Essential tactical terms that help you when watching football on TV
Football is full of tactical terminology which may seem completely baffling to anyone who has never previously watched the sport.
Television broadcasts have become increasingly verbose, with many commentators and pundits guilty of using too many words when a couple will suffice.
With that in mind, read on as we look at some of the common football terms, before extracting 14 essential tactical terms that help you when watching football on TV.
Common football terms
- 3pm Blackout
- 12th man
- Against the run of play
- Bicycle kick
- Bosman ruling
- Clean sheet
- Cruyff turn
- Cup-tied
- Dead-ball specialist
- Dive
- False nine
- Fergie time
- Football pyramid
- Galactico
- Game of two halves
- Giant-killing
- Group of death
- Hat-trick
- Holding role
- Hoofing the ball
- Hospital pass
- Howler
- In his pocket
- Injury time
- Into row Z
- Lost the dressing room
- Magic sponge
- Man manager
- Man of the match
- Match fixing
- Nutmeg
- Own goal
- Panenka
- Parking the bus
- Poacher
- Professional foul
- Rabona
- Screamer
- Scudetto
- Sitter
- Stay on your feet
- Stepover
- Sweeper
- Tapping up
- Testimonial
- Through ball
- Tifo
- The Treble
- xG
- Yo-yo club
14 essential tactical terms in football
Against the run of play
When a goal is described as being ‘against the run of play’, it means it was scored by a team that has been on the back foot in the match.
This scenario can be extremely frustrating for the dominant team, particularly if the goal ultimately proves to be the winner.
Clean sheet
While fans generally love to see loads of goals, football managers insist that keeping a clean sheet is the most pleasing part of the game.
This term refers to matches in which a team does not concede any goals. A clean sheet is known as a shut-out in North America.
Dead-ball specialist
A dead-ball specialist is a player who is adept at taking free kicks, corner kicks or penalties.
Players with this skillset are worth their weight in gold for teams which work hard to maximise their output from set-pieces.
Dive
A dive is when a player tries to deceive the match officials into awarding a foul by throwing themselves to the ground during a tackle.
Some people believe it is ‘part of the game’, but it is undoubtedly cheating. The referee can issue a yellow card if he determines a player has dived.
Expected goals
Expected goals (xG) is a metric used to determine how likely a player is to score a chance and to calculate how many goals a team is expected to score in a match.
For football traditionalists, xG is a nonsensical term that overcomplicates matters. The only stat that matters in this area is goals that are actually scored.
False nine
The ‘false nine’ is a player who performs a more withdrawn role than a traditional ‘number nine’ striker.
The player drops deep to drag centre-backs out, allowing teammates to exploit the spaces they leave behind.
Holding role
The holding role is a central midfield position where the player protects the defence by breaking up play before initiating counter-attacks.
Manchester City and Spain star Rodri is one of the greatest exponents of this position in the modern game.
Hoofing the ball
While some people may argue this is not a tactical term, hoofing the ball still has a place in football. It is an action in which a player kicks the ball as far away from the goal as possible.
Managers such as Sam Allardyce are advocates of this tactic. In simple terms, if the ball is at the other end of the pitch, the opposition cannot score.
In his pocket
When a player is deemed to be in another player’s pocket, that means they are unable to influence the game due to their opponent’s efforts.
Declan Rice is a great example of this. He spends a lot of time in John McGinn’s pocket whenever Arsenal play Aston Villa.
Panenka
The Panenka is the name for a penalty kick that is chipped delicately down the centre of goal. It is named after Czech footballer Antonin Panenka.
He successfully converted a spot-kick by this method in the 1976 European Championship final against West Germany in Belgrade.
Parking the bus
The term ‘parking the bus’ was first used by Jose Mourinho in his first stint as Chelsea manager after a game against Tottenham Hotspur.
He accused Tottenham of leaving a bus in front of their goal by defending deep. The term was subsequently used to describe Mourinho’s tactical style.
Professional foul
A professional foul is when a player deliberately prevents an opponent from counter-attacking or scoring goal.
Denying a clear goalscoring opportunity results in a red card for the offending player.
Stay on your feet
‘Stay on your feet’ is generally directed at players who rashly dive into tackles.
Crystal Palace defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka has actually made a career out of defying the ‘stay on your feet’ instruction.
Tiki-taka
Tiki-taka is a quick-passing style of football primarily associated with Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona team of 2008-2012.
The Spanish team which won two European Championships (2008 & 2012) and a World Cup (2010) also successfully implemented the system.
