Learn English Through Football Podcast: Off the Line

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Learn English Through Football Podcast: Off the Line

In this week’s football-language podcast we look at some of the language from the 2025 Europa League final between Tottenham and Manchester United and in particular the phrase, ‘off the line‘. We will also look back at some of our pre-season predictions – how well did we do? There are also some more predictions for this weekend’s big games, including the Women’s Champions League final between Barcelona and Arsenal, a huge game in the Premier League and the German Cup Final. 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

Hello

DF: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.

DF: Hello everyone and welcome to the show for fans of football who want to improve their English. My name is Damian and I am in a warm London a couple of days after Tottenham’s win in the Europa League final. Great days indeed! Now, I wonder how Damon is over in Japan?

DB: I’m doing really well over here in Tokyo. It’s a little bit cooler. It’s been hot this week, so the cool weather is welcome. And, yeah, I’ve been enjoying watching the football this week, too; as I’m sure you have. Congratulations to Tottenham! Let me just… give you my congratulations. You must be over the moon! I’m sure we will hear about the game a little more later in the show, but tell me, how was it… how did you feel when you were watching it?

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DF: Ha! Well, it was a wonderful evening – we went to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to watch the final on big screens along with thousands of other Spurs’ fans which meant the atmosphere was great! 17 long years without a trophy. The trophy drought has been ended for many clubs this season, like Newcastle in the Carabao Cup and Crystal Palace in the FA Cup and Bologna winning their first trophy in 51 years! So, it was an amazing feeling for all Spurs’ fans!

DB: Marvellous stuff!

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Spanish)

DF: Yes, you are listening to Languagecaster and that message was in Spanish. And we are going to have more stingers or messages throughout the show in different languages; so which ones can you recognise? Don’t worry if you don’t know them, we’ll give you the answers at the end of the show. And here’s another one for you and I will give you a clue, this language is spoken in South America.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Portuguese from Brazil) 

DB: Right, what do we have on the show today, Damian?

Today’s Show

DF: Well, we are going to look at some language from the Europa League final; with the phrase, ‘off the line‘ after a magnificent goal-line clearance from Spurs defender Micky Van Der Ven. After that, both Damon and myself are going to re-visit, or look back, at our pre-season predictions and see how well (or not!) we did with those predictions for the season. And after that we will have some predictions from the big games this weekend, including the Women’s Champions League final, a huge game from the Premier League and the German Cup Final.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in German) 

Off the Line

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DF: So, Spurs finally won a trophy after defeating Manchester United 1-0 in the Europa League final – that’s their first in 17 years and their first piece of European silverware since 1984. It was not a very entertaining or high-class game but there was a lot of tension – especially for me! Spurs scored just before half time and then defended – sometimes very deeply – for the rest of the game; with some pundits suggesting that they parked the bus. There were one or two nervous moments for the team but their keeper Vicario made some good saves at the end.

But there was one clearance that proved to be a game winning moment when the Spurs defender Micky Van der Ven cleared the ball off the line in a dramatic fashion; it was so important it almost felt like a goal.

So, from a Manchester United free kick, a long ball came into the box (or penalty area) which the Spurs goalkeeper fumbled and it fell to the Manchester United striker Højlund who then headed the ball towards the goal. It seemed to be going in when out of nowhere the Dutch defender Van der Ven cleared the ball by volleying it away. It was almost like a scissors kick and looked very dramatic indeed. He cleared the ball off the line which means that there was noone else behind him (no defender or keeper) and so he had to stop the ball from crossing the line or entering the net. It was a a real goal-saving clearance; he cleared the ball off the line.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Greek) 

Pre-season Predictions – How did we do?

DF: Right, it’s almost the end of the 2024-25 Premier League season and we thought we’d take a look at our predictions from the start of the season. Who did we think would win the title? Which teams did we think would be relegated? And how did we think our favourite teams, Tottenham and Liverpool, would do? Remember that both our teams have won silverware this season! First up, here’s Damon talking about his favourite team Liverpool back in August.

DB: A cup run is great for the fans, and I’m hoping Liverpool get some more silverware this season, after winning the League Cup last year. Maybe the same again? Top four is probably a minimum hope, but with a new manager and no new signings, that will not be easy. If Zubimendi from Real Sociedad had accepted Liverpool’s offer, I would be a lot happier. A big signing, a new face, could have changed the atmosphere in the changing room I think. This squad, despite being full of quite a number of new signings from the previous year or two, may just feel a bit… tired. So, I’d take a domestic cup, a last 16 in the Champions League and a top four finish!

DB: Okay, let’s take a look at my predictions. Well, I wanted a good cup run, and Liverpool gave me one. They went all the way to the final in the League Cup, that’s the Carabao Cup, although, disappointingly, they lost to Newcastle, but I can’t complain. That was… a cup run. I also thought that it would be good if Liverpool made the last-16 in the Champions League. And they did! They were knocked out in the last 16 by PSG. So again, I can’t complain. Although I felt pretty bad at the time, because Liverpool topped the league in the new Champions League format, and looked like they could go all the way.

