Hand Of Pod

In the two hundred and fortieth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés discuss a weekend of Primera action in which River Plate improved somewhat from recent showings to draw with top of the league Estudiantes, and Boca Juniors won away in the league for the first time since February. There was also an impressive win for Racing against Newell's Old Boys, while Independiente dominated but still couldn't score against Rosario Central. The main course of this week's podcast is of course a preview of Argentina's World Cup qualifier away to Brazil in Belo Horizonte on Thursday night, with a switch to 4-4-2 and the return to Lionel Messi the main talking points in the Argentine camp.

In the two hundred and thirty-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés discuss the main talking points from last weekend's Primera División action, including yet another three points for an Estudiantes side who continue to lead the league, and yet more goals conceded for River Plate, who threw away a 2-0 lead against the worst team in the Primera to draw 2-2. There's also a look at Boca Juniors' demolition of Temperley and San Lorenzo reserves' very entertaining 2-2 draw away to second-placed Newell's Old Boys, ahead of the first team's Copa Sudamericana semi-final first leg, which kicked off seconds before we finished recording. As well as all this, we consider what grounds the Bolivian football federation have for appealing the sanction that, on Tuesday, resulted in Chile being handed a 3-0 walkover which leapfrogged them above Argentina in the World Cup qualifying table.

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.

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...

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.

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.

The two hundred and thirty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod is a two-man job, with Sam and Andrés discussing yet another win for Estudiantes, who've now won four out of four at the start of the league season, and two more points dropped for River Plate in a thrilling match, as well as an impressive Darío Benedetto-inspired win for Boca Juniors among plenty more. We then turn our attention to Tuesday's announcement by CONMEBOL of some exciting (and long overdue) changes to the Copa Libertadores which should prove a great step forward for football across the continent, and look over Edgardo Bauza's list of call-ups for Argentina's upcoming World Cup qualifying double header against Peru and Paraguay, the first of which to Sam's surprise is next Thursday.

In the two hundred and thirty-third episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Remi and Tony discuss a weekend of action which saw Estudiantes take a two-point lead ahead of River Plate at the top of the table, thanks to a 2-0 win over Atlético Tucumán before River were held at home to San Martín. Boca Juniors also dropped points, and questions marks once again hang over the team, while Atlético de Rafaela picked up a shock win over Gimnasia (who'd started the weekend joint top with River and Estudiantes) which might prove crucial come the end of the season in the relegation battle.

The two hundred and thirty-second episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Fran and Andrés discuss very impressive wins for River Plate and Boca Juniors last weekend, as well as running the rule over early joint-leaders (along with River) Estudiantes de La Plata and Independiente. Last weekend was just the second time in the professional era that all of the Big Five have won to nil on the same weekend, although we caught rather less of Racing's and San Lorenzo's matches than we probably should have before attempting to discuss them. Also up for debate: are Rosario Central suddenly a bit crap, or are Vélez Sarsfield rather better than we thought they were? And how is the relegation battle - worth talking about even at this early stage thanks to the promedio system - shaping up?

The two hundred and thirty-first episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés and Tony to look back over two weeks of action: the first round of Primera División season, the highlights of which were a 3-0 away win for Estudiantes over Tigre and 4-1 home victory for River Plate against Banfield, and Edgardo Bauza's first two matches as Argentina manager, a 1-0 home win over Uruguay and a 2-2 away draw to Venezuela in two rather different performances. Tony predicts this weekend's matches and other topics up for discussion are why Boca Juniors don't seem to have improved much at all, and (very briefly) some news about Daniel Passarella.

At long last, the Hand Of Pod 2016-17 season preview is here! Sam is joined by Andrés and Tony to look over the main transfer moves and some of what we can expect from the main contenders on the pitch in the coming months, as well as explaining why we can only be definitely assured of football until December, for the moment. We also preview Argentina's upcoming World Cup qualifiers at home to Uruguay and away to Venezuela, since there will be no HOP next week as Sam's off to Mendoza to cover the former. And there's a chat with Jonathan Wilson, who tells us a bit about his new book on the history of Argentine football, Angels With Dirty Faces - why he wrote it, some of the things he uncovered and more.

Hand Of Pod is back from a long, dark, at times a little bit chilly winter break! Rejoice! We were planning to preview the upcoming season this week, but since it's been put back by a week, Sam and Fran instead take the opportunity to bring you up to speed with at least some of the stuff that's happened off the pitch in Argentine football in the last couple of months - and there's a lot to get through, from Lionel Messi's international retirement (and decision to keep playing after all) to Gerardo Martino and his coaching staff standing down en masse, and from the introduction of a FIFA Normalisation Committee to run the AFA to the temporary hiatus on the introduction of the long-awaited SuperLiga because they couldn't get a statute written and approved in time. We've got all this and more this week, so enjoy!

