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The team is concerned about their coach leaving.

A New Coach

A New Coach

In this issue, Bruno learns that women can be better than men at football coaching. 

Orlando has an announcement. Next week, he will be stepping down as coach. (All the team look very sad.)  “My replacement is very good and I’ve arranged for you all to meet the new coach later this week.”  But coach we’ll miss you!

 

Hey guys! Everybody together, I’ve got someone for you to meet. This is your new coach. I’d like you all to say ‘hi’ to Luiza. Luiza: Hi everyone!  The team don’t seem very happy.  Hello.  Errr , hi.  What?!  Are you sure Orlandoo?   I can’t wait for our first match together on Saturday.Let’s show Luiza what we can do! Let’s go!  This is going to be a disaster. I think we should start looking for other teams! I will be!  We should give her a chance first, Bruno.

 

Understanding

At the beginning of the story, the whole team are surprised that their new coach is a woman. What problems do you think women can have when involved in football? Have a look at the list of jobs in football in this activity. Are these jobs available to women? What difficulties might women face in these roles?

Activity 1: Have a look at the list of jobs in football in the activity. In which ones do you think women face the most difficulties? Put them in order, from the job with most difficulties for women to the job with the fewest difficulties. There are no right or wrong answers to this activity.
Why are there so few women in football?

The team are in the dressing room and Luiza is giving her first teamtalk.  Luiza: Clara you attack down the left and try to stop the opposition full-back.  Clara: Yes, coach.  Image 2  Luiza: If we can keep possession of the ball, we’ll win this one!  Image 3  Bruno: What a load of rubbish! Let’s play our own game.   Image 4  As the players walk onto the pitch, Bruno is whispering in the other player’s ears to play their own game and not to listen to Luiza.  Image 5  Bruno: Don’t listen to Luiza. She doesn’t know what she’s doing.  Filipe: I’m not sure.  Clara: Let’s give her a chance, Bruno.  Julia: Let’s see what happens.

 

The match starts. The team are playing very well and Bruno scores a goal. Bruno thinks: ‘Why should I listen to her?’  (He celebrates by running to the bench and blowing a kiss at Luiza.) (Luiza looks furious on the touchline.)  Before half-time the other team score four goals.  Half-time team talk.  Luiza: “What’s going on? Why are you not following any of my instructions?”  (The team all look at Bruno.) Angkasa: “Bruno! You’re not playing the second half. The rest of you, if you don’t listen, you won’t play for the team again!”  Second half  (The team play better, but they still lose 4-3.)  Bruno is sat at the side of the pitch looking glum.

 

The next day. The team are sat at the bus stop talking about yesterday’s match. Bruno: “No way! I’m not going to play for a woman. She doesn’t know anything!” Maria Julia: “I think we should give here a chance.” Bruno: “You would say that. You’re a ...girl” Clara: “Santi’s right. We played much better in the second half.” Felipe: “Her tactics were great. If we’d listened at the beginning we would have won that match.”

 

Grammar - Possible and Impossible Conditionals

At half-time, Luiza is angry with the team and she uses a conditional sentence to tell the team how angry she is. She uses a sentence to describe something that could happen - it is possible. It is sometimes described as the first conditional. We create the first conditional by using:  if + present simple and will + infinitive:

"If you don't listen, you won't play for the team again."  

After the match, Filipe understands that he didn't listen to Luiza at the beginning of the match and feels bad about this. He uses a sentence to describe something that didn't happen. This is an impossible conditional because it's about something in the past and is sometimes described as the third conditional. We create the third conditional by using:  if + past perfect and would + have + past participle:

"If we'd listened at the beginning, we would have won that match."

Have a go at the activity below to practise more of these types of sentence. If you want to know more, check out the Grammar Pages on our Learn English website.

Activity 2: In this activity, take a look at some sentences and think about which type of conditional sentence you should use.
Can you put the words in the correct place to make the sentences?

Orlando walks past the bus stop. The team are happy to see him. Orlando: “How’s everything going with the team?” Clara: “It’s great coach, she really knows her stuff.” Maria Julia: “She has lots of new ideas.” Bruno: “Come on people are you joking? She doesn’t know anything!”  (Bruno gets up and starts kicking around a can that has been thrown on the ground by the curb. Gustavo walks after him and puts his arm around his shoulder).  Orlando: “Luiza has way more experience coaching than I have, she’s coached players all over the country and in Europe”.  Iwan: “In Europe? That’s where all the big clubs are!” Orlando: “Why don’t you give her a chance?” (Bruno shrugs his shoulders.)