I also said, top 4 finish was a minimum hope. And… Liverpool didn’t disappoint. In fact, we won the league, and I could not have dreamed about winning the league! If you’d have given me that at the beginning of the season, I would have bitten your hand off.

So, pretty good… predictions for me, all of my predictions came true.

DB: How about Damian and his predictions for Tottenham?

DF: I don’t think we are going to be challenging for the league title but maybe with a lucky draw we might do well in the cups. However, I don’t think we’ll do that well in the Europa League as it is such a difficult tournament to win with so many games and of course these games take place on Thursday nights which is not ideal at all.

If we finish in the top four it will be great and who knows maybe this year fifth place will guarantee Champions League football if the other English sides do well this season. So, a continuation of the progress from last year and maybe aiming for 70+ points and a cup run with a couple of good European nights I think would be a good season.

DF: Well, I was right about one thing – we definitely did not challenge for the title! I also didn’t see us doing well in the Europa League so my predictions for Tottenham at the start of the season were not so accurate at all!

DF: And how did we do with predicting the Premier League winners and the relegated teams? Here’s the two of us again from back in August:

Premier League Winners

DF: Honestly, I can’t see anyone else challenging for the title apart from the top two from last year and so I am going for City to win again.

DB: Yes, I agree with you. The teams around Manchester City have not done enough to improve, and Manchester City have the experience, the squad, and the manager to see them win the long, league race. How about relegation? What do you think?

Relegation

DF: Last season all three promoted sides (that’s Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton Town) were relegated which shows the gap between the Premier League and the Championship. So, my three teams to be relegated are: Ipswich; Leicester and Nottingham Forest.

DB: Again, I can’t disagree. I might have had Leicester to survive but if any points are taken off them, they will find it really difficult. I think it will be Ipswich bottom, Nottingham next to bottom, and Leicester taking the last relegation spot.

DB: Well, I didn’t do, or we didn’t do, so well in the predictions for the champions and the relegated teams, we both thought Manchester City would win, pretty easily, and both of us were wrong there. As I’ve mentioned, of course. Liverpool won! And, Manchester City had a very strange season. At one point, they couldn’t even buy a win, it seemed.

As for the relegated sides, both of us went for Nottingham Forest. Again, how wrong we were. They have had a fantastic season, and are still in the hunt for Champions League football as we speak in this final weekend. We did get Leicester and Ipswich to go down, so overall, not bad, but uh… pretty way off with the title winners.

DF: How about you listeners? What were your pre-season predictions? And were they better than ours?

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in French)

Predictions

DF: OK, next up we have our predictions for this week, and first up here’s Damon with his thoughts on Nottingham Forest versus Chelsea.

Nottingham Forest v Chelsea: Premier League

DB: There is a place in the Champions League for the winner of this game, if there is a winner. Now, Forest definitely need a win, while a draw could be enough for Chelsea to secure a spot in the Champions League. I think it will end 1-1 and Nottingham Forest will have to make do with the Europa League – not a bad tournament.

Barcelona v Arsenal: Women’s Champions League Final

DB: Next we’ve got the Women’s Champions League final between Barcelona and Arsenal and I am going for a 2-1 Barcelona win. That would be a ‘three-peat’, winning the Cup three time on the bounce. Arsenal are the underdogs but I don’t see them upsetting the odds and winning this.

Arminia Bielefeld v Stuttgart: DFB Pokal

DB: Talking of underdogs, third tier Arminia Bielefeld are hoping to pull of a miracle by beating Stuttgart in the DFB Pokal. Again, I am not going to be romantic and go with the minnow, a 2-1 win for Die Roten, Stuttgart.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Catalan)

DF:  Thanks for those Damon. Let’s see…I think Forest will beat Chelsea in this Champions League play-off – maybe 2-1. But I do agree with you on the other two games; I think Stuttgart will win the German Cup and Barcelona will be Champions League winners again.

What do you think of those predictions? Drop us a line and let us know here at Languagecaster.com.

 

Contact

DB: Right, remember to contact us via email at admin@languagecaster.com if you have any questions about the language of football or if you have some feedback on our podcast. Check out our website and explore our Football Language Forum, where you can ask and answer questions about all kinds of football language. There is also our huge glossary of football terms, with hundreds of expressions, phrases, and clichés about the beautiful game.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Vietnamese)

Goodbye

DF:  Yes, you are listening to Languagecaster and that message, or stinger, was in Vietnamese. How about the other ones; did you guess the languages? We had Spanish and Portuguese from Brazil at the start followed by German, Greek, French and Catalan. Well done if you recognised any of those and of course if you’d like to send on another stinger in your own language we’d love to hear from you.

DF: So, on today’s show we looked at the phrase, ‘off the line‘ which is used when describing a clearance that prevents a goal which came from the 2025 Europa League final that saw my team Tottenham win. Let us know if you hear any of the phrases you have heard this week or if you have similar expressions in another language that you know.

DB: Enjoy all the football this weekend. Ta-ra!

DF: Yes, enjoy all the football this week and we’ll see you again early on in the week with our weekly football expression and then later on in the week with another football-language podcast. Bye!

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