WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.419 You're listening to the FootGlish podcast. Love 00:00:03.419 --> 00:00:08.919 football, learn English. The new Premier League 00:00:08.919 --> 00:00:11.939 season is here. Can Liverpool keep their crown? 00:00:12.140 --> 00:00:15.699 Or is a new champion waiting in the wings? Which 00:00:15.699 --> 00:00:19.739 promoted side has what it takes to stay up? Are 00:00:19.739 --> 00:00:22.620 West Ham set for a step forward or a stumble? 00:00:22.940 --> 00:00:26.539 And what's the real meaning behind fall through? 00:00:46.920 --> 00:00:49.700 Hello and welcome to this pre -season special 00:00:49.700 --> 00:00:53.500 of the Footgrish podcast. I'm Zdenek Lukas and 00:00:53.500 --> 00:00:56.659 here on the Footgrish podcast we mix football 00:00:56.659 --> 00:01:00.700 and English like Pep Guardiola mixes formations. 00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:05.239 Sometimes genius, sometimes complete nonsense, 00:01:05.480 --> 00:01:11.099 but always worth watching or listening to because 00:01:11.099 --> 00:01:15.250 this is... YouTube video, but also an audio podcast. 00:01:15.629 --> 00:01:19.209 And as always, we've got a guest. And today is 00:01:19.209 --> 00:01:22.750 none other than Ben from the To The Point English 00:01:22.750 --> 00:01:25.670 YouTube channel. Ben, welcome back to the podcast. 00:01:26.349 --> 00:01:28.370 Hi, Zdenek. Thank you for having me on again. 00:01:28.530 --> 00:01:31.870 It's a pleasure to be here, as always. Lovely 00:01:31.870 --> 00:01:35.189 to have you back. And the first question is obvious. 00:01:35.450 --> 00:01:40.250 The Premier League season is here. It's starting 00:01:40.250 --> 00:01:45.870 this weekend. Are you buzzing for it? Yes, I'm 00:01:45.870 --> 00:01:49.409 trying to get up, to be honest. I think I'm getting 00:01:49.409 --> 00:01:51.290 old and I don't want to be a grumpy old man, 00:01:51.390 --> 00:01:55.349 but I found last season was probably the most 00:01:55.349 --> 00:01:57.790 boring season for a long time, especially as 00:01:57.790 --> 00:01:59.769 a West Ham fan. I mean, it was just a nothing 00:01:59.769 --> 00:02:02.930 season. We weren't in Europe. We did nothing. 00:02:03.329 --> 00:02:07.510 The only special aspect of last season for West 00:02:07.510 --> 00:02:09.750 Ham was that we finished above Man United and 00:02:09.750 --> 00:02:12.490 Tottenham, which is... which is surprising because 00:02:12.490 --> 00:02:14.650 I think we finished 15th and they were 16th and 00:02:14.650 --> 00:02:20.210 17th. So, yeah, I mean, there are interesting 00:02:20.210 --> 00:02:22.610 things that can happen next season. So I'm trying 00:02:22.610 --> 00:02:25.990 to get worked up for it. But hopefully West Ham 00:02:25.990 --> 00:02:28.530 can at least just survive in the Premier League 00:02:28.530 --> 00:02:30.610 for another season. I think that's the objective 00:02:30.610 --> 00:02:33.650 at the moment. I feel you. I have to say I had 00:02:33.650 --> 00:02:36.669 a bit of a crisis myself. I think I was just 00:02:36.669 --> 00:02:40.349 overwhelmed with football last season. And then... 00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:43.479 I mean, in the spring part of the season, I realized 00:02:43.479 --> 00:02:46.699 that I had been watching less and less of football. 00:02:46.759 --> 00:02:50.300 Even episodes of this podcast were less frequent. 00:02:50.500 --> 00:02:55.659 So I think maybe we are just sort of bombarded 00:02:55.659 --> 00:02:58.419 by so much football that it's just untenable 00:02:58.419 --> 00:03:00.580 for us. We can't take it anymore. I don't know. 00:03:00.659 --> 00:03:04.360 I think it's very different. I mean, I am old 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:06.120 enough to remember like the 90s. That was the 00:03:06.120 --> 00:03:09.039 peak when the Premier League started, for example. 00:03:10.349 --> 00:03:13.030 I just remember a lot of legends and characters 00:03:13.030 --> 00:03:18.169 in the game, like Cantona, Gascoigne, even Ginola 00:03:18.169 --> 00:03:22.530 or Henry. A lot of... Nowadays, it doesn't say... 00:03:22.530 --> 00:03:24.409 I mean, you have fantastic players, amazing players, 00:03:24.449 --> 00:03:28.189 like Salah and Haaland and De Bruyne. Loads of 00:03:28.189 --> 00:03:32.990 great quality players, but you don't... I think 00:03:32.990 --> 00:03:35.870 it's also the style of football is more technical 00:03:35.870 --> 00:03:38.469 nowadays. It's probably a higher level of... 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:42.259 Just better football in general. But for me, 00:03:42.280 --> 00:03:45.139 it's not as exciting. I think it's partly because 00:03:45.139 --> 00:03:49.960 I'm a grumpy old man too. Me too, probably. But 00:03:49.960 --> 00:03:54.020 despite all that, I think when there is a new 00:03:54.020 --> 00:03:57.180 season, it feels kind of like a fresh start. 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:01.699 You're turning over a new leaf. It's all sort 00:04:01.699 --> 00:04:05.819 of starting again. I think beginnings are always 00:04:05.819 --> 00:04:10.189 nice. Whether it's a relationship or starting 00:04:10.189 --> 00:04:13.610 a new podcast or listening to a new podcast. 00:04:13.710 --> 00:04:16.550 Hopefully, if you guys are new listeners, don't 00:04:16.550 --> 00:04:19.930 forget to subscribe. Don't forget, right? And 00:04:19.930 --> 00:04:22.629 it's always nice. It's like that honeymoon period, 00:04:22.850 --> 00:04:26.529 right? Yeah, and I like the fact that Crystal 00:04:26.529 --> 00:04:28.730 Palace won the Community Shield. I think that's 00:04:28.730 --> 00:04:30.670 a good start because it's not just going to be 00:04:30.670 --> 00:04:33.069 the same. Usually it's Man City or Liverpool. 