Hand Of Pod

The two hundred and forty-second episode of Hand Of Pod brings together Sam and Andrés to talk about a weekend in which the football was overshadowed in many press pages by Teo Gutiérrez once again being Teo Gutiérrez. The Rosario Central forward was sent off for his goal celebration during a 1-1 draw in La Bombonera. Elsewhere, River Plate lost 1-0 away to Newell's Old Boys, and there are rumours...

The two hundred and forty-first episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés celebrate the podcast's sixth birthday by discussing two Argentina matches; last Thursday's awful defeat to Brazil in Belo Horizonte, and Tuesday's much-improved win over Colombia in San Juan. Does the national team need a clearout? If so, who should be the new names coming in? We also round up some of the main stories from...

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 cou...

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 Junior...

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 gam...

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 we...

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 whic...

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...

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'...

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 pick...

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, al...

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 aw...

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 Urug...

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 thr...

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...

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 whi...

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...

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...

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 (H...

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...

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 g...

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 h...

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 brea...

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 were...

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 an...