even their goalkeeper joined the attack. The ball was whipped in and cleared, but it fell for Semenyo, who unleashed a rocket of a shot in the final moment. The crowd held their breath—but it crashed off the crossbar.

Final score: Bournemouth 1-2 Brighton and Hove Albion

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

• To be thrown off their game
• To rattle someone
• A frantic scramble
• A glimmer of hope

To be thrown off their game

If you are thrown off your game, something disturbs you or distracts you so that you can’t perform, that is, you can’t do something as well as you can normally. When I was a student, I used to really enjoy playing pool with my friends. Normally, I was quite good, but occasionally, I’d be distracted and not be able to play as well and my friends would notice that I was missing shots that normally, I’d have been able to pot. In that situation, I was off my game, I was not playing as well as I should have. Sometimes, this just happens and there’s no explanation for it, but other times, something throws you off your game. Perhaps you are distracted because you’re waiting to hear some news ... or perhaps your opponent does something that distracts or unsettles you, then they might throw you off your game.

To rattle someone

Normally, if you rattle something, you shake it so that it makes a noise. Babies have toy rattles that are normally little plastic balls with a stem to hold that have beads or something similar inside that makes a noise when the baby rattles it. The phrase to rattle someone is similar to thow someone off their game only it means to make someone nervous or to lose their confidence. So, if a team is expecting their opponents to be easy to beat and then at the beginning of the match, they start really aggressively and force the team to defend deep, this might have an impact on their confidence. Then you could say that this rattled them. The result might be that they are thrown off their game, or they might really focus and start playing more aggressively as well. The main thing is they feel rattled, they feel less confident.

A frantic scramble

This is not a very strong collocation so it’s probably better if I talk about the words frantic and scramble rather than the phrase. I’ll start with the noun a scramble. So a scramble is an activity that’s performed in a hurried and slightly out of control way. We also use the word as a verb. If you scramble up a hill, you climb a hill quickly, often using your hands as well as your feet. It’s not a graceful well-controlled climb. You might have to scramble over something if there’s an emergency or if lots of people are racing to get somewhere. In football, there’s often a scramble in a goal area when a ball is blocked and rebounds unpredictably. As players all try to get to the ball, the movement is not as controlled and graceful as a well practiced set piece. In fact, during amateur football, most of the action can be a bit of a scramble.

The adjective frantic means nervous and excited. If you are feeling frantic, you are probably not completely under control. In my household, we are not always very well organised so if we have to catch a train, the last few moments before we leave the house when everyone has to get ready are often a bit rushed and I end up in a frantic dash about making sure I have everything I need.
So a frantic scramble is a nervous and excited activity that involves people who are not completely in control of the situation.

A glimmer of hope

This phrase is used when something happens that gives people a small reason to be positive. So if you are in a bad situation, perhaps the company that you work for is in trouble and you think that you are going to lose your job, and then there’s some good news about a new investor. This might give you a glimmer of hope that things are going to be OK. The word glimmer relates to light, usually weak light reflecting off water or a moving surface. I think it’s the same as shimmer, perhaps slightly dimmer than a shimmer. Hmmm ... a glimmer is dimmer than a shimmer. Anyhow, we use light nouns with hope, a glimmer of hope is a little feeling of hope, a ray of hope is a much stronger feeling of hope. When Bournemouth clawed one goal back at the end of the match, they knew that they only had a few minutes to try to equalise so I don’t think they would have had a lot of hope, but there was a slim chance that they could have rescued a point so it was a glimmer of hope.

Today, I’ve spoken about 7 useful phrases.

The phrases were:

• To hold someone off
• All eyes were on ....
• The cherry on top
• To be thrown off their game
• To rattle someone
• A frantic scramble
• A glimmer of hope

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

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 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.

Number 1: Finally getting to play in the new stadium was great, and the victory was the _____________.

Number 2: The aggressive tactics _______ their opponents in the first half.

Number 3: The team __________ their opponents for the last ten minutes of the game.

Number 4: After the announcement, there was a _____________ to buy tickets.

Number 5: Despite losing, the young player’s performance was _____________ for the future.

Number 6: As the final whistle blew, ________________ the scoreboard.

Number 7: The bad weather seemed to ______ everyone ___________.

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

Premier League Predictions

Now it’s time for me to make Premier League predictions for two of the matches coming up. I’d like to challenge you to make your own predictions and we’ll see if any of us get them right.

OK - I’m not doing a good job with these predictions. I’m going to make two predictions this week. One for this weekend and one for the following weekend to give you all more of a chance to make your own predictions. So the first is for this weekend’s top of the table clash. Manchester City are taking on the league leaders Liverpool at Anfield. And Manchester City are not favourites. According to Opta, the football analytics supercomputer, Liverpool have a 55% chance of winning. However, I think that Manchester City are going to pull themselves together and put on a show at Anfield. Liverpool are on top form so it’s going to take a special performance to get a result there, but if Haaland can stay focused, I think City will edge it. So my prediction is:

Final score: Liverpool 1-2 Manchester City

What do you think? Will Liverpool extend their lead at the top of the table to 11 points? Or will City turn things around and get back on their game?

My second prediction is for the 7th December when Nottingham Forest travel to Old Trafford. The last time United met Forest, it was at the City Ground. This was in matchweek three I think and Man Utd beat them 2-0. But Forest are now five places ahead of the Red Devils and have been having a good season. OK, they’ve just lost at Arsenal and Newcastle, but I think they’re in with a good chance of beating United, even with the home advantage. My prediction is:

Final score: Manchester United 0-2 Nottingham Forest

What do you think? Leave your predictions for these matches in the comments section on the page for this podcast on the Premier Skills English website and let’s see whose predictions are the best.

Football phrase

Now it’s time for this week's football phrases. For those of you who like hunting for the source of these phrases, today, I’ve extracted them from an article on the Premier League website about that makes some predictions for this weekend’s action in the Premier League.

This week’s football phrase is **-** ****. This phrase describes how a team is playing if they are good one week then poor the next, then good again and then poor again. Another way of saying this is a time is on their game then off their game then on their game and then off again.

This week’s fiendish football phrase is ***-******** ******. I should point out that this phrase isn’t used in the article, but a less frequent variant of the phrase is. The phrase describes a phenomenon in football when a team appoints a head coach and the players all suddenly play better and the team wins or raises its game. If a team has been having a bad time and the er... gaffer is not getting the best out of the players, if the club finds a replacement then this can cause the team to play better as the players try to impress.

OK - I think that’s a tough one. Let’s see how you all do.

If you know either of the answers, 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.

Number 1. The movie had relentless action, with one thrilling scene after another.

Number 2. Without enough firepower, the team struggled to create scoring chances in the match.

Number 3. The young footballer shows promise; he could become one of the best players in a few years.

Number 4. It was a cagey affair at first, as each side was waiting for the other to make a mistake.

Number 5. Their coach praised the textbook corner kick routine, saying it was exactly how they practised.

Number 6. If you keep practising English every day, it will yield results, and you’ll get better quickly.

Number 7. He took his family’s support for granted until he moved away and realised how much they helped him.

Number 8. The new player made an impact right away, scoring in his first match.

Number 9. The team’s strong start in the match showed they meant business and wanted to win.

Number 10. When offered the job, she accepted without hesitation because it was her dream role.

Number 11. She tried baking a cake but made a mess of it, and it didn’t taste good.

Number 12. As soon as the whistle blew, the players surged forwards to attack.

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.