 

Image 1  Back at training.  Image 2  Bruno works hard.  Image 6  Clara and Julia are chatting and don’t hear the coach.  Image 7  Bruno: Come on you two. Coach is calling!  Image 8  Luiza: Thanks, Bruno.  Bruno: Sorry, about last week coach. I was an idiot!  Image 9  Luiza: Don’t worry about it. Now sit down and let’s get on with the teamtalk.

 

The following match. Bruno is back in the team wearing the captain’s armband.  Luiza: “Get back to defend Bruno!” (picture of Bruno running back.) Luiza: “Give it to Clara. Give it.” Bruno passes to Clara who scores.

 

Vocabulary

There were quite a few difficult football words and phrases in this issue of the comic. For example:

"If we can keep possession, we'll win this one."

"Her tactics were great!"

Have a go at the activity below and see if any of the words or expressions are new for you.

Activity 3: There were some difficult phrases and words in this issue of 'The Beautiful Game'. How much did you understand?
Can you put the words from the comic in the right place?

 

 

Quiz

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What do you think?

Why were the team surprised that their new coach was a woman?
Why was Bruno so angry?
What role in sport do women have in your country?
Could we see a woman as a Premier League manager or referee in the future?
 
Tell us your answers in the comments section below.

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Comments

hsn's picture
hsn
09/06/2022
TR
5557
points

What do you think?
In my country women have active roles as athlet,player,referee,manager and director. But number of them have to be more than today
Phrases
• She involved in driving lorry and was very successful. It was another job that available to women. She didn't face any difficulty in this role.
• I paid price for not giving importance to the older people advices.
• If he had care about his health when he was young, he wouldn't has needed treatment so much like this in the old age.
• The person who knows his stuff very best was my primary school teacher.


hsn's picture
hsn
09/06/2022 16:05
Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5557

What do you think?
In my country women have active roles as athlet,player,referee,manager and director. But number of them have to be more than today
Phrases
• She involved in driving lorry and was very successful. It was another job that available to women. She didn't face any difficulty in this role.
• I paid price for not giving importance to the older people advices.
• If he had care about his health when he was young, he wouldn't has needed treatment so much like this in the old age.
• The person who knows his stuff very best was my primary school teacher.

Michaelsun
26/03/2022
CN
738
points

Bruno thinks the woman is not good at coaching a football.


Michaelsun
26/03/2022 10:01
China
Manchester United
738

Bruno thinks the woman is not good at coaching a football.

Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
04/03/2021
BR
1512
points

Because normally the football coaches are men (not that I agree with this statement).
Bruno was angry because he prefers a man coaching them and thinks that Luiza might not be that competent.
Nowadays and fortunately, women have beem occuping every position they want.


Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
04/03/2021 15:08
Brazil
Arsenal
1512

Because normally the football coaches are men (not that I agree with this statement).
Bruno was angry because he prefers a man coaching them and thinks that Luiza might not be that competent.
Nowadays and fortunately, women have beem occuping every position they want.

DonKalou's picture
DonKalou
01/09/2020
CI
8
points

They were surprised because, sometimes people think that women haven't a important role in football. Because longtime football was seen like the men sport. Here in my country ivory coast, there many women in the football in such a way that our women football team played the football world cup one year, this is difficult in Africa. We are even one of the first countries to have a woman as a sports journalist.
In the future it would be interested to see women manage or referee in Premier League.


DonKalou's picture
DonKalou
01/09/2020 20:02
Ivory Coast
Manchester United
8

They were surprised because, sometimes people think that women haven't a important role in football. Because longtime football was seen like the men sport. Here in my country ivory coast, there many women in the football in such a way that our women football team played the football world cup one year, this is difficult in Africa. We are even one of the first countries to have a woman as a sports journalist.
In the future it would be interested to see women manage or referee in Premier League.

mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
05/07/2020
TR
6536
points

Because they think women have no experience in football and it’s bad because that’s a stereotype in lots of countries.
Because he didn’t want to be coached by a woman.
In Turkey , women can join most of the games.
We have already seen a referee in the UEFA super cup final between Chelsea and Liverpool.


mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
05/07/2020 10:31
Turkey
Manchester United
6536

Because they think women have no experience in football and it’s bad because that’s a stereotype in lots of countries.
Because he didn’t want to be coached by a woman.
In Turkey , women can join most of the games.
We have already seen a referee in the UEFA super cup final between Chelsea and Liverpool.

Izabela
17/06/2020
BR
1505
points

Nice


Izabela
17/06/2020 16:44
Brazil
Newcastle United
1505

Nice

rickymanoel
13/03/2020
BR
57
points

- Because they are unused to see a woman in this profession.
- Because the new coach was a woman .
- women have the same roles as men but they are minority;
- I hope there are more woman in sports in the future;


rickymanoel
13/03/2020 19:12
Brazil
Liverpool
57

- Because they are unused to see a woman in this profession.
- Because the new coach was a woman .
- women have the same roles as men but they are minority;
- I hope there are more woman in sports in the future;

Guime boy
27/05/2019
BR
51
points

1)They were surprised the coach was a woman because usually coaches are men.
2)Bruno was angry because the new coach was a woman and he thought that the best coaches were men.
3)In my country woman can have all the roles, but usually they are players.
4)In my opinion we can see a woman in the premier league, but it is not likely because usually women prefer other jobs.


