Episode 238: Estudiantes stay top, Newell’s end their Central hoodoo and more

In the two hundred and thirty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Tony are joined by Tony’s flatmate Jorge to discuss a weekend of action which saw Estudiantes win the big top of the table clash away to San Lorenzo, and Newell’s Old Boys end their eight year run without a win against bitter rivals Rosario Central. We also saw a rare clean sheet for River Plate, yet another away game without a win for Boca Juniors, and a club vice president asking to feel some balls, among plenty more.

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Mystic Chris’s round eight predictions (last week Mystic Sam got 6/15)
Patronato v Banfield
Belgano v Quilmes
Estudiantes v Racing
Independiente v Gimnasia
Vélez v Talleres
Godoy Cruz v Aldosivi
Arsenal v River
Olimpo v Atl. Tucumán
Boca v Temperley
Huracán v Central
Lanús v Tigre
Newell’s v San Lorenzo
Defensa y Justicia v San Martín
Unión v Sarmiento

Episode 237: Tearing up the formbook, and yet more AFA nonsense

The two hundred and thirty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés convene on a rainy evening in Buenos Aires to discuss a weekend in which a storm blew through the Argentine formbook: three previously unbeaten members of the Big Five lost for the first time this season, as did Colón – who also conceded for the first time in this campaign. Estudiantes’ defence was finally breached as well, although they managed to win anyway in a wildly entertaining 3-2 romp over Rosario Central, whilst Boca Juniors and San Lorenzo both made clear their title ambitions are for real with wins of their own. Off the pitch there’s yet more chaos at the AFA, with people accusing other people of failing to comply by FIFA directives in spite of a) the people in question having been put in place by FIFA and b) the directives in question being NINE YEARS OLD. There’s never a dull moment in the world of Argentine football administration…

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Mystic Sam’s seventh round predictions (last week Mystic Peter got 4/15)
Sarmiento v Olimpo
Talleres v Defensa y Justicia
Quilmes v Lanús
Godoy Cruz v Belgrano
Temperley v Independiente
Colón v Patronato
Racing v Arsenal
River v Atl. Rafaela
Gimnasia v Huracán
Banfield v Vélez
Central v Newell’s
Tigre v Unión
San Lorenzo v Estudiantes
Atl. Tucumán v Boca
Aldosivi v San Martín

Episode 236: What is wrong with Argentina?

The two hundred and thirty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Peter convene to discuss the recent World Cup qualifying double-header: like the midfield on Tuesday night in Córdoba, there’s not an Argentine in sight. We give our thoughts on two bafflingly below-par performances which saw Argentina gain just one point and lose a home World Cup qualifier for the fourth time ever, consider which names we would (and wouldn’t) like to see in the national team setup, and more. And at the end, Peter provides his predictions of what will happen in this weekend’s Primera matches, because Sam forgot to ask any listeners to do the same.

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Mystic Peter’s sixth round predictions (two weeks ago Mystic Liam got 8/15)
Defensa y Justicia v Banfield
Belgrano v Aldosivi
Vélez v Colón
Atl. Rafaela v Racing
Huracán v Temperley
Estudiantes v Central
San Martín v Talleres
Independiente v Atl. Tucumán
Lanús v Godoy Cruz
Olimpo v Tigre
Boca v Sarmiento
Newell’s v Gimnasia
Arsenal v San Lorenzo
Patronato v River
Unión v Quilmes

Episode 235: Central hit form, a dull La Plata clásico and upcoming World Cup qualifiers

The two hundred and thirty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Andrés convene to discuss a weekend of Primera action which saw a very dull derby in La Plata and, at almost the same time, a considerably more dramatic showdown in Banfield, where the hosts came back from an early 2-0 deficit to win 3-2. There was an impressive, if not uncontroversial, win for River Plate over Vélez Sarsfield, yet another failure to win away from home for Boca Juniors, and a first home win for Ricardo Zielinski as Racing manager. As well as all this we discuss why plans to force Liniers to get a football pitch which actually fits the regulatory definition of the phrase ‘football pitch’ are a great loss for Argentine culture, and turn our attention to less important matters such as Argentina’s upcoming World Cup double-header, and how they’ll do without Lionel Messi.

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