Hand Of Pod

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.

In the two hundred and twentieth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Andrés, Fede and Remi discuss a weekend during which Rosario Central dropped points and River Plate lost, but Boca Juniors managed a marked improvement in a 3-0 win over Atlético de Rafaela and San Lorenzo came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at home to Belgrano. Boca's injury woes and River's lack of proper reinforcements over the summer break are topics of conversation, as well as Lanús' and Godoy Cruz's continuing fine form.

The two hundred and nineteenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés and Fran to look back on Argentina's two recent World Cup qualifying victories, away to Chile and at home to Bolivia. The character shown by the team, the attacking play in both first halves and of course the six points were some of the positives (as was Lionel Messi's brilliance in both matches), but the displays weren't perfect by any means, and we run the rule over what could have been better. Listeners' questions range from new Argentina goalscoring hero Gabriel Mercado to Daniel Osvaldo's fitness and whether it's acceptable for a foreigner to support Arsenal de Sarandí (the answer to that last one is 'no').

In the two hundred and eighteenth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Peter and Andrés have a bumper discussion beginning with the number of goals in the latest round of Primera action (52 in 15 matches)and travelling through the Big Five's iffy form and Ricardo Caruso Lombardi's latest streetfight to arrive at a preview of Argentina's two upcoming World Cup qualifiers, away to Chile on Thursday night and at home to Bolivia on Tuesday. Can the team keep up their good showing as Lionel Messi returns, or will the talisman's arrival mean the others revert to expecting him to do all the attacking work for them? All will be revealed...

Episode 217 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam welcome Andrés and English Dan to the studio to go over the last week in Argentine football with a fine-toothed comb. It's been a distinctly mixed seven days (and three matches) for River Plate, who were thrashed in the league but might have regained some confidence in the Libertadores on Wednesday night, and a good week for Boca Juniors, who claimed their first win of the Guillermo Barros Schelotto era on Monday. Estudiantes totally outplayed Gimnasia in the La Plata clásico on Sunday, and one of the consequences was the sacking of Gimnasia boss Pedro Troglio - though it might not have been a solely footballing decision. Lanús' and Rosario Central's unbeaten starts to the season have come undone, and there are some surprising competitors for the championship final positions, especially in Group 2.

The two hundred and sixteenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Andrés and Fede look back on a rather underwhelming superclásico which nonetheless gave us plenty to talk about - largely because we've now seen Guillermo Barros Schelotto in charge of Boca Juniors for a week (they play away to Bolívar in the altitude of La Paz in the Copa Libertadores tonight). If River v Boca was one of the lowlights of the weekend, though, there was plenty of entertainment elsewhere: previously winless Tigre hitting five past hitherto impressive Atlético Tucumán; nine goals in a crazy match in Santa Fe between Unión and Racing; Defensa y Justicia winning 5-1 away to Argentinos Juniors and many more goals besides. All this and more in just an hour and a quarter. Enjoy!

The two hundred and fifteenth episode of Hand Of Pod is a bumper one, as we've got a major talking point this week. Sam, Andrés and Boca Juniors fans Fede and Fran discuss Boca's decision on Monday to sack Rodolfo Arruabarrena and replace him on Tuesday with Guillermo Barros Schelotto as manager. Is this the change in direction the club needs? Can the new manager handle Carlos Tevez's influence on team affairs without upsetting anyone? And most importantly, with a Copa Libertadores game against Racing tonight (Thursday) and a visit to River Plate on Sunday, how quick an impact can GBS have? Aside from Boca, we also look back on a weekend which saw yet another great performance from Rosario Central, a second consecutive clean sheet for River and more impressive stuff from Atlético Tucumán.

Episode 214 of Hand Of Pod is short but sweet, as Sam and Andrés take you through the last week in Argentine football. There are some entertaining matches to discuss, with San Lorenzo's 3-2 win over Vélez Sarsfield and River Plate's 3-3 draw away to Rosario Central the highlights - though Boca Juniors' 4-1 win at home to Newell's Old Boys is also a topic of conversation, and Colón's unbeaten start to the campaign came spectacularly undone with a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Godoy Cruz in Mendoza. The clásico de Avellaneda was a desperately dull match until the last few minutes, so we don't waste too much time talking about it. The Copa Libertadores group stage has begun, but until we've seen another few matches it's a little early to comment on that yet.