00:04:33.750 --> 00:04:36.569 Exactly. any of the other big big teams and so 00:04:36.569 --> 00:04:38.790 that that makes it a little bit more interesting 00:04:38.790 --> 00:04:42.829 and hopefully it won't be like last season i 00:04:42.829 --> 00:04:44.889 mean i guess last season was interesting because 00:04:44.889 --> 00:04:48.230 we had man united and tottenham almost getting 00:04:48.230 --> 00:04:50.370 relegated but i don't think they were any they 00:04:50.370 --> 00:04:52.430 were never really in danger of getting relegated 00:04:52.430 --> 00:04:54.689 they they just focused their attention on the 00:04:54.689 --> 00:04:59.310 europa league but um but yeah it's always The 00:04:59.310 --> 00:05:00.970 start of the season is always interesting when 00:05:00.970 --> 00:05:02.569 you've got all the new players coming in and 00:05:02.569 --> 00:05:04.310 you're seeing how they're going to fit in and 00:05:04.310 --> 00:05:07.709 which players are going to stand out. Because 00:05:07.709 --> 00:05:11.209 you expect Haaland and Salah and those to start 00:05:11.209 --> 00:05:13.290 scoring goals, but it doesn't always happen that 00:05:13.290 --> 00:05:16.589 way. And as a football fan, basically everybody's 00:05:16.589 --> 00:05:18.509 at the starting line. Like when you are about 00:05:18.509 --> 00:05:22.529 to run a marathon, run in a marathon, you all 00:05:22.529 --> 00:05:25.829 have kind of the same chance, right, to win it. 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:28.439 You don't, really. But you know what I mean. 00:05:29.240 --> 00:05:32.600 Everybody has zero points. Yeah, whatever happened 00:05:32.600 --> 00:05:35.819 last season, you kind of forget about that. I'm 00:05:35.819 --> 00:05:39.019 sure, again, Tottenham and Man United fans will 00:05:39.019 --> 00:05:40.959 be thinking they can qualify for Europe at the 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:42.540 Champions League, probably, even though they 00:05:42.540 --> 00:05:45.920 were almost relegated last year. So, yeah, I 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:49.660 mean, I know what you mean. Every team has different 00:05:49.660 --> 00:05:52.579 objectives. I still think that although West 00:05:52.579 --> 00:05:55.769 Ham were in Europe a couple of seasons ago, Our 00:05:55.769 --> 00:05:58.329 objective every year is just to not get relegated. 00:05:58.550 --> 00:06:01.029 And I think the three teams that got promoted, 00:06:01.250 --> 00:06:03.050 they're always the favourites to get relegated 00:06:03.050 --> 00:06:06.069 and they just have to do their best to fight. 00:06:06.550 --> 00:06:09.750 Speaking of which, why don't we do our predictions 00:06:09.750 --> 00:06:13.470 here? Okay, yeah, sure. Here and now. And perhaps 00:06:13.470 --> 00:06:16.970 we could start with the winner of the Premier 00:06:16.970 --> 00:06:19.610 League. Who do you think will clinch the title 00:06:19.610 --> 00:06:23.389 this... this time. So last season it was Liverpool, 00:06:23.750 --> 00:06:26.569 so they are the current holders, as we say. So 00:06:26.569 --> 00:06:31.230 do you think they will reclaim the title? I think 00:06:31.230 --> 00:06:34.009 that they're definitely favourites, but I'm going 00:06:34.009 --> 00:06:37.949 to be a little bit controversial and I think 00:06:37.949 --> 00:06:40.370 Arsenal's time might be coming. I think, I know 00:06:40.370 --> 00:06:43.689 it won't make you happy, but... Yeah, yeah. You 00:06:43.689 --> 00:06:48.050 can come on this podcast anytime. Well, I just 00:06:48.050 --> 00:06:51.839 get a feeling that Liverpool, I don't know, because 00:06:51.839 --> 00:06:55.920 they were great last year, but I think Arsenal, 00:06:56.060 --> 00:06:58.240 it might just all come together this year and 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:02.420 Arteta might just make everything click. I think 00:07:02.420 --> 00:07:04.060 they've made some new signings, some interesting 00:07:04.060 --> 00:07:06.959 new signings. I can't tell you the names, but... 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:09.720 Sorry, Jokeresh, the striker, I think is the 00:07:09.720 --> 00:07:12.040 biggest name, probably, from the Portuguese league. 00:07:12.839 --> 00:07:16.980 And, yeah, there are some other names, like Madueke 00:07:16.980 --> 00:07:21.509 and Zubemendi. I'm probably forgetting about 00:07:21.509 --> 00:07:24.310 some more as well, but those would be, I guess, 00:07:24.350 --> 00:07:26.449 the biggest names. And they've still got Rice 00:07:26.449 --> 00:07:30.490 and Saka and the quality and the really good 00:07:30.490 --> 00:07:34.990 defensive players. True. Maybe it will all click 00:07:34.990 --> 00:07:38.689 for Arsenal. I mean, you can't ignore Liverpool. 