Learn English Through Football Podcast: Finisher

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Learn English Through Football Podcast: Finisher

In this week’s football-language podcast we look at some meanings around the word ‘finish‘ in football including finishing and finishers. We also look ahead to this weekend’s football with the Madrid derby. 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.

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Hello

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

DF: Hello everyone and welcome to this week’s football language podcast for learners of English who love football. My name is Damian and I am here in London where the weather has become quite chilly; it’s a little colder than last week and some people are even wearing coats and scarves already! What is the weather like where you are? And I wonder what the weather is like in Tokyo where the other member of the Learn English through Football team Damon is based? Now, Damon is not with us today but in his recent weekly football language post on Monday he suggested that it was finally starting to cool down in Tokyo. He also looked at the phrases, ‘low block‘ and ‘sit deep‘ – two very interesting terms that describe rather defensive teams.

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

DF: And, before we start with some football language, remember that we continue to make some changes to our site. The domain name is now learnengishthroughfootball.com as we think it better reflects who we are and what we do; it’s a place for people to learn English through football! You can still find us with the old address of languagecaster.com and you will hear stingers with that name, so don’t worry. We’d also love it if you can share or like our podcast or maybe tell your friends about us!

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

DF: Yes, that message was in Greek 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 we’ll let you know the languages at the end of the show. And 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’. And we have a new stinger which we will play later on at the end of the show 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 Japanese)

Football Language: ‘Poker’

DF: OK, let’s have a look at some football language and on today’s show we are going to look at the word ‘finish‘ and explain some of the different meanings that are used with this word in football. But before that, let’s take a look at a phrase I only heard about this week for the first time: ‘poker‘.

So, we know if a player scores twice in a game we call it a brace and three goals is a hat-trick (though there are different rules in different countries about what a hat-trick actually is). But what do we call it when a player scores four times which is what Diego Gomez did for Brighton in their rout of Barnsley in the Carabao Cup this week? I had never heard this before but I was listening to The Totally Football Podcast this week and one of the speakers Natalie Gedra explained that in Brazil when someone scores four times in a game it is called a ‘poker‘. I wonder if this will take off in English? Or maybe another phrase will be used instead? How about in other languages, what do you call it when someone scores four goals in a game? Or how about five or six?

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (a West Ham fan)

DF: Yes, that was from a West Ham fan – I wonder how their fans are feeling after their manager Graham Potter was sacked today? Will the managerial-merry-go-round start again? We have covered lots of language around this topic in previous podcasts but today we are focusing on the term, ‘finish‘.

Football Language: Finish

DF: The verb to finish means to end something or to complete something; so, for example, if we say that the game has finished it means that the 90 minutes (plus stoppage time) are up.

But we also use finish when we talk about goalscoring. In fact, on the English FA’s official website they say: ‘Finishing is scoring goals. It’s what players love, and the buzz of putting the ball in the net never wears off (FA.com). So, finish can mean to end something or to score a goal. Let’s take a look at more examples and meanings of the word ‘finish‘ in football:

To finish then means to score a goal; it’s when a team completes an attacking move by scoring. We might hear pundits say that the player finished brilliantly which would mean that the player scored a really good goal.

If we use the noun form (a finish) we then describe how the player has scored; so a great finish means the shot that scored the goal was of really high quality. We can add lots of different adjectives to show the different kinds of finishes: a cool finish (the player shows composure under pressure); a clinical finish (calm, precise, often with little power but perfect placement); a powerful finish, a composed finish, a first-time finish. which of course hitting the ball without controlling it first. There are lots and lots of examples like this, can you think of any more?

Sometimes we might also hear the word, ‘finishing‘ which describes the ability to score goals or maybe the technique when it comes to putting the ball in the net. For example, ‘Her finishing is world-class.’ And this means that she scores lots of goals; she converts lots of chances; top quality player.

Finishers

A player who is good at scoring is sometimes known as a good finisher. These players specialise in converting chances into goals, for example, ‘In Haaland, City have one of the best finishers in the world’ – he’s really good at scoring goals! Can you think of any other great finishers? From my favourite team Tottenham, I can think of Jimmy Greaves from the 1960s and Harry Kane from more recently – both of them were amazing finishers; they could finish in a variety of ways: headers, volleys, tap-ins, screamers and so on. .

