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Medium: Play out from the back

Medium: Play out from the back

Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time. We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.

This episode is medium so we’re looking at football words and phrases you need to describe what’s happening on the pitch or words and phrases fans and commentators on TV might use. There are lots of phrasal verbs to learn at this level.

Summary

Learn more football vocabulary with Premier Skills English. Each lesson in our Premier Vocabulary section looks at one football word or phrase. This lesson looks at the phrase to play out from the back

You can find more lessons on the side of this page.

Transcript

Rich: Hello my name’s Rich and welcome to Premier Skills English - Premier Vocabulary.

Jack: Hi there! I’m Jack. We’re here to help you with your football English. Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time. 

Rich: Don’t forget you can always find the transcript for all our podcasts on the Premier Skills English website.

Rich: We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.

Jack: This episode is medium so we’re looking at football words and phrases you need to describe what’s happening on the pitch or words and phrases fans and commentators on TV might use. There will be lots of phrasal verbs to learn at this level.


Rich: The phrase we are looking at in this episode is to play out from the back.

Jack: This football phrase is used to describe teams that like to keep hold of the ball - teams that like to keep possession.

Rich: When these teams have a goal kick, the goalkeeper doesn’t just kick the ball as far and as hard up the pitch as possible.

Jack: No, the keeper looks for a defender who is nearby and is in space and passes to that defender. This is done to keep possession of the ball.

Rich: The defender will then look for a teammate and the team will pass and run with the ball as they move up the pitch.

Jack: This is what we call playing out from the back. The team passes the ball out from the goalkeeper to defenders instead of kicking the ball long upfield.

Rich: In the past, lots of teams would kick the ball long. This meant that the two teams had to fight for possession in the middle of the pitch. Players needed to be physically strong and generally, there was a fifty-fifty chance of who would win possession.

Jack: The idea of playing out from the back is that a team keeps possession, but they are further away from the opposition goal. Players need to be more skilful to pass the ball around the opposition.

Rich: Most Premier League teams play out from the back these days but still kick the ball long sometimes; especially when they are under pressure or losing in the last few minutes of a match.


Jack: These days the ball doesn’t have to leave the penalty area when a goal kick is taken so playing out from the back is easier. 

Rich: A goalkeeper can pass to a teammate in the area but opponents have to stay outside the area until the kick has been taken. 

Rich: One problem, however, with playing out from the back is that some opponents will press the ball. 

Jack: This means their attacking players will put a lot of pressure on the defenders to force them into making mistakes.

Rich: If a defender makes a mistake, attackers are in a much better position to create scoring opportunities.

Jack: In this situation, playing out from the back is a bit risky and a team has to have players that are very good on the ball to make playing out from the back worthwhile.

Rich: At lower levels of football you see the keeper kicking the ball long more often as defenders are not as skilful as in the Premier League and playing out from the back is often too risky.


Jack: There is the final whistle!

Rich: We’ll be back soon with more Premier Vocabulary from Premier Skills English.

Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football. 

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Comment

Discuss

Which teams are best at playing out from the back?

Is it a good idea to play out from the back when the opposition play with a high press?

Leave a comment

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Comments

Michaelsun
12/03/2022
CN
738
points

The teams under Mourinho are best at playing out from the back.


Michaelsun
12/03/2022 03:12
China
Manchester United
738

The teams under Mourinho are best at playing out from the back.

Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
24/05/2021
BR
1512
points

The Champions Man City have already proved that they are masters on doing it.
I think it can be. Playing out from the back can mean a strategy to atract the oppositions deffense up and offering much more space at their deffenders back. But it takes a lot of skillful players and practice in order to orchestrate that in an efectively way.


Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
24/05/2021 18:08
Brazil
Arsenal
1512

The Champions Man City have already proved that they are masters on doing it.
I think it can be. Playing out from the back can mean a strategy to atract the oppositions deffense up and offering much more space at their deffenders back. But it takes a lot of skillful players and practice in order to orchestrate that in an efectively way.

Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
17/09/2020
UA
6578
points

When the opposition play with a high press, it's sound not to play out from the back, though a good and precise goalie could find a free or starting unexpectedly teammate to throw him the ball.


Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
17/09/2020 07:20
Ukraine
Liverpool
6578

When the opposition play with a high press, it's sound not to play out from the back, though a good and precise goalie could find a free or starting unexpectedly teammate to throw him the ball.

Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
17/09/2020
UA
6578
points

Italian squads, as a rule, play out from the back.


Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
17/09/2020 07:16
Ukraine
Liverpool
6578

Italian squads, as a rule, play out from the back.

RafaelRC's picture
RafaelRC
17/09/2020
BR
663
points

I think is really important to keep the possession during the match, but, just teams with high accuracy pass and a strong tactical organization can be able play like this.
Play out from the back requires is most dangerous them just long balls. Tiki taka is a example, in my opinion the best play out from the back style.


RafaelRC's picture
RafaelRC
17/09/2020 03:18
Brazil
Arsenal
663

I think is really important to keep the possession during the match, but, just teams with high accuracy pass and a strong tactical organization can be able play like this.
Play out from the back requires is most dangerous them just long balls. Tiki taka is a example, in my opinion the best play out from the back style.

William
16/09/2020
CR
13
points

Man City and Bayern Munich play out from the back whenever possible. It is not good when the attackers are pressing too much


William
16/09/2020 20:31
Costa Rica
Chelsea
13

Man City and Bayern Munich play out from the back whenever possible. It is not good when the attackers are pressing too much

mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
16/09/2020
TR
6539
points

I think when the opposition is pressing high , it’s not safe to play out from the back as if there’s a mistake , you will concede a goal directly so I think it’s very risky in this situation.


mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
16/09/2020 14:35
Turkey
Manchester United
6539

I think when the opposition is pressing high , it’s not safe to play out from the back as if there’s a mistake , you will concede a goal directly so I think it’s very risky in this situation.

mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
16/09/2020
TR
6539
points

The best teams at playing out from the back are Manchester City and Broussia Dortmund in Germany.


mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
16/09/2020 14:33
Turkey
Manchester United
6539

The best teams at playing out from the back are Manchester City and Broussia Dortmund in Germany.

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1Alex_from_Ukraine6578
2mobeckham6539
3hsn5560
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4779
6Liubomyr4417
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
RankNameScore
1Colombia74679
2Ukraine33892
3Spain29525
4Serbia27426
5Brazil23505
6Albania20578
7Vietnam20460
8Turkey20111
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United146938
2Liverpool111456
3Chelsea90265
4Arsenal86299
5Manchester City58908
6Tottenham Hotspur19506
7Newcastle United10626
8West Ham United7701
9AFC Bournemouth4915
10Crystal Palace4568

Level

3
Average: 3 (1 vote)

Goals

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