Guime boy
27/05/2019 23:34
Brazil
Arsenal
51

1)They were surprised the coach was a woman because usually coaches are men.
2)Bruno was angry because the new coach was a woman and he thought that the best coaches were men.
3)In my country woman can have all the roles, but usually they are players.
4)In my opinion we can see a woman in the premier league, but it is not likely because usually women prefer other jobs.

Fabiola Saldaña
19/03/2019
MX
8
points

Kolo Toure has the strangest superstitions.
I haven't anything yet.But I noticed my friends who are Man-U's fans that they never wore team's jarsey when we watch our team's match. They told me if they wore our team would be lost.c


Fabiola Saldaña
19/03/2019 14:49
Mexico
Manchester United
8

Kolo Toure has the strangest superstitions.
I haven't anything yet.But I noticed my friends who are Man-U's fans that they never wore team's jarsey when we watch our team's match. They told me if they wore our team would be lost.c

evearleth27
19/03/2019
MX
10
points

In my opinion the comic is very interested


evearleth27
19/03/2019 14:37
Mexico
Manchester United
10

In my opinion the comic is very interested

evearleth27
19/03/2019
MX
10
points

This activity is very good for the fans of the fotbool


evearleth27
19/03/2019 14:35
Mexico
Manchester United
10

This activity is very good for the fans of the fotbool

CaroleAnnMarie1's picture
CaroleAnnMarie1
26/04/2017
IT
317
points

The team only scores one goal at the beginning of the match then they are three goals behind by the end of the first half, so answer three is technically wrong. If the only choices we have are what is in the quiz then I vote for the one that says they played bad for the whole match!!


CaroleAnnMarie1's picture
CaroleAnnMarie1
26/04/2017 18:56
Italy
Everton
317

The team only scores one goal at the beginning of the match then they are three goals behind by the end of the first half, so answer three is technically wrong. If the only choices we have are what is in the quiz then I vote for the one that says they played bad for the whole match!!

Rich's picture
Rich
26/04/2017
ES
594
points

Hi CaroleAnMarie1

The correct answer is that they played well at the beginning of the first half and in the second half when they listened to Luiza's instructions. They didn't play well for the majority of the first half - after they had taken the lead. The conversation at the beginning of the section that follows the match begins with 'we played much better in the second half'.

Hope that helps,

Rich - The Premier Skills English Team


Rich's picture
Rich
26/04/2017 22:39
Spain
Liverpool
594

Hi CaroleAnMarie1

The correct answer is that they played well at the beginning of the first half and in the second half when they listened to Luiza's instructions. They didn't play well for the majority of the first half - after they had taken the lead. The conversation at the beginning of the section that follows the match begins with 'we played much better in the second half'.

Hope that helps,

Rich - The Premier Skills English Team

joto
15/06/2016
AT
271
points

The team was surprised probably because they have never seen a woman as a coach and Orlando was with them for a long time.


joto
15/06/2016 08:18
Austria
Stoke City
271

The team was surprised probably because they have never seen a woman as a coach and Orlando was with them for a long time.

HakanUslu1881's picture
HakanUslu1881
02/03/2016
TR
1761
points

Because they hope their new coach will be a man.
Because he thinks women don't understand football.
Generally they take role as a referee.
Maybe.


HakanUslu1881's picture
HakanUslu1881
02/03/2016 20:46
Turkey
Leicester City
1761

Because they hope their new coach will be a man.
Because he thinks women don't understand football.
Generally they take role as a referee.
Maybe.

Genrilon's picture
Genrilon
29/01/2016
UZ
137
points

Since they deem in a stereotypical way.
Bruno considered this type of occupation belonging to men.
Football players, reporters (but not commentators), physios.
PL manager - doubtful. Refereeing is a possibility.


Genrilon's picture
Genrilon
29/01/2016 17:55
Uzbekistan
Chelsea
137

Since they deem in a stereotypical way.
Bruno considered this type of occupation belonging to men.
Football players, reporters (but not commentators), physios.
PL manager - doubtful. Refereeing is a possibility.