00:07:38.769 --> 00:07:42.269 I think they're probably the best team in Europe, 00:07:42.310 --> 00:07:47.610 perhaps. I don't know. That's maybe going a little 00:07:47.610 --> 00:07:51.069 bit too far. On paper, Liverpool are probably 00:07:51.069 --> 00:07:52.870 the best team in the Premier League, but I've 00:07:52.870 --> 00:07:58.449 got a feeling about Arsenal this season. Liverpool, 00:07:58.589 --> 00:08:01.470 they were really dominant last year. And yeah, 00:08:01.569 --> 00:08:04.490 I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if they won it 00:08:04.490 --> 00:08:07.649 again, especially since they got such amazing 00:08:07.649 --> 00:08:11.629 signings. such as Florian Wirtz. I mean, he's 00:08:11.629 --> 00:08:14.889 a German wonder kid. And I was watching him because 00:08:14.889 --> 00:08:17.649 there's a Czech player at Bayer Leverkusen, Patrik 00:08:17.649 --> 00:08:19.670 Schick. So I was watching some Leverkusen games 00:08:19.670 --> 00:08:23.050 and this guy, this Florian Wirtz, oh my God, 00:08:23.089 --> 00:08:27.430 he's something else. He is the real deal for 00:08:27.430 --> 00:08:30.449 Liverpool. But you know what? I think there is 00:08:30.449 --> 00:08:34.669 this, of course, sad, really, really tragic moment 00:08:34.669 --> 00:08:37.789 for Liverpool when they lost Diego Jota because 00:08:37.789 --> 00:08:42.000 he... He had a car accident and he passed away. 00:08:42.279 --> 00:08:44.980 So I think that's something that they have to 00:08:44.980 --> 00:08:47.940 get over as well. And yeah, who knows? Who knows 00:08:47.940 --> 00:08:51.240 what will happen this year? You don't know how 00:08:51.240 --> 00:08:53.440 those kind of things can affect a team. Obviously, 00:08:53.480 --> 00:08:56.100 it's tragic, him and his brother passing away 00:08:56.100 --> 00:08:58.940 in the car accident. And that's the most important 00:08:58.940 --> 00:09:02.559 thing. But Liverpool have to now, partly for 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:08.980 him, try to regather. It can have a... you know 00:09:08.980 --> 00:09:11.340 like a bonding effect on the team and you know 00:09:11.340 --> 00:09:14.120 it's like literally that let's do it for Jota 00:09:14.120 --> 00:09:18.379 and it gives them that extra motivation or it 00:09:18.379 --> 00:09:21.299 may be a distraction who knows but we'll see 00:09:21.299 --> 00:09:24.399 as the season progresses but yeah exactly it 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:27.080 could go either way but also we have Manchester 00:09:27.080 --> 00:09:31.860 City I would say they have something to prove 00:09:31.860 --> 00:09:35.250 as well right Pep Guardiola I think, isn't this 00:09:35.250 --> 00:09:38.330 his last season or something? Hasn't he announced 00:09:38.330 --> 00:09:43.269 a while back that this would be his last season? 00:09:43.429 --> 00:09:45.149 I read something about that. I don't know if 00:09:45.149 --> 00:09:46.750 it's official yet, but I think he was talking 00:09:46.750 --> 00:09:50.289 about it. Am I wrong about this? I think he's 00:09:50.289 --> 00:09:52.289 not the kind of person that would... I think 00:09:52.289 --> 00:09:54.509 it depends on how they... If they win the Premier 00:09:54.509 --> 00:09:57.480 League, he'll probably... He wants to live on 00:09:57.480 --> 00:09:59.379 a high, doesn't he? Yeah, he's so competitive, 00:09:59.639 --> 00:10:02.299 I think. He is extremely competitive and he's 00:10:02.299 --> 00:10:04.620 used to winning. And obviously, I mean, a blip 00:10:04.620 --> 00:10:06.600 can happen, right, to anyone. So I think one 00:10:06.600 --> 00:10:08.919 season where things didn't go well for them, 00:10:08.940 --> 00:10:11.279 that's fine. But now I'm sure he wants to be 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:14.460 back. I'm sure he will do anything he can to 00:10:14.460 --> 00:10:17.559 make that happen. And also we should mention 00:10:17.559 --> 00:10:20.919 probably Chelsea because they won the Club World 00:10:20.919 --> 00:10:25.340 Cup. No matter what you think about that competition, 00:10:25.659 --> 00:10:29.500 it still has some sort of significance, I think. 00:10:29.899 --> 00:10:35.500 To say the least, it has probably improved their 00:10:35.500 --> 00:10:38.840 confidence, hasn't it? Yeah, if nothing else, 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:42.639 it's improved their confidence. Chelsea are such 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:45.200 a strange team with so many players out on loan. 00:10:47.059 --> 00:10:48.980 It's difficult to know what they're going to 00:10:48.980 --> 00:10:51.409 do. But yeah, you can't ignore them. You can't 00:10:51.409 --> 00:10:55.570 ignore Man City. You can't even ignore Man United 00:10:55.570 --> 00:10:57.169 and Tottenham. I don't think they're going to 00:10:57.169 --> 00:10:59.909 be pushing for the title. But I think, you know, 00:10:59.929 --> 00:11:03.049 there's so many big clubs in England. I'm not 00:11:03.049 --> 00:11:06.330 sure. But if you look at Tottenham, they made 00:11:06.330 --> 00:11:10.190 a lot of changes. Like, look at their signings. 00:11:10.190 --> 00:11:14.409 They've got some really big names now. And also, 00:11:14.509 --> 00:11:19.120 they have a new manager. So Thomas Frank, I think, 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:21.539 is Premier League proven. And he did an amazing 00:11:21.539 --> 00:11:26.960 job at Brentford. So if anyone can do it, it 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:29.980 could be him. And then with these new signings, 00:11:29.980 --> 00:11:32.519 new energy, don't you think that they might be 00:11:32.519 --> 00:11:35.559 strong this time? Well, you say if anyone can 00:11:35.559 --> 00:11:37.480 do it, it might be him. But I seem to remember 00:11:37.480 --> 00:11:40.120 people saying that about Mourinho and Conte and 00:11:40.120 --> 00:11:45.919 Pochettino. Poste Coglu. Yeah. They're all good 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:49.240 managers, fantastic managers, but it almost seems 00:11:49.240 --> 00:11:52.299 like an impossible job. I mean, what did they 00:11:52.299 --> 00:11:55.399 win last year? They won the Europa League. They 00:11:55.399 --> 00:12:00.159 won the Europa League. So if they now won a trophy, 00:12:00.360 --> 00:12:03.639 we have always been making fun of them for not 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:06.200 winning anything. But if they now manage to win 00:12:06.200 --> 00:12:09.740 a trophy, anything could happen. But they win 00:12:09.740 --> 00:12:11.860 a trophy finally and they sack their manager 00:12:11.860 --> 00:12:17.419 immediately. Typical. Yeah, it was a strange 00:12:17.419 --> 00:12:19.360 season, wasn't it? They finally won a trophy, 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:21.659 but they almost got relegated at the same time. 