Hand Of Pod

Episode 280 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés discuss an entertaining round of Superliga action which saw the gap at the top remain at six points, thanks to second place San Lorenzo's 1-1 draw with league leaders Boca Juniors. Talleres went third with a fortuitous win over Temperley, and we also look at headline-grabbing solo performances for River Plate and Racing - namely Ignacio Scocco's brace, including a spectacular second, for River, and Lautaro Martínez's first senior hat trick for Racing.

Episode 279 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés meet to discuss the opening weekend of football in Argentina in 2018, which included a Talleres win over San Lorenzo, giving Boca Juniors the chance to open a six-point gap at the top of the Superliga table - a chance the champions took in beating Colón. River Plate lost away to Huracán and, more worryingly, showed no signs of having adapted their gameplan over the summer break. Unión continue their fine form of 2017, and are now third, while Gabriel Heinze's spell at Vélez Sarsfield got off to a good start with a 1-0 away win over Defensa y Justicia. Newell's Old Boys almost suffered the indignity of dropping points to Arsenal de Sarandí, but were bailed out at the last minute.

Hand Of Pod returns for 2018, with a new logo and exciting plans for the new year. Sam and Andrés are your hosts for episode 278, in which we look back over a transfer window that was mostly uneventful but all the same takes an age to summarise, because as we might have mentioned before there are too many clubs in the Argentine top flight. Lucas Pratto became the Millonarios' most expensive signing ever, Carlos Tevez is back at Boca Juniors, and how have Independiente opted to replace Atlanta-bound Ezequiel Barco? All these questions and more are up for discussion. It's good to be back!

The final episode of Hand Of Pod in 2017 brings together Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Peter to discuss Independiente's entertaining run to the Copa Sudamericana title, after they beat Flamengo 4-2 on aggregate in an enthralling final which saw its second leg in the Maracanã on Wednesday night. Why they deserved the title, and how Ariel Holan has turned the team around are among the topics for discussion. Will Holan stay? How good is Ezequiel Barco? These questions are also considered. We also have a look at the Superliga weekend which saw Rosario Central beat Newell's Old Boys in the clásico rosarino, and Boca Juniors claim a win which ensures they end 2017 top of the league. Oh, and River Plate won the Copa Argentina! It's a lot to cover, and this is an extended episode as a result. Enjoy.

The two hundred and seventy-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Andrés join Sam to look back on a weekend of Superliga action which saw yet another disappointing showing from River Plate, while Atlético Tucumán got an encouraging win ahead of their trip to Mendoza to play River in the Copa Argentina final on Saturday. Boca Juniors got back to winning way to keep their noses in front of San Lorenzo in the title race, and Defensa y Justicia won a five-goal thriller against Godoy Cruz. As well as all this, we've another continental final to look forward to, with Independiente preparing to take on Flamengo in the Copa Sudamericana showpiece, whose first leg is in Avellaneda on Wednesday night.

The two hundred and seventy-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and English Dan joined by a very special guest, because Phil Carney - author of the Lanús in English Twitter account - has flown down to Buenos Aires all the way from Manchester for a few days. Unfortunately his first visit to the city wasn't enough to help Lanús to their first Copa Libertadores title, as they were totally outplayed by Grêmio in Wednesday night's final second leg; we review that match, and Lanús' run in the tournament, as well as last weekend's Superliga matches. A second straight defeat for Boca Juniors and a good run for San Lorenzo means we have a title race, all of a sudden (they're now tied on points, though Boca have a game in hand, after San Lorenzo wrapped up a victory shortly after we finished recording). And there's praise for Independiente, who not only beat Racing in the clásico with a reserve team but also advanced to the Copa Sudamericana final in a thrilling second leg on Tuesday night.

The two hundred and seventy-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Andrés and Sam discuss a weekend of Superliga action which saw Boca Juniors lose for the first time in the league this season, thanks to probably Racing's best performance so far - and which brought more bad news for Boca late on with an injury to Darío Benedetto which will probably keep him out until the end of the season. River Plate also lost the weekend, but finally won on Wednesday to end a run of six league games without a victory, while San Lorenzo went second and Independiente and Lanús both started continental ties this week: Independiente in the Copa Sudamericana semi-finals, and Lanús in the Copa Libertadores final. Both lost 1-0, but it's all still to play for ...

The seventh anniversary episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés get together for a chat about two friendlies which brought more problems to light than reason for optimism for the Argentine national team. A 1-0 win over Russia on Saturday was rather dull, and a 4-2 defeat to Nigeria on Tuesday has set alarm bells ringing well and truly regarding what the best tactics and formation are, and whether certain players ought to still be playing for Argentina at all. We also have a quick look over the Copa Argentina semi-finals, which resulted in a River Plate v Atlético Tucumán final, and discuss the FIFAGate fallout after Alejandro Burzaco's first two days of testimony in New York.

In the two hundred and seventy-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés discuss a dark week for River Plate, as elimination at the hands of Lanús in the Copa Libertadores last week was followed by defeat in an entertaining superclásico against Boca Juniors on Sunday. That win meant Boca still have a 100% record and are now seven points clear at the top of the Superliga table, with Unión in second place. As well as league talk, we also look at the main issues Jorge Sampaoli has to deal with as Argentina prepare to play Russia on Saturday and Nigeria on Tuesday in friendlies.

