The use of “In terms of…” in football

viv_andersons_nana

Well-known member
Is it just me who’s noticed how many times the phrase “in terms of” is used by football people in the media? It’s everywhere but has it always been there and I’ve only noticed it over the past few months or is it a new, go-to phrase that’s quite new to the game? I just don’t remember hearing much until fairly recently.

“I think they’ve been good in terms of what they did with the ball.”

I can guarantee you could put a match on, or 5Live, or a football podcast, and within minutes you’ll hear someone say it. But did it used to be like this? I don’t think they ever said it Saint and Greavesie, for example.
 
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Footballspeak is full of blather.

"At best" is frequently used in an attempt to sound discerning; instead it makes the user sound like they're aping Mark Lawrenson.

"World class" is another term; I quite like it as it's good for pub arguments. However, you have to argue what is meant by it before you get on to who is, and who isn't, it.
 
Another seemingly recent addition to the lexicon of football commentary/punditry is the term” the turnover” when a side wins the ball from the opposition. It’s been used in rugby for years but can’t recall common usage in football in past years??? Jamie Carragher is a particular example.
 
Carragher immediately came to mind when I posted the OP. I listen to the 5Live MNC podcast and Micah Richards says it constantly as well. Chris Wilder said it at least twice in his press conference this morning.
 
Another seemingly recent addition to the lexicon of football commentary/punditry is the term” the turnover” when a side wins the ball from the opposition. It’s been used in rugby for years but can’t recall common usage in football in past years??? Jamie Carragher is a particular example.

Once there's been a turnover it's all about how good a team is in "transition" too.
 
Recoveries is another one. "Deal Fry made 3 recoveries.....etc". I'm always left wondering if the number is good bad or indifferent?
It sort of suggests he'd made a mistake and had to recover from it, which gives his stats a boost. But do those stats remove marks for the initial mistake? I suppose that's your point TBH. I also liked the saying of how you can tell if a defender has had a good game or not by how much mud is on his shorts. If they're clean a la peak Pallister and Southgate then he was at least an 8 out of 10. If they're covered in blood, mud and guts like Pogatetz then he's had to really battle to ensure we didn't lose by more than two goals. But there is something to be enjoyed in both of those types of defending IMO.
 
Everyone’s got a low block in transition after their vertical high press nowadays - no one ever once said any of these words before 2016 😁

Next we’ll all be pretending to know what a ‘third man run’ is.
I don't know what a third man run is, I must be honest. How new a thing are 'underlapping full-backs'? And I can't wait for xP to ease it's way into punditry like xG has. Jack Grealish had the best xP of anyone in the Premier League, sorry, I mean 'EPL' last season apparently.
 
This came to mind this week as well. I was watching Liverpool hammer Arsenal last weekend and Salah's stats were on screen. The commentator mentioned something about the awful 'Premier League era' but that made me think that it's funny the very same commentators, journalists and pundits who constantly spew out that term are the same ones who talk of Liverpool and Manchester United each winning 18, 19, 20 league titles(whatever the total is). If you're going to include their old First Division titles then surely you have to include Dixie Dean, Brian Clough, Jimmy Greaves et al when talking about the game's highest scorers?
 
An olderr one, but one that is meaningless in football. Technically. He is technically a better defender = He is a better defender. Technically he is good on crosses = he is good on crosses. Technically, he finds space so much better than B = he finds space better than B.

If you are talking about a technical subject, the word has meaning. In football you can drop it from everry sentence and not change the meaning.
 
Recycling possession means giving the ball away?
I thought it meant keeping hold the ball by way of small, simple passes between yourselves because there's nothing else on? I think Swansea were exceptionally good at that sort of thing when they peaked a few seasons back. Leon Britton was their master. McEachran was always dropping deep to pick it up off the defender, playing a short pass and asking it for it straight back before repeating the process.
 
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