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:26.919 So top four, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal. 00:12:27.480 --> 00:12:31.620 And then do you think Chelsea or who do you think 00:12:31.620 --> 00:12:34.240 will be there? It's difficult. I'd like to be 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:36.740 interesting and say something. I mean, Newcastle 00:12:36.740 --> 00:12:40.179 could be up there, but Notts Forest did really 00:12:40.179 --> 00:12:42.240 well last year, but I can't see them maintaining 00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:45.480 it. So, yeah, you can't. look past those four 00:12:45.480 --> 00:12:48.460 teams. I think, for me, it's Arsenal maybe to 00:12:48.460 --> 00:12:52.360 win it, Liverpool, City, second and third. Yeah, 00:12:52.379 --> 00:12:56.019 unfortunately, it's probably Chelsea. But, I 00:12:56.019 --> 00:12:59.899 mean, maybe Man United. I mean, Amorim, is that 00:12:59.899 --> 00:13:04.860 his name? Yeah, Ruben Amorim. He's, maybe he's... 00:13:05.929 --> 00:13:08.570 I don't know. He's working something for us. 00:13:08.669 --> 00:13:10.830 Yeah, maybe he's worked it out. He's finally 00:13:10.830 --> 00:13:14.669 cracked the code. They bought Mbomo, right? Bram 00:13:14.669 --> 00:13:21.190 Mbomo. Yeah, Mbomo. And someone else, yeah. Yeah. 00:13:21.570 --> 00:13:24.370 I don't have it here in front of me, but yeah, 00:13:24.450 --> 00:13:27.309 you always have some changes in teams and it 00:13:27.309 --> 00:13:31.649 could, you know, do something with the... I think 00:13:31.649 --> 00:13:34.129 it's a bit like Tottenham. At the moment, there's 00:13:34.129 --> 00:13:37.990 an intrinsic problem with the culture of Man 00:13:37.990 --> 00:13:39.750 United. It doesn't matter who the manager is. 00:13:39.850 --> 00:13:41.529 To a certain extent, it doesn't matter who the 00:13:41.529 --> 00:13:43.490 players are. There's something... That is true. 00:13:43.549 --> 00:13:46.549 There's something rotten there. Yeah. As maybe 00:13:46.549 --> 00:13:49.690 Gary Neville would say. So, yeah, it's true. 00:13:49.830 --> 00:13:52.590 It's true. How about the newly promoted teams? 00:13:52.669 --> 00:13:55.090 You mentioned that they might be favourites to 00:13:55.090 --> 00:13:58.360 get relegated. So we've got Burnley. Leeds United 00:13:58.360 --> 00:14:00.480 with a lot of Premier League experience. Of course, 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:02.340 these teams are yo -yo clubs, you could say, 00:14:02.360 --> 00:14:07.389 Burnley and what was the other one? Leeds, you 00:14:07.389 --> 00:14:09.330 said? Leeds, sorry. Leeds United, of course. 00:14:09.450 --> 00:14:12.950 And then we have got one team that is coming 00:14:12.950 --> 00:14:16.450 back after a longer break, and that's Sunderland. 00:14:16.889 --> 00:14:19.889 And obviously, everybody knows the documentary 00:14:19.889 --> 00:14:22.570 Sunderland Till I Die. So I think this is a big 00:14:22.570 --> 00:14:26.029 story as well. And they bought Granit Xhaka, 00:14:26.289 --> 00:14:30.769 I think, from Leverkusen, an ex -Arsenal player. 00:14:30.909 --> 00:14:34.350 So yeah, you never know. It might not be all 00:14:34.350 --> 00:14:37.220 of them going down this time. Well, I hope not, 00:14:37.259 --> 00:14:39.360 because if that's just what always happens, then 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:41.600 it becomes very predictable and a bit boring. 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:47.299 And for those teams, it's a bit demoralising. 00:14:47.320 --> 00:14:50.039 And, you know, for the fans, they get, you know, 00:14:50.039 --> 00:14:53.340 one year in the Premier League and then they've 00:14:53.340 --> 00:14:55.940 got to go back down. I mean, I don't know. It's 00:14:55.940 --> 00:14:57.639 just not good for football, I think, if the same 00:14:57.639 --> 00:15:00.539 teams that get promoted get relegated again. 00:15:00.580 --> 00:15:02.320 There's something wrong with the structure, the 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:05.320 infrastructure. So, yeah, hopefully they won't. 00:15:05.340 --> 00:15:08.379 I mean, as long as West Ham don't go down, I 00:15:08.379 --> 00:15:10.700 would be happy with three different teams, not 00:15:10.700 --> 00:15:14.559 the same teams. Makes sense. Makes sense. Golden 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:26.240 boot? Callum Wilson. No. I think you're being 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:28.340 sarcastic here because I think West Ham fans, 00:15:28.620 --> 00:15:30.539 they are not happy about this signing. Not really. 