The two hundred and twenty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés look back on a weekend of two entertaining games in which Estudiantes saw off Godoy Cruz for third place (and thus don't have to wait to find out whether they'll be in the Copa Libertadores next season) and Lanús thrashed San Lorenzo 4-0 in the Monumental in the championship final to be crowned kings of Argentina for the second time in their history. We ask what's next for various clubs, look at Boca Juniors' Copa Libertadores reinforcements so far, and have a discussion of the ridiculous (even by their standards) goings-on at the Argentine FA in the last week or so, before previewing Argentina's hopes in the Copa América Centenario and answering listeners' questions. We'll be back after the international competition, so enjoy it!

The two hundred and twenty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Andrés discuss the last weekend of 'regular season' action from Argentina's Torneo de Transición 2016, which saw a lot of dead rubbers including an emotional farewell to Diego Milito as the Racing legend played his final match. Also discussed are where River Plate's campaign went wrong, and the meaningful games which saw Argentinos Juniors relegated, San Lorenzo qualify for Sunday's championship final against Lanús and Godoy Cruz left having to face Estudiantes for a place in next year's Copa Libertadores (to the losers: probably also a place in next year's Copa Libertadores. It's very silly). All this and much more await!

This coming weekend wraps up the group stage of the 2016 Primera championship, and Hand Of Pod 226, with Sam, Andrés and Fede, contains all you need to know about the permutations. Godoy Cruz and San Lorenzo remain separated only on goal difference in their quest to qualify for the championship final against Lanús; one of them will take on either Estudiantes or Atlético Tucumán for a place in next year's Copa Libertadores group stage, whilst Argentinos Juniors and Sarmiento are the two sides involved in the relegation battle - although others need to keep racking up points too, because for reasons we go into in the second half of the podcast, we still don't know how many teams will be relegated next season. Rosario Central's and Boca Juniors' chances in the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals are also up for discussion.

The two hundred and twenty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés joined by Killian to look back over a weekend of league action which saw Lanús secure a place in their championship final by winning Group 2 with two matches to spare, whilst the race for the top of Group 1 remains neck and neck between Godoy Cruz (who are ahead on goal difference) and San Lorenzo. Now that River Plate are definitely out of the Copa Libertadores, there's the opportunity for some discussion of their struggles since winning last year's Copa, and Rosario Central and Boca Juniors are the only Argentine sides left standing in the continental competition. As well as this, we have some talk about club finances and political goings-on at the AFA which we're sure you'll find just fascinating.

The two hundred and twenty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod is short but sweet with plenty of food for thought. Lanús and Godoy Cruz continue to look like the two favourites for the title playoff - indeed, Lanús could confirm their place with two matches remaining depending on results this weekend - whilst last year's bigger sides all had underwhelming weekends due to Copa Libertadores commitments (Huracán went out on Tuesday night; River Plate and Racing followed them shortly after this episode was recorded). As well as this, we run the rule over Gerardo Martin's 40-man Copa América squad shortlist, answer listeners' questions, and predict what results will be like this weekend with the help of a die, to see whether it really is just pot luck...

The two hundred and twenty-third episode of Hand Of Pod was recorded by Sam and Andrés in a rather cold living room, because it's chilly in Buenos Aires at present and no gas in Sam's building means no central heating in Sam's building. The dedication we show to this podcast... anyway, we discuss a weekend of clásico action in which not very much happened, apart from one or two appalling fouls and some decent goals (but not many of them at all). Other topics covered are the AFA's need for new TV rights and national team kit deals (they need money from anyone who'll give it to them, so if you've ever wanted to sponsor a major international football team...), and the chances Argentine clubs have in the Copa Libertadores.

The two hundred and twenty-second episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Andrés discuss the Copa Libertadores group stage, which has finished (or had almost finished, when we recorded) with five of Argentina's six clubs qualifying for the last sixteen - San Lorenzo are the odd one out. Boca Juniors' transformation under Guillermo Barros Schelotto continues apace; they've now scored ten goals in their last two matches, which isn't great news for their next opponents. Those next opponents are River Plate, of course, because this weekend is clásico weekend across the league, and Phil Carney is our Mystic Guest Predictor. All this and much more...

The two hundred and twenty-first episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés and English Dan to look back on another goal-packed weekend of Primera action which saw Vélez Sarsfield hand Rosario Central their first home defeat in nearly a year and a half, Lanús get a well-deserved win over Banfield in the clásico, and Huracán claim victory by the odd goal in seven over San Martín. Racing are having consistency problems, and travel to La Paz next week in need of a result against Bolívar (a one-goal defeat or better) to qualify for the Copa Libertadores knockout stage. English Dan is bullish about their chances. River Plate also continue to have issues, but in spite of a 2-1 defeat away to São Paulo on Tuesday will still almost definitely be in the last sixteen, whilst Boca are already there, Central sealed their place just after we recorded, and San Lorenzo are out.