Pavle28's picture
Pavle28
28/01/2016
RS
12
points

We could maybe see a woman as a referee in the premier league,but not as a manegr for sure


Pavle28's picture
Pavle28
28/01/2016 16:13
Serbia
Liverpool
12

We could maybe see a woman as a referee in the premier league,but not as a manegr for sure

elghoul's picture
elghoul
22/01/2016
DZ
3988
points

I Algeria we have some women squades and even a national team.There are also women referees but no coaches .In France Clermont recruited a woman as professional coach.


elghoul's picture
elghoul
22/01/2016 18:35
Algeria
Manchester City
3988

I Algeria we have some women squades and even a national team.There are also women referees but no coaches .In France Clermont recruited a woman as professional coach.

nikosonris
22/01/2016
UA
2453
points

We are now seeing increasingly more female referees in male football leagues all over the world. And the EPL is no exception. I have already seen female fourth officials and assistant referees at some PL matches. Sooner or later we will see a female referee on the pitch. On the flop side, I don't expect the same trend for a PL managerial role as it gets down to men vs women psychology. But it could be a breakthrough experience for the PL teams some day.


nikosonris
22/01/2016 10:01
Ukraine
Arsenal
2453

We are now seeing increasingly more female referees in male football leagues all over the world. And the EPL is no exception. I have already seen female fourth officials and assistant referees at some PL matches. Sooner or later we will see a female referee on the pitch. On the flop side, I don't expect the same trend for a PL managerial role as it gets down to men vs women psychology. But it could be a breakthrough experience for the PL teams some day.

nikosonris
22/01/2016
UA
2453
points

Speaking of the role women have in my country I must admit that we have many female stars of world class. I would mention just a few sports where our Ukrainian girls shine in: swimming, biathlon, rhythmic-sportive gymnastics and athletics.


nikosonris
22/01/2016 09:42
Ukraine
Arsenal
2453

Speaking of the role women have in my country I must admit that we have many female stars of world class. I would mention just a few sports where our Ukrainian girls shine in: swimming, biathlon, rhythmic-sportive gymnastics and athletics.

nikosonris
22/01/2016
UA
2453
points

Firstly, the team were surprised because their then-current coach told them that he was leaving. Secondly, they couldn't have thought of a woman being their coach instead of Orlando.


nikosonris
22/01/2016 09:34
Ukraine
Arsenal
2453

Firstly, the team were surprised because their then-current coach told them that he was leaving. Secondly, they couldn't have thought of a woman being their coach instead of Orlando.

aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
21/01/2016
ME
3557
points

Of course we can. There are already few women referees in the world of football and there will be even more in the future. Still, I must admit I have never seen a single woman working as a football manager. Probably because you need to apply some experiences that you gained back in the days when you were a player on your current team and somehow it is different at ladies. There are not many hard tackles. But let's wait and see what the future holds.


aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
21/01/2016 21:17
Montenegro
Arsenal
3557

Of course we can. There are already few women referees in the world of football and there will be even more in the future. Still, I must admit I have never seen a single woman working as a football manager. Probably because you need to apply some experiences that you gained back in the days when you were a player on your current team and somehow it is different at ladies. There are not many hard tackles. But let's wait and see what the future holds.

aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
21/01/2016
ME
3557
points

There are many women in my country who are very famous esp. handball players since they are among the top 3 national teams in various competitions. In football it is not the case, but I think it depends a lot of the infrastructure and investments in this sport.


aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
21/01/2016 21:09
Montenegro
Arsenal
3557

There are many women in my country who are very famous esp. handball players since they are among the top 3 national teams in various competitions. In football it is not the case, but I think it depends a lot of the infrastructure and investments in this sport.

aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
21/01/2016
ME
3557
points

Bruno was angry with no reason. He should have wait and see what the new coach has to say and to try to enforce new tactics.


aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
21/01/2016 21:04
Montenegro
Arsenal
3557

Bruno was angry with no reason. He should have wait and see what the new coach has to say and to try to enforce new tactics.

aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
21/01/2016
ME
3557
points

The team was surprised probably because they have never seen a woman as a coach and Orlando was with them for a long time.


aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
21/01/2016 21:01
Montenegro
Arsenal
3557

The team was surprised probably because they have never seen a woman as a coach and Orlando was with them for a long time.

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1Alex_from_Ukraine6573
2mobeckham6536
3hsn5557
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4779
6Liubomyr4417
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
RankNameScore
1Colombia74670
2Ukraine33836
3Spain29414
4Serbia27426
5Brazil23401
6Albania20578
7Vietnam20437
8Turkey20095
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United146586
2Liverpool111204
3Chelsea90125
4Arsenal86324
5Manchester City58726
6Tottenham Hotspur19418
7Newcastle United10560
8West Ham United7667
9AFC Bournemouth4915
10Everton4533

Level

4
Average: 4 (1 vote)

Goals

Practise your reading skills.

Learn more about possible and impossible conditional sentences.

Learn some new football vocabulary.