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Learn English Through Football Podcast: (to) Bed In
In this week’s football-language podcast we look at Liverpool’s start to the season and the key phrase is ‘to bed in’. We also look ahead to a World cup qualifier between Sweden and Kosovo. You can read the transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions about the phrase or our podcast then you can contact us here.
Hello
DB: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.
DB: Hi everyone and welcome to this week’s football language podcast for learners of English who love football. My name is Damon and I am based in Tokyo, which has been enjoying some lovely autumn weather. How about the weather where you are? Last week Damian, the other half of the team, said there was a big storm in England, so I hope he is enjoying better weather this weekend.
He talked about the phrase to down a team and to put some swazz on a shot in the last podcast. That last one was new to me – I need to brush up on my football vocabulary! A good place to do that would be our glossary of footballing terms, which you can find on our website at LearnEnglishThroughFootball.com. Come along to the site and check it out.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (French)
DB: It’s another international break, which is a good time to take a look back at the start of the season. So on this week’s show, I’m going to have a look at how my team Liverpool have been doing, and one of the key football phrases I will use is to bed in.
But before we start my look at Liverpool and some football language, just a reminder that our domain name is now learnengishthroughfootball.com. You can still find us with the old address of languagecaster.com. If you like what we are doing, please share with your friends and give us like wherever you get our podcast from!
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (Danish)
DF: Thank you for that message which was in Danish. Denmark are doing well in the World Cup Qualifiers, topping their group along with Scotland – those two teams meet for a crunch match in November. We’re going to have more stingers or messages throughout the show in different languages. I wonder how many languages you can identify.
If you can, please send us a message in your own language – just tell us that, ‘You are listening to the Learn English through football podcast’. Or, you can tell us in English your name, where you are from, and the team you support, plus ‘you are listening to the Learn English through football podcast’. It would be great to hear from you and to get as many messages in different languages as possible!
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Swedish)
DB: Right, I’m going to turn to my team Liverpool and their start to the season.
Football Language: A Flying Start
DB: Liverpool got off to a flyer by winning seven on the bounce, seven matches in a row. It was a flying start. To get off to a flyer or to have a flying start means to have a great start, usually winning all your games or remaining undefeated. So I was pleased to see Liverpool beat Bournemouth, Newcastle, Arsenal, Burnley, and Everton in the league, as well as defeat Atletico Madrid and Southampton in cup competitions. Nearly every game was a thriller too, with exciting finishes. Liverpool won nearly all of these games with late winners, for example the last gasp Salah penalty in the 95th minute that downed Burnley.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Norwegian)
Football Language: Not Clicking
DB: So, after five games in the league, Liverpool were top of the pile with a perfect record. Their pre-season rivals, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester City had all dropped points, so things were looking good. But as I mentioned, Liverpool kept needing late winners and never looked entirely convincing. There were no easy 2-0 wins for example.
The team didn’t seem to be clicking. If a team is not clicking, it means they are not playing well with each other, the system is not working well. Something is not quite right. This is to be expected as Liverpool made a host of signings over the summer, which means the players are learning new partnerships and systems.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (Italian)
Football Language: (to) Bed In
DB: These new signings, Isak, Ekitike, Kerkez, Wirtz, Frimpong need to time to bed in. To bed in means to have time to get used to the new environment and to settle, to become comfortable. At the moment, they are not playing to their potential, so the team as a whole is not clicking. And this brings me to the bad from Liverpool’s start, which is three defeats in a row against Crystal Palace, Galatasaray, and Chelsea.
Now, all these games were on the road, they were away matches, and they were played in the space of eight days. Also in the league games against Palace and Chelsea it was late goals that turned draws into defeats. So I am not worrying too much yet. Hopefully, when they are firing on all cylinders, playing at 100%, they will really start to show what they can do.
And, Liverpool are second in the league, one point behind the leaders, in the Champions League and the quarter finals of the League Cup, so although three deteats hurts, there is still plenty to be happy about!
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Polish)
Right, next up it’s our predictions.
Predictions: Sweden vs Kosovo
DB: Right, for this week we are going to look at a big game in the Europen World Cup qualifiers, which sees Sweden play Kosovo. This match in Group B is a must win for Sweden, who, surprisingly, are bottom of the group. They were beaten by Kosovo and Switzerland and could only manage a draw against Slovenia. With only three games to go they realistically need to win all three to have a chance of qualifying.
In the reverse fixture, in Kosovo, Sweden were beaten 2-0, so even though they are at home in this fixture, it won’t be easy. I think they will win though, sparked by a great performance by Isak. Hopefully that will help him get his form back and help Liverpool when he returns to play for them against Manchester United after the international break!
What do you think will happen in this game or other games that you are watching over the weekend? Let us know by coming along to our site and leaving a comment either below this post or on our forum; it’s a really nice way to practise some of your writing. And you can leave a predictions voice note as well! And we’ll be happy to give you some feedback on this and maybe include it in our future podcasts.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (a Liverpool fan)
Contact
DF: Remember you can contact us if you have any questions about the language of football or if you have some feedback on our podcast – we’d love to hear from you. Check out our website – remember, it’s now Learn English through football – and explore our Football Language Forum, where you can ask and answer questions about all kinds of football language.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Dutch)
Goodbye
DB: Yes, you are listening to the Learn English Through Football podcast and that message was in Dutch. How about the other languages you heard on today’s podcast? Did you recognise any? We started with French, followed by Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Italian, and Polish. Well done if you got any of those correct and remember you can add a message by sending us a recording for the Learn English Through Football podcast. We’d love to hear from you.
Right, on this week’s show we looked at some phrases in football that can be used to describe Liverpool’s start to the season. We had ‘a flying start’, ‘not clicking’, and ‘to bed in’. Let us know if you hear or see any of the phrases or words that we have talked about on this week’s show. How would you say these phrases in another language that you know? Or maybe can you tell us how your team is doing? Have they had a flying start? Are there any new players that need time to bed in? Can you use today’s phrases in a sentence? If you can, send it on to us here at Learn English through Football.
Enjoy all the football this weekend and we’ll be back early next week with another weekly football expression from the weekend’s football. Ta-ra!
Links to more phrases from today’s show
Learn English Through Football Podcast: A show for football fans to improve their English language skills
https://languagecaster.com/football-language-glossary/