00:15:30.899 --> 00:15:33.539 It's just a nothing signing, really. It's a typical 00:15:33.539 --> 00:15:39.440 West Ham nothing signing. Golden Boot, probably 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:47.200 maybe Isak or Haaland. Salah, obviously Salah 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:49.710 will be up there, but he's going to have... He 00:15:49.710 --> 00:15:52.950 had a great season last year, I think, but he's 00:15:52.950 --> 00:15:53.970 going to start dropping. It could be Haaland 00:15:53.970 --> 00:15:56.149 again, right? Haaland. Yeah, Haaland has to come 00:15:56.149 --> 00:16:00.169 back. He has to prove himself again, I think. 00:16:00.230 --> 00:16:04.210 So it might be him. Yeah. But Isak, it looks 00:16:04.210 --> 00:16:06.070 like Isak's staying at Newcastle in the end. 00:16:06.149 --> 00:16:08.669 So maybe he's gone. I think so, yeah. Well, I 00:16:08.669 --> 00:16:10.070 don't know, but anything can happen in these 00:16:10.070 --> 00:16:14.850 last few weeks. But yeah, Haaland, I think. You 00:16:14.850 --> 00:16:18.210 can't look past Haaland. All right. So let me 00:16:18.210 --> 00:16:21.169 ask you a few questions about West Ham now. So 00:16:21.169 --> 00:16:24.230 there's a connection. You know, I'm from the 00:16:24.230 --> 00:16:26.629 Czech Republic. So there's a connection to the 00:16:26.629 --> 00:16:29.429 Czech League again, because you bought a player 00:16:29.429 --> 00:16:33.269 called El Hadji Malik Diouf, who played for Slavia 00:16:33.269 --> 00:16:36.250 Prague. And he was like the best player of the 00:16:36.250 --> 00:16:38.669 league, to be honest. So what do you make of 00:16:38.669 --> 00:16:40.850 him? Did you watch any preseason friendlies? 00:16:41.340 --> 00:16:44.240 I've seen a little bit, not much, but he looks 00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:47.120 very good, yeah. I'm quite excited about him. 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:49.980 We have some kind of connection with Slavia Prague, 00:16:50.100 --> 00:16:56.559 with Sucek. Oh my God, he's just left and I can't 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:58.820 remember his name. Sofal, Sofal. Sofal, yeah. 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:01.620 He also left the club. Exactly, he left the club, 00:17:01.659 --> 00:17:04.980 yeah. He's a legend of West Ham. I think he was 00:17:04.980 --> 00:17:06.980 four or five years at West Ham. He's very popular. 00:17:07.900 --> 00:17:10.599 status of a legend, but I think he stayed in 00:17:10.599 --> 00:17:15.640 some fans' hearts and that's good enough. Yeah, 00:17:15.660 --> 00:17:19.819 so El Hadj, I can't pronounce his whole name 00:17:19.819 --> 00:17:22.559 yet. El Hadj Malik Diouf, so he's a winger, he's 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:24.759 a left winger, a left -footed left winger, which 00:17:24.759 --> 00:17:31.319 is always a hot property and he's fast, he has 00:17:31.319 --> 00:17:35.240 amazing crossing ability and good decision -making. 00:17:35.829 --> 00:17:38.490 But also we have to say he's only 20 years old. 00:17:38.809 --> 00:17:42.230 So there will still be, I think he will need 00:17:42.230 --> 00:17:45.029 some bedding, like there will have to be a bedding 00:17:45.029 --> 00:17:48.609 period, right? Yeah. But I mean, I think in one 00:17:48.609 --> 00:17:50.910 pre -season friendly, we won, I don't know if 00:17:50.910 --> 00:17:53.390 it was 2 -0 or 2 -1, and he provided both the 00:17:53.390 --> 00:17:55.190 crosses and the amazing crosses for the goals. 00:17:55.230 --> 00:18:00.609 And with Fulkrug, a big German striker, he didn't 00:18:00.609 --> 00:18:03.670 do much last season, but if they're putting crosses 00:18:03.670 --> 00:18:06.500 onto his head like that, then... he could get 00:18:06.500 --> 00:18:09.039 a few goals. It could be interesting. So yeah, 00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:12.299 I'm quite happy about that signing and optimistic. 00:18:12.339 --> 00:18:16.019 I think also we need to mention Paqueta, Lucas 00:18:16.019 --> 00:18:21.319 Paqueta, the creative midfielder, who was cleared 00:18:21.319 --> 00:18:26.779 of his spot -fixing charges, max -fixing or spot 00:18:26.779 --> 00:18:29.779 -fixing charges. So I think that's definitely 00:18:29.779 --> 00:18:33.079 good news for you as well. Yeah, of course. And 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:35.799 hopefully he can focus on his... on football 00:18:35.799 --> 00:18:37.960 now because I think he possibly has been a bit 00:18:37.960 --> 00:18:39.980 distracted over the last couple of seasons. And 00:18:39.980 --> 00:18:42.740 that, I mean, hopefully West Ham will be compensated 00:18:42.740 --> 00:18:44.299 for that because it's disgusting if he's been 00:18:44.299 --> 00:18:48.420 found completely innocent of all match -fixing 00:18:48.420 --> 00:18:52.420 charges. Then it's clear that, first of all, 00:18:52.460 --> 00:18:54.779 he was linked to Man City a couple of seasons 00:18:54.779 --> 00:18:56.799 ago. We were going to sell him for quite a lot 00:18:56.799 --> 00:18:58.940 of money. That fell through because of these 00:18:58.940 --> 00:19:01.619 charges. And I think he hasn't been the player 00:19:01.619 --> 00:19:05.420 he could have been. due to these charges. So, 00:19:05.420 --> 00:19:08.200 yeah, I mean, he's an amazing player. He's a 00:19:08.200 --> 00:19:11.500 regular in the Brazilian national team. So, I 00:19:11.500 --> 00:19:15.200 think every big team, I know West Ham are maybe 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:18.559 not a big team, but you need a player like Paqueta, 00:19:18.779 --> 00:19:21.319 sort of a playmaker that can make things happen 00:19:21.319 --> 00:19:25.319 in the centre of midfield. So, I'm glad we, yeah, 00:19:25.400 --> 00:19:28.119 if it hadn't been, the reality is if it hadn't 00:19:28.119 --> 00:19:31.819 been for these match -fixing charges. He wouldn't 00:19:31.819 --> 00:19:33.339 be a West Ham player now. We would have sold 00:19:33.339 --> 00:19:36.859 him at least a season ago. So it kind of worked 00:19:36.859 --> 00:19:39.559 out for you. But what didn't work? Well, it's 00:19:39.559 --> 00:19:41.380 a question. Did it work out for you? Because 00:19:41.380 --> 00:19:44.240 you sold Mohamed Kudu. So is that a good thing? 