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Learn English through Football Podcast: Turn the Corner
In this week’s football-language podcast we look at some language from the past week including ‘turn the corner‘ and ‘down tools‘. We also predict a big derby from the Premier League: Sunderland versus Newcastle. 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
DF: Hello everyone and welcome to this week’s football language podcast for learners of English who love the beautiful game of football. My name is Damian and I am in a cold but bright London. And how is the weather in Tokyo, Damon?
DB: Hi there Damian. It’s cold here in Tokyo too, but raining as well. A very wintery weekend! How about a message to cheer us up?
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Italian)
DF: That message was in Italian and yes, you are listening to Languagecaster.com or as we are now known: The Learn English Through Football Podcast. What do we have on the show today Damon?
DB: Well Damian, on today’s show we will be looking at two different phrases that have emerged this week. We will look at a phrase from the Champions League match between Manchester City and Real Madrid. Madrid star Jude Bellingham used this phrase when asked about his manager, Xabi Alonso: to down tools. But before that, we are going to take a look at a phrase from the verb ‘to turn‘: ‘to turn a corner’. And at the end of the show, we have a big derby for our predictions section.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Turkish)
DF: Right, that message we just heard was in Turkish and as always, we will have some more stingers or messages throughout the show in different languages. How many will you be able to recognise? And don’t worry, we’ll let you know the languages at the end of the show.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (Hull City fan)
DB: Thank you for that message. OK, next, we have Damian talking about our first football language phrase, to turn a corner.
Football Language: Turn the corner
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DF: Now Liverpool have been in the news recently as the champions have not been in good form at all; in fact, they have already lost six times in the Premier League this season. But recently the Reds have started to find their form; they have started to play a little better. Since losing at home to PSV in the Champions League at the end of November, they have played five times and won three and drawn two.
When a team starts to find form we might sometimes hear the phrase, ‘to turn a corner‘ which suggests that the team have changed direction and are starting to play well again and more importantly are starting to pick up points. We might also hear the phrases, ‘an upturn in form‘ or ‘green shoots of recovery‘ which both suggest that the team is starting to play well after going through a difficult period.
My team Tottenham have also (hopefully) turned the corner, especially with their home form, after winning two games in four days last week. Interestingly, Spurs will play Liverpool next week in the Premier League – the Learn English Through Football Podcast derby – I wonder which team will continue to turn the corner and maintain their good form?
DB: Yes, Damian. Both our teams seem to have got over a bumpy patch of bad form. Liverpool looked very solid in their last game against Brighton, a 2-0 home win. Unfortunately, we’ll be travelling to London to play Spurs, and London has not been a happy hunting ground for Liverpool recently. I’d take a point now if you offered it!
Football Language: To Down Tools
DB: Staying with Liverpool, this is our second football language phrase – to down tools. Last week, I posted a podcast on the phrase that Liverpool’s Mo Salah made in which he felt the club had thrown him under the bus. The player was angry with the Liverpool management, and there were suggestions that players were not giving 100% for the manager, Arne Slot.
A phra se that means the players are in conflict with the manager is, to down tools. This phrase was used to talk about Salah, but it also hit the headlines this week after Real Madrid’s defeat at home to Manchester City. The Madrid manager, Xavi Alonso, is under pressure after a poor run of form but his player Jude Bellingham stated in an interview that the players had not downed tools.
This phrase is related to work and striking – the workers refuse to work because of a dispute with their bosses so they down tools; they stop working as a protest. In football this sometimes happens when a manager and their squad don’t get on well. So in this case, Bellingham was saying the players supported Alonso and hadn’t downed tools, hadn’t stopped believing in their manager.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in French)
Predictions
DF: OK, let’s move on to the predictions this week. First up is Sunderland vs Newcastle United. The Sunderland players have definitely not downed tools, as they have had a fantastic start to their return to the Premier League. They’ve beaten Chelsea, drawn with Arsenal and Liverpool, and are ninth in the league. This Tyne–Wear derby should be a cracker. damon, what do you think?
Premier League: Sunderland vs Newcastle United
DB: It’s been a while since we’ve had a Tyne-Weir derby in the top division, so I’m really looking forward to this. Of course, Tyne is the river that runs through Newcastle and Sunderland is on the river Weir, which gives us the name of the derby.
As Damian has mentioned Sunderland really have been a surprise package this season. Too often, newly promoted sides struggle, but their start has been very impressive. Newcastle on the other hand were expected to do better this season, despite losing their star striker, but their results have been a bit of a mixed bag – draws, wins, losses.
I think this is going to be decided by the fact that Sunderland are playing in front of their home fans at the Stadium of Light. The atmosphere will be crackling and it will see Sunderland to a 1-0 victory. How about you Damian?
DF: These games tend to be tight or very close and so I am going to go for a draw: 1-1 with possibly a red card as well!
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (from a fan in Brazil)
DF: And how about practising your predictions language with us? What do you think will happen in any games that you are watching this week? What do you reckon will happen? Will your team be too good for their opponent? Let us know by coming along to our site or on any of our social media sites and leave a comment and you can post a comment on our forum; it’s a really nice way to practise some of your writing. And of course you can leave a predictions voice note as well and we’d love to hear from you.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Hindi)
Contact
DB: And of course, don’t forget, we have a huge glossary of football terms, with hundreds of expressions, phrases, and clichés about the beautiful game of football.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (from a fan in Japan)
Goodbye
DB: Yes, you are listening to the Learn English Through Football podcast and that message was in Japanese. And we also heard Italian, Turkish, French and Hindi, as well as from fans from Hull and Brazil.
So, 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.
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.
DF: Right, let us know if you hear or see any of the phrases or words that we have talked about on this week’s show, including, ‘downing tools‘ and ‘turn a corner‘. Has your team turned a corner and improved their form? Also, how would you say these phrases in another language that you know? Drop us a line at contact@learnenglishthroughfootball.com. And we’d love to hear from you.
DB: Enjoy all the football this week – we’ll be back early next week with another weekly football expression. And we’d really appreciate it if you could share our site with your friends and give us ‘a like’ on your favourite podcast platform!
DF: Bye!
Related Links
Learn English Through Football Podcast: A show for football fans to improve their English language skills
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