In episode 271 of Hand Of Pod, Sam and English Dan have an afternoon conversation about two big continental ties: the all-Argentine Copa Libertadores semi-final which saw Lanús come back from 3-0 down on aggregate to beat River Plate 4-3 and advance to the first Libertadores final in the club's history, and Racing's Copa Sudamericana exit at the hands of Paraguayan giants Libertad, which it's fair to say was somewhat less thrilling. Independiente should keep the Argentine flag flying (their Copa Sudamericana quarter-final second leg was going to plan as this episode was uploaded), and Boca Juniors extended their lead in the Superliga, winning as River and Lanús (who both fielded reserve sides) both lost; they're now six points clear of second-placed San Lorenzo, ahead of this weekend's visit to River Plate, which we of course preview.

There was no league football in Argentina over the weekend, so episode 270 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Andrés and English Dan discussing knockout competitions instead - we have a review of the Copa Argentina quarter-finals, which saw second tier Morón make it to the semi-finals, where they'll play River Plate, and a review of the first leg of the Copa Libertadores semi-final between River and Lanús, as well as a look at the Copa Sudamericana quarter-final first legs so far.

In episode 269 of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés look back on (what they saw of) a weekend which saw Boca Juniors move six points clear at the top of the Superliga, keeping their 100% record whilst River Plate were held to a draw for the third match in a row. Boca's ability to dig in, River's carelessness and the relegation battle are among the subjects up for discussion. Listeners' questions cover the Copa Argentina and the national team.

The two hundred and sixty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Peter and Andrés discuss Argentina's qualification for the Russia 2018 World Cup, in spite of a 0-0 draw at home to Peru last Thursday and owing rather more to a hat trick from Lionel Messi in Quito which brought a 3-1 win away to Ecuador on Tuesday, in the last match of the campaign. What comes next, what needs to be tweaked, and what should remain the same are all up for discussion.

The two hundred and sixty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod is a look at the Argentine national team as they approach two high-pressure World Cup qualifiers at home to Peru and away to Ecuador, which will either see them finally make it to Russia 2018 or not (all right, or end up in the playoff). Sam and English Dan give their thoughts on the four(!) lineups tried by Jorge Sampaoli in training on Tuesday, and discuss what needs to change from last month's disappointing double header if the selección are to make it over the line at last. We also look at the weekend in the Superliga, where Boca Juniors kept up their 100% record – just – and Arsenal de Sarandí stunned Banfield to record their first points of the season.

The two hundred and sixty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés look back on a weekend during which River Plate dropped league points for the first time this season to leave Boca Juniors as the only team with a 100% record after four matches. There were impressive wins for Banfield and Colón, who aren't far behind the top two, and we look at a poor week for Estudiantes and San Lorenzo, who played one another on Monday evening. There's also a brief look forward to an all-Argentine Copa Libertadores semi-final, after River's thrashing last Thursday of Jorge Wilstermann in their quarter-final second leg, and Lanús' penalty shootout win over San Lorenzo.

The two hundred and sixty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés discuss a weekend of league action in which River Plate and champions Boca Juniors continue to be the two teams to beat in the Superliga, even as River slumped last week to first leg defeat in the Copa Libertadores away to Jorge Wilstermann of Bolivia. There's also talk of Jorge Sampaoli's latest national team list (call-ups have gone out to players based abroad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Ecuador), and a change of venue for the Peru match to La Bombonera. As well as all this, Independiente's Alexis Zárate (currently on loan at Temperley, perhaps not for much longer) has been found guilty of rape, and there's some discussion of that verdict and the media reaction in Argentina.

In the two hundred and sixty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Andrés are joined by Julián for his second appearance, around two and a half years after his first. We look back on a second weekend of Superliga action which saw wins for River and Boca, a 4-1 tonking of Temperley by Racing, and - shock, horror - a goalless draw between Rosario Central and San Lorenzo. Last week's national team talk has sparked something of a discussion among our Twitter followers, so we address that in the second half, along with a look at why the national team are moving to La Bombonera for the upcoming World Cup qualifier against Peru.

Hand Of Pod returns from an extended winter break, and in episode 263 Sam is joined by English Dan and Andrés to run the rule over Argentina's latest two disappointing World Cup qualifying performances. What went wrong against Uruguay and Venezuela? Is the problem solely tactical or are there, in fact, not really any of the right options even available for selection in the midfield? These are just two of the question we ask. In the second half, we take a very brief look at how the Superliga season began two weeks ago, in an opening round Sam didn't see and which Andrés and Dan have mostly forgotten. Don't worry, we'll be back up to full speed next week.

The two hundred and sixty-second episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés bid farewell to a memorable 2016-17 season which ended with Boca Juniors crowned champions of Argentina for the thirty-second time, and with Sarmiento, Atlético de Rafaela, Quilmes and Aldosivi being relegated. Sam takes you through the ins and outs of Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana qualification (still pending, because the Copa Argentina final isn't until the end of the year), and we discuss what made Boca worthy champions, what some of the other clubs will be thinking of their seasons, and our players of the season, including Sam's Domestic Argentina Squad, which you'll find on the HOP blogpost accompanying this episode. This is our last episode for a couple of months - we'll be back when Sam returns from his holidays, probably at the start of September.

In the two hundred and sixty-first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés look back on Jorge Sampaoli's first two matches as Argentina manager, which ended in two victories, seven goals scored and none conceded - although one was a lot closer as a contest than the other. We also cast our eyes forwards towards his competitive debut at the end of August, where they'll be no margin for error. As well as this, we've a title run-in to consider, with this weekend's matches followed almost immediately by a round in midweek; by the time we next record, Boca Juniors could very well be champions.