00:19:44.359 --> 00:19:46.420 Because you've made a lot of money. It's not 00:19:46.420 --> 00:19:49.700 you, the fan, who made the money. It's the club. 00:19:49.980 --> 00:19:53.160 It depends what they do with that. Do they buy 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:57.259 someone else? Was it around 50 million pounds? 00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:01.099 I think it was more than that. That's a lot. 00:20:01.339 --> 00:20:05.160 I thought it was 60 or 70 or something in that 00:20:05.160 --> 00:20:09.200 region. And that's a lot of money. 55 million 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:13.119 pounds. So of all teams, he went to Tottenham. 00:20:13.500 --> 00:20:17.180 And that's also surprising. It hurts a little 00:20:17.180 --> 00:20:21.480 bit more, yeah. I loved Kudus in his first couple 00:20:21.480 --> 00:20:24.299 of seasons. I was really excited about him and 00:20:24.299 --> 00:20:26.819 I think he's a fantastic player. He's the typical 00:20:26.819 --> 00:20:28.809 player that will be really good for a... any 00:20:28.809 --> 00:20:31.630 other team, Tottenham in this case. He didn't 00:20:31.630 --> 00:20:35.130 quite do it for West Ham last season. I think 00:20:35.130 --> 00:20:38.569 we always just expected a little bit more from 00:20:38.569 --> 00:20:42.089 him and he didn't quite make it. It seemed to 00:20:42.089 --> 00:20:44.269 me like he didn't try hard enough at some point. 00:20:44.309 --> 00:20:48.349 He sort of gave up. He's a very skilful player 00:20:48.349 --> 00:20:52.309 and he's got a great shot on him. I think he'll 00:20:52.309 --> 00:20:55.069 be great for Tottenham, unfortunately. It's one 00:20:55.069 --> 00:20:56.589 of those things I don't think he would have... 00:20:57.440 --> 00:21:00.220 developed much more at West Ham so I'm sad to 00:21:00.220 --> 00:21:03.220 see him go but I'm really sad the fact that we 00:21:03.220 --> 00:21:05.640 can't develop players like that players that 00:21:05.640 --> 00:21:08.140 seem to I don't know if they're not interested 00:21:08.140 --> 00:21:11.279 in doing it for West Ham I don't know I don't 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:14.119 know but like to me he didn't seem like a team 00:21:14.119 --> 00:21:17.759 player so it looked like all the time he played 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:20.680 on himself like he only dribbled didn't pass 00:21:20.680 --> 00:21:24.000 the ball at all. And I think some of his teammates 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:26.140 might have been a bit frustrated about that. 00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:30.160 So from that point of view, maybe this is a healthier 00:21:30.160 --> 00:21:33.720 situation for you. You will see. Only time will 00:21:33.720 --> 00:21:37.079 show if this was the right move for Wazam or 00:21:37.079 --> 00:21:40.000 not. Yeah, and we got quite decent money for 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:41.819 it. So I think we made a bit of a profit. And 00:21:41.819 --> 00:21:43.920 yeah, it depends how they spend the money. But 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:48.500 I think... This is Graham Potter's first full 00:21:48.500 --> 00:21:52.400 season in charge. A lot of players have left. 00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:57.640 Their contracts weren't renewed. Fabianski was 00:21:57.640 --> 00:22:01.180 quite sad. Cresswell had been in West Ham for 00:22:01.180 --> 00:22:04.119 over 10 years, I think. Fabianski, a long time. 00:22:06.059 --> 00:22:12.119 Vlad. Vlad. So fell. And the striker, what's 00:22:12.119 --> 00:22:16.849 his name? Antonio. Antonio as well. Yeah. What 00:22:16.849 --> 00:22:19.750 about that striker? What's his name? Oh my God. 00:22:19.789 --> 00:22:22.630 From Aston Villa. Can't remember his name now. 00:22:23.009 --> 00:22:26.130 From Aston Villa? That striker that didn't play 00:22:26.130 --> 00:22:29.329 much. He was always on bench. Oh, Danny Ings. 00:22:29.490 --> 00:22:33.190 Danny Ings, yeah. He did play for Aston Villa, 00:22:33.289 --> 00:22:35.210 right? I think so. Yeah, he played for Southampton, 00:22:35.329 --> 00:22:37.690 Villa. Yeah, I think Villa for a bit. Well, it 00:22:37.690 --> 00:22:40.089 was at Liverpool. I can't remember who we signed 00:22:40.089 --> 00:22:44.569 him from. But yeah, he's... I think we had to 00:22:44.569 --> 00:22:46.990 let those players go. I mean, it was like, thank 00:22:46.990 --> 00:22:48.950 you very much for your service, but now is the 00:22:48.950 --> 00:22:51.289 time to go. And I think that was kind of a clean 00:22:51.289 --> 00:22:55.230 out a little bit. Getting rid of the dead wood, 00:22:55.349 --> 00:22:59.650 as they say. How about Tomáš Soček? Because to 00:22:59.650 --> 00:23:02.329 me, it looks like