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.
Fantasy Football
Have you ever played fantasy football? For the 2020/21 Fantasy Premier League season, you can join our mini-league "Premier Skills English" on the Premier League's official fantasy football game.
Joining the league couldn't be easier and it's free. Simply use the link below and you'll be added automatically after you've entered the game.
https://fantasy.premierleague.com/leagues/auto-join/n4rwjn
League Code: n4rwjn
Looking forward to playing against you this season!
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
Log in to leave a comment
Comments
12/03/2022
points
The teams under Mourinho are best at playing out from the back.
12/03/2022 03:12
Manchester United
738
The teams under Mourinho are best at playing out from the back.
24/05/2021
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.
24/05/2021 18:08
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.
17/09/2020
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.
17/09/2020 07:20
Liverpool
6281
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.
17/09/2020
points
Italian squads, as a rule, play out from the back.
17/09/2020 07:16
Liverpool
6281
Italian squads, as a rule, play out from the back.
17/09/2020
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.
17/09/2020 03:18
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.
16/09/2020
points
Man City and Bayern Munich play out from the back whenever possible. It is not good when the attackers are pressing too much
16/09/2020 20:31
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
16/09/2020
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.
16/09/2020 14:35
Manchester United
6510
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.
16/09/2020
points
The best teams at playing out from the back are Manchester City and Broussia Dortmund in Germany.
16/09/2020 14:33
Manchester United
6510
The best teams at playing out from the back are Manchester City and Broussia Dortmund in Germany.