So usually the term finisher means players that are good at scoring goals, but in recent years, there has been a new meaning of this term that has come from rugby. Finishers is now becoming a new way of describing substitutes who come on to ‘finish‘ the game. The idea is that these are strong players who can help to get a result – maybe by seeing out the game – especially as the opposition is tiring or doesn’t have the same strength in depth. Arsenal manager Mikkel Arteta used this phrase to describe the impact that his substitutes can have on a game, in fact, he suggested that, ‘the finishers are going to be more important this season sometimes than the starters’. So, the idea is that these players are not just replacing tired teammates; they are adding new energy, quality, or goals to finish the match strongly.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (a Dulwich Hamlet fan)

Predictions: Atlético Madrid vs Real Madrid

DF: Right, next up we have our predictions and this week we are going to look at the big game in La Liga in Spain.

DF: Now last week Damon thought that Liverpool would win 2-0 in the Merseyside derby, while I thought Everton might get a draw. Well, Damon was almost right as Liverpool won 2-1. How about this week? Well, as I said, it’s just me and I am going to try and predict the Madrid derby between Atletico and Real. Los Blancos currently lead the table with six wins out of six while their city rivals have struggled a little and find themselves in ninth place with only nine points so they really need a win to kickstart their season. I always have a soft spot for Atleti but I am not sure they’ll win this one…maybe a draw. Yes, I’m going for a 1-1 draw.

How about practising your predictions language with us? What do you think will happen in this game or other games that you are watching? 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 if you want, 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 (in Spanish)

Contact

DF: Right, 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. You can ask and answer questions about all kinds of football language. Don’t forget 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. And if you want to send in any new words that you have heard, again drop us a line.

We also have explanations and examples of some of the football language we have used in today’s show and you can find all of that by coming along to this post on Learn English Through Football.com.

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

Goodbye

DF: Yes, you are listening to the Learn English Through Football podcast and that message was in Vietnamese. Did you guess the other languages you heard on today’s podcast? First, we had Danish, then Greek and Japanese. After that we had Spanish and we also heard from a Dulwich Hamlet fan. 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.

Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast (from a Cameroon fan)

DF: And that was a new stinger from a football fan in Cameroon – great stuff! And here is Tata telling us about his favourite teams Cameroon and Chelsea.

T: Hi everyone. My name is Tata from Cameroon and my favourite teams are Cameroon and Chelsea football club in London. Yes, I know for now we are the second in our group in terms of World Cup qualification but I’m very sure that we’re going to qualify and be in the United States.

DF: And Chelsea?

T: Yeah, I know the Premier League season has started a little bit timid for us Chelsea football club but I am very sure that we are not only going to qualify for the Champions League but we shall take the Premier League this season. Thank you.

DF: Fantastic stuff! Good luck to Cameroon in the World Cup qualifiers. I can’t say the same for Chelsea! Sorry! Oh and a big hello to Brielle, Kendra, Myra and Kayla in Cameroon and thank you again Tata.

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, poker, finish, finishing and finishers. How would you say these phrases in another language that you know? Or maybe can you tell us any examples of famous finishers for your team? And how about the new meaning of the word ‘finishers‘? What do you think of this new usage? 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. I am going to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this evening to watch my team Spurs face Wolves in the Premier League. Hopefully, I can see some good finishing from my team and we finish the game with three points. See you all again soon. Bye bye!

More Examples

1. 1. Erling Haaland has started the Premier League season on fire … his finishing is enjoying his best 10-game finishing streak …(BBC Sport.com)
  2. On the older, more classical sense: ‘Old-style finishers have been made obsolete … The finisher has always been there in English football … There have been great finishers – Ian Rush, Gary Lineker …’an article reflecting on how the role/idea of a ‘finisher‘ (i.e. pure goalscorer) has changed. The Guardian
  3. ‘I adore Gabriel … He fully deserved it … That shows that they are at least equally important or more important as anyone in this squad. That the finishers are going to be more important this season than the starters.’ — Arteta on Martinelli (who scored quickly after coming off the bench).