the captain of the Czech national 00:23:02.329 --> 00:23:05.910 team doesn't have the same kind of position as 00:23:05.910 --> 00:23:08.970 he used to have in the previous seasons, because 00:23:08.970 --> 00:23:13.210 it turns out that he doesn't start. games in 00:23:13.210 --> 00:23:16.970 pre -season? So what's going on there? Is he 00:23:16.970 --> 00:23:20.089 getting phased out of the team, of the first 00:23:20.089 --> 00:23:22.589 team? Maybe it's just Potter's trying different 00:23:22.589 --> 00:23:25.230 formations. I don't know what the idea is. I 00:23:25.230 --> 00:23:29.750 mean, we have a lot of midfield players and it's 00:23:29.750 --> 00:23:32.869 difficult. Suchek, he's been great for West Ham 00:23:32.869 --> 00:23:35.009 and hopefully he will continue to be great for 00:23:35.009 --> 00:23:40.690 West Ham because he scores goals and he's integral 00:23:40.690 --> 00:23:43.650 to the team. So I don't know. I don't know what 00:23:43.650 --> 00:23:46.769 Potter's thinking there because he's a survivor. 00:23:48.609 --> 00:23:51.069 He's always staying positive. I think even if 00:23:51.069 --> 00:23:54.529 he really starts on bench, he will be positive. 00:23:54.650 --> 00:23:59.950 He won't grumble. That's him. He's a true professional. 00:24:00.609 --> 00:24:04.430 I think what might happen is after a few bad 00:24:04.430 --> 00:24:07.589 games, he will be back in the starting 11 because 00:24:07.589 --> 00:24:09.609 that's the kind of guy he is. He never gives 00:24:09.609 --> 00:24:14.690 up. He's always... there and thereabouts. And 00:24:14.690 --> 00:24:17.170 it's just Tomáš Soček for you. And when you need 00:24:17.170 --> 00:24:22.130 goals, you can always rely on him. So I don't 00:24:22.130 --> 00:24:23.809 know what to think about this. Even some Czech 00:24:23.809 --> 00:24:26.970 fans are divided on him, which is a surprise. 00:24:27.390 --> 00:24:32.289 It's also kind of like 50 -50 in the Czech football 00:24:32.289 --> 00:24:37.579 environment. Yeah. No, he's proven himself. I 00:24:37.579 --> 00:24:39.960 think we spoke about this before. He doesn't 00:24:39.960 --> 00:24:42.160 look like a typical football player in the way 00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:47.319 he moves. So I think that is quite awkward, but 00:24:47.319 --> 00:24:50.200 he gets the job done and you can't argue with 00:24:50.200 --> 00:24:55.019 what he's done over the last few years. So I 00:24:55.019 --> 00:24:58.359 don't know. Sometimes it can be extremely frustrating. 00:24:58.660 --> 00:25:00.680 He's got the skills. It's almost the opposite 00:25:00.680 --> 00:25:04.720 to Sucek. He's very skillful, very natural. football 00:25:04.720 --> 00:25:06.900 player but sometimes he doesn't perform he's 00:25:06.900 --> 00:25:10.579 a bit incremental one game he could be the man 00:25:10.579 --> 00:25:12.200 of the match and the next game he disappears 00:25:12.200 --> 00:25:16.019 but sulchek is always always there always stable 00:25:16.019 --> 00:25:19.859 yeah so i don't know what will happen with sulchek 00:25:19.859 --> 00:25:22.200 in the future but hopefully he'll continue to 00:25:22.200 --> 00:25:25.859 i mean it's going to take a lot there are a lot 00:25:25.859 --> 00:25:27.420 of changes at west ham so it's going to take 00:25:27.420 --> 00:25:30.349 some We probably won't start the season that 00:25:30.349 --> 00:25:32.230 well. We probably won't finish it very well either, 00:25:32.269 --> 00:25:37.170 but who knows? The jury is still out with Potter 00:25:37.170 --> 00:25:40.930 because he didn't have a good season last year. 00:25:40.930 --> 00:25:44.029 I think he's got the worst statistics of any 00:25:44.029 --> 00:25:46.269 West Ham manager in the last... I can't remember 00:25:46.269 --> 00:25:48.950 what it was, but we've lost more games or he's 00:25:48.950 --> 00:25:55.230 got the worst win -to -lose ratio of any West 00:25:55.230 --> 00:25:57.650 Ham manager. I think something like that. But 00:25:57.650 --> 00:26:00.190 I think we have to be patient. We have to give 00:26:00.190 --> 00:26:05.609 him a full season and see if he can make it happen. 00:26:05.769 --> 00:26:10.890 I'm not convinced, but I'm patient, I think. 00:26:11.630 --> 00:26:15.910 I think West Ham fans have a bad reputation because 00:26:15.910 --> 00:26:20.970 of the Moyes situation. He did well for us, but 00:26:20.970 --> 00:26:24.049 in the end we wanted him out because he wasn't 00:26:24.049 --> 00:26:25.809 taking us to the next level. But generally West 00:26:25.809 --> 00:26:28.410 Ham fans... quite patient with their managers. 00:26:28.529 --> 00:26:31.630 We've had very long -term managers. So I think 00:26:31.630 --> 00:26:34.049 most West Ham fans would want Potter to be given 00:26:34.049 --> 00:26:36.529 a full season to show what he can do. Unless 00:26:36.529 --> 00:26:39.410 we're sort of in the relegation zone in March, 00:26:39.529 --> 00:26:42.049 then we'd have to think about making a change. 