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Learn English Through Football Podcast: Can’t Live with Them
In this football language podcast we talk about the noun ‘slump’ and how it is used in football and also look at some big games this weekend. 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 then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com.
Welcome
DB: You’re listening to the Learning English Through Football Podcast. Hi everyone, my name’s Damon, one half of the languagecaster team. The other half is Damian, who we will hear from later in the show in our predictions section. Damian is based in a chilly London, and I am in Tokyo, Japan, which is also a lot cooler but is also nice and sunny this weekend.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Welsh)
Today’s Show
DB: Yes, you are listening to Languagecaster.com. And that message was in Welsh.
And talking of Welsh, we had a nice message from @jamescuff on Bluesky with a list of terms for football in Welsh, including cefn y rhwyd – back of the net! Thanks for that James! So, what football language do we have on the show today. Well, we’ll be talking about the word ‘slump’ and some phrases that are related to it.
And after that, Damian is going to do our predictions section, talking about some big games this weekend.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Dutch)
DB: Thanks for that message in Dutch. OK, let’s start the show with a look at the word slump and how we use it to talk about football.
Slump
DB: Right, a slump is a bad run of form, a time of bad luck or bad results. If a team, for example, doesn’t win for several matches, we can say they are in a slump or they are suffering a slump in form. Form, of course, is a team or a player’s performance. We can use slump to talk about both teams and players. If a striker hasn’t scored for a long time, they are in a slump. Another great expression for this situation is ‘goal drought’; the player is suffering a goal drought.
We can also use slump as a verb. A team can slump to a defeat. This gives the impression that they have been playing poorly recently and this is another bad result. To make this clearer we could say, they slumped to their third successive defeat or similar.
Manchester City’s Poor Form
Eleven games have been played so far in the Premier League and the favourites at the start of the season, Manchester City are in second place. They are five points behind the leaders, Liverpool. Manchester City have had a poor run of form recently; they have lost four games in a row. They are in a slump. In their last Premier League game, they slumped to their fourth defeat in a row against Brighton.
In the Manchester Evening News, Man City midfielder Kovacic said, ‘Manchester City’s slump in form is ‘not ideal’ but is ‘something that happens over the course of the season’.
France 24 has this headline: ‘Man City seek to end mini-slump as Liverpool soar’; followed by, ‘Injury-hit Manchester City are desperate to snap their losing streak in their final Premier League game before the international break.
Losing Streak
In this, the slump is called a mini-slump, implying that the run of poor form is not so serious. If you think a slump is not serious, you can also call it a blip – a blip in form. This means that you expect the team to return to winning matches soon.
The France 24 report also uses the phrase ‘losing streak‘. This means the same as ‘losing run‘. A losing streak and losing run are a number of games back to back that are lost. You can add the number of games to the phrase to make it clearer: a four-game losing streak.
So, let’s review some ways we can use ‘slump’. We can say:
- Manchester City are in a slump
- Manchester City are suffering a slump in form
- Manchester City at Brighton slumped to a fourth defeat
- Manchester City’s slump in form is just a blip
How about your team? How is their form? Are they on a decent run (playing well), or have they suffered a slump in form?
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Greek)
Glossary
DB: Thanks for that message in Greek. Remember, that if you come along to our site at languagecaster.com, you can find hundreds more football expressions and cliches in our glossary pages. Also, let us know if there are any words you would like explaining or share any phrases from your language. It’s always interesting to learn about different ways to talk about football.
DB: Right, here’s Damian with our predictions section.
Predictions
DF: Hello everyone from a freezing, cold London. Here are some of my predictions for this week. We’ve got four games: Three from the Premier League and one from Spain.
OK, Arsenal against Nottingham Forest. Forest have been in good form recently, but I don’t think they are going to get anything at the Emirates. Arsenal will win this one 2-nil. Ipswich have just beaten Spurs for their first Premier League win of the season. They take on Manchester United, who, of course, have a new manager. Will they have a new manager bounce? Yes, Manchester United will win this one 2-nil.
My team Tottenham are playing away at Manchester City. I’m not so confident. I think this will be 2…3-1 to Manchester City. And finally the big game in Spain is the Basque Derby between Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad. I’m going for a 1-1 draw.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Korean)
DB: Thanks Damian, and thanks for that message, which was in Korean. So, Damian is predicting a 3-1 win for Manchester City against Tottenham. That will end the Manchester team’s four-game slump. Arseanl are also suffering a slump in form and Damian also thinks that will end too with a victory over Nottingham Forest. I agree with both his predictions for those games. I also think Man United will have that new manager bounce Damian mentioned and beat promoted side Ipswich, but I’ll disagree with his prediction for the Bilbao derby. I’ll go 1-0 to the home side Athletic Bilbao.
Contact
DB: If you want to let us know your predictions or if you have any questions or comments about any of the language from today or any other football language then drop us an email at admin@languagecaster.com. Don’t forget we also have a football-language forum where you can ask and answer any questions you have on the language of football. And don’t forget, youtube as well, where you can find lots of our podcasts with transcripts there as well. So please spread the word and give us a like or a follow. Come along and follow us on BluSky too at @languageoffootball.blky.social – we’ve just moved there from X.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (Vancouver fan).
Goodbye
DB: OK, that message from a Vancouver fan brings us to the end of the show. Thanks for listening, enjoy all the football and catch you next week! Ta-ra!
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