Hand Of Pod

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...

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...

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...

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...

Episode 213 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and English Dan look back on two rounds of fixtures during which Boca Juniors almost lost a manager but ultimately kept him, and found their first win of the new year thanks to a goal from Carlos Tevez. As well as Boca, Newell's Old Boys and Vélez Sarsfield also both look rather better now than they did a couple of weeks ago, which makes Boca v Newell's a partic...

The two-hundred and twelfth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Peter, Andrés and returning panel member Rob Brown to look back on the opening weekend of Primera División action; matches which saw River Plate tonk Quilmes 5-1, Boca Juniors held to a 0-0 draw away to Temperley and Racing suffer the indignity of defeat away to newly-promoted Atlético Tucumán, among other results. Rodolfo Arrua...

Hand Of Pod is back for 2016, and Sam is joined by Andrés, Fede and Fran to preview another transitional championship, confusing format, stupid non-existent clásicos and all! We run the rule over which sides had good summers, which had indifferent ones and which had bad ones - where do some of the recent big hitters need to improve after disappointing last year, and who apart from Rosario Central...

The two hundred and tenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Andrés and Gustavo meet for a post-Hannukah (and pre-Christmas) podcast roundup of the last month in Argentine football, starting with River Plate's runners-up spot in the Club World Cup - and some alternative ideas for a format which could produce a more equitable tournament - and then looking back at the Argentine FA's hilarious/disastro...

The two hundred and ninth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by English Dan, Andrés, Fran and guest Rob Crisp for a brief roundup of the qualification playoffs for the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana, and a preview of the finals for same (including a Racing v Independiente double-header for the final Libertadores spot, which is going to be great fun for the neutral). On Thursday night,...

The two hundred and eighth episode of Hand Of Pod is a relatively short one (by our standards), in which Sam and English Dan meet to discuss the encouraging improvement in Argentina's performances in World Cup qualifying, which in the last week have seen them claim a (slightly unlucky) 1-1 draw at home to Brazil and a 1-0 win way to Colombia. Is Gerardo Martino's 'idea' any clearer, and how will i...

Episode 207 of Hand Of Pod is a very special one, because on Friday we turn five years old. Sam is joined for the celebration by Andrés, English Dan, Peter and very special guest Tim Vickery, who's flown down from Rio de Janeiro specially for the occasion. Entirely coincidentally to Tim's visit (honest), on Thursday night Argentina host Brazil in World Cup qualifying, so after a review of last wee...

The two hundred and sixth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Fede convene to talk about what might be Argentina's first proper domestic league-and-cup double (although given how young the Copa Argentina is, that's not quite as historic as it sounds). Carlos Tevez ended up making the difference for a Boca side who got cross the line in the title race on Sunday by beating Tigre...

The two hundred and fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and English Dan joined by Tony, a long-time listener and first-time caller. It's a bumper edition, as we stick our teeth into last Friday's Copa Argentina semi-finals, which leave Boca Juniors and Rosario Central - the top two in the league - going head to head in the final next Wednesday in Córdoba. San Lorenzo's Edgardo Bauza and Racing's...

In the two hundred and fourth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Andrés and English Dan for a look at last weekend's Primera División action, which saw Boca Juniors fail to capitalise on a fine chance to claim the title after San Lorenzo had lost - Boca were well beaten by Racing, and will need a result at home to Tigre next weekend in order to avoid a nervy title-decider on the last weekend...

In the two hundred and third episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Andrés, English Dan and Fran to look back on a disappointing start to Argentina's World Cup qualifying campaign, in which without Lionel Messi to provide the inspiration they looked listless and took just one point from matches at home to Ecuador (a 2 -0 defeat) and away to Paraguay (0-0). Why was there no centre forward to call...

The two hundred and second episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Andrés convene to discuss a weekend of football which saw Boca Juniors open up an imposing six point lead at the top of the table with just three matches remaining. Following San Lorenzo and Rosario Central's 2-2 draw, Boca struggled a bit but still beat Crucero del Norte 1-0, as a result of which Crucero, to no-one's surp...

The two hundred and first episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés and English Dan as well as newcomer Fran to discuss a weekend of action which saw Boca Juniors take a decent lead in the title race as San Lorenzo dropped points to Tigre. Rosario Central shouldn't yet be ruled out though, as they reminded everyone with a 4-0 thrashing of Gimnasia. We also run the rule over Jonathan Calleri...

Hand Of Pod is 200 episodes old, and this week Sam is joined by Peter and Andrés for a champagne celebration in a bumper episode. We look back over a weekend of Primera action which saw Carlos Tevez make more bad headlines (for breaking an opponent's leg) than good (for scoring twice) during Boca Juniors' 3-1 win over Argentinos Juniors which saw them remain top of the table. There were a few belt...

The hundred and ninety-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod is a post-clásico-round edition, with Sam and Andrés looking back over a weekend which saw Boca Juniors beat River Plate in the Monumental to go top of the league after San Lorenzo had surprisingly lost their derby away to Huracán. Independiente turned in the only really impressive clásico performance, beating Racing 3-0, whilst a lot of the othe...

The hundred and ninety-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod features Sam, Andrés and Mariano discussing last weekend's results, including San Lorenzo's 1-0 win away to Boca Juniors which took them top of the league, and River Plate's return to winning ways in a 4-1 tonking-which-wasn't-really-a-tonking of Nueva Chicago. There are also two national team friendlies to discuss, and the main lesson everyone...

This week's Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés have as much off-pitch stuff to focus on as on-pitch. San Lorenzo drew and Boca Juniors won, to leave Boca two points clear at the top heading into this Sunday's clash of the top two, but the bigger news last weekend was in Mendoza, where Godoy Cruz v Racing was called off after 25 minutes with Racing leading 1-0, after Godoy Cruz barras started pelting...

In the hundred and ninety-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés look back on a weekend which saw San Lorenzo and Boca Juniors extend their (joint-)leadership of the title race, as they both won and River Plate slumped to a second straight defeat. Even more amazingly, Nueva Chicago won for the second week running - though we suspect both they and the team they beat, Crucero del Norte, will s...

The hundred and ninety-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and English Dan discuss an eventful round of action in the Primera last weekend, with San Lorenzo and Boca Juniors both claiming 2-1 wins to remain joint top, and their closest pursuers River Plate surprisingly lose to San Martín de San Juan, to fall behind in the title race - had River won that game and the one they still have in hand,...

The hundred and ninety-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés and English Dan to discuss what little football has been played since our last episode - namely, the last few games of the last 32 of the Copa Argentina. There were wins for Racing and Independiente, whilst Atlanta also advanced. As well as that, we also discuss another trophy for River Plate, albeit a rather less meani...

The hundred and ninety-third episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés, Peter, Joel and special guest Richard Martin to talk about River Plate's 3-0 win over Tigres UANL on Wednesday night, and the third Copa Libertadores title it gave the club. The role of Marcelo Gallardo in using and adapting River's tradition and expectations, the key players in the win and where the squad might go next...