Hand Of Pod

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...