00:26:42.069 --> 00:26:44.470 Absolutely, absolutely. Well, good luck to West 00:26:44.470 --> 00:26:49.690 Ham. And I think we also have to ask you about 00:26:49.690 --> 00:26:52.950 the Fantasy Premier League. Do you play it? I 00:26:52.950 --> 00:26:55.420 do, yeah, yeah. chosen my team already although 00:26:55.420 --> 00:26:58.920 i may make some tweaks over the next few days 00:26:58.920 --> 00:27:02.799 before it starts but um good old fbl yeah so 00:27:02.799 --> 00:27:05.680 here's the link if any of you want to join the 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:10.019 food glitch podcast mini league it's 5 v t 9 00:27:10.019 --> 00:27:18.720 6 0 5 small v small t 9 6 small o or you can 00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:20.819 join through this link it's also in the description 00:27:20.819 --> 00:27:26.289 of this episode Okay, Ben, any last words before 00:27:26.289 --> 00:27:30.230 the start of the season? No. Well, good luck 00:27:30.230 --> 00:27:34.569 to everyone's team. Hopefully West Ham don't 00:27:34.569 --> 00:27:36.450 get relegated and if we can get anywhere near 00:27:36.450 --> 00:27:38.950 Europe, then I'll be happy. But yeah, I just 00:27:38.950 --> 00:27:40.690 hope it's more entertaining than last year. I 00:27:40.690 --> 00:27:42.930 found it quite boring last year, but hopefully 00:27:42.930 --> 00:27:48.089 there'll be more attacking football and a bit 00:27:48.089 --> 00:27:49.930 more interesting. But maybe it's because I'm 00:27:49.930 --> 00:27:52.640 a West Ham fan and I found it so boring. Really 00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:55.019 boring season for us. Let's have a good season, 00:27:55.099 --> 00:27:57.599 whether you are a fan of one of the Premier League 00:27:57.599 --> 00:28:00.720 clubs or neutral. It's still an exciting league 00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:02.440 to watch, of course. So let's have some fun. 00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:05.380 Exactly. Thank you very much, Ben, for being 00:28:05.380 --> 00:28:07.920 a guest on the FootGish podcast. And if any of 00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:12.880 you guys need to study for the first certificate 00:28:12.880 --> 00:28:19.299 or CAE or the CPE exams, then Ben is your guy. 00:28:19.769 --> 00:28:21.970 check out his YouTube channel To The Point English 00:28:21.970 --> 00:28:26.829 with Ben. Thank you, Zdenek. Lovely to have you 00:28:26.829 --> 00:28:31.410 back and take care, Ben. Cheers. You too. Bye 00:28:31.410 --> 00:28:39.289 -bye. Bye. Welcome back to the Language Corner. 00:28:39.450 --> 00:28:42.470 If this is your first time listening, then let 00:28:42.470 --> 00:28:45.009 me tell you what this is. Basically, this is 00:28:45.009 --> 00:28:50.140 a segment of this... the second part of the show 00:28:50.140 --> 00:28:54.019 where I showcase my teaching skills. That's right, 00:28:54.079 --> 00:28:56.859 I'm an English teacher, so I have to teach you 00:28:56.859 --> 00:28:59.880 something. I still want this podcast to be more 00:28:59.880 --> 00:29:03.779 about football than about explaining grammar, 00:29:03.859 --> 00:29:08.000 vocabulary and whatnot. But also, you have to 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:11.180 learn something from this, right? Today I'm going 00:29:11.180 --> 00:29:13.380 to keep it short and sweet and that's because 00:29:13.380 --> 00:29:16.900 I think the interview was quite long. So let's 00:29:16.900 --> 00:29:21.079 have a look at one little phrasal verb. This 00:29:21.079 --> 00:29:24.480 is what Ben said when we were talking about Lucas 00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:28.460 Paqueta. He said we were going to sell him to 00:29:28.460 --> 00:29:32.259 Man City for a lot of money. But it fell through 00:29:32.259 --> 00:29:37.500 due to the charges. So we are looking here at 00:29:37.500 --> 00:29:40.970 the phrasal verb to fall through. So the situation 00:29:40.970 --> 00:29:45.069 was that Lucas Paqueta was worth a lot of money 00:29:45.069 --> 00:29:52.250 and Manchester City wanted to buy Lucas Paqueta 00:29:52.250 --> 00:29:56.390 from West Ham United. And I think West Ham United 00:29:56.390 --> 00:30:00.569 were prepared to let Lucas Paqueta go. However, 00:30:00.869 --> 00:30:05.309 it didn't happen. It didn't materialize. And 00:30:05.309 --> 00:30:08.630 the reason for it was the charges, because suddenly 00:30:08.630 --> 00:30:11.710 out of nowhere, there was this spot fixing or 00:30:11.710 --> 00:30:15.490 match fixing scandal that Lucas Paqueta was allegedly 00:30:15.490 --> 00:30:20.269 involved in. And therefore, his price went down, 00:30:20.289 --> 00:30:22.369 rapidly went down, and suddenly Man City were 00:30:22.369 --> 00:30:25.230 not interested in him anymore. The plan fell 00:30:25.230 --> 00:30:28.769 through. What they were negotiating, the negotiations 00:30:28.769 --> 00:30:32.029 fell through. If something falls through, usually 00:30:32.029 --> 00:30:35.049 it's a plan or negotiations or something like 00:30:35.049 --> 00:30:39.009 that, then it means it does not happen. It does 00:30:39.009 --> 00:30:43.890 not materialize. It fails, right? Usually we 00:30:43.890 --> 00:30:47.089 really use this phrasal verb with the word plan. 00:30:48.390 --> 00:30:52.750 Okay, so that's the phrasal verb for today. That's 00:30:52.750 --> 00:30:56.799 the phrasal verb of the day, if you want. All 00:30:56.799 --> 00:30:59.759 that remains to say is thank you very much for 00:30:59.759 --> 00:31:02.000 listening and watching, everyone. Don't forget 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:07.019 to smash that like button. It is something that 00:31:07.019 --> 00:31:10.940 you need to do right now because obviously it 00:31:10.940 --> 00:31:15.539 will make me super happy. Anyway, I'm rambling. 00:31:15.619 --> 00:31:20.779 It's high time this podcast episode came to a 00:31:20.779 --> 00:31:23.720 close. Let me wrap it up. Thank you very much 00:31:23.720 --> 00:31:26.039 for watching and listening. And until next time, 00:31:26.140 --> 00:31:27.019 bye -bye.