Easy: Possession

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 easy so we’re looking at common football words and phrases. Things you use and need to know to play the game.

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 word possession. 

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

Jack: This episode is easy so we’re looking at common football words and phrases; things you use and need to know to play the game.

Rich: The word we are looking at in this episode is: possession.

Jack: There are a few ways the word possession can be used and it can be used in and out of football. 

Rich: The word is generally connected to having or owning something. We can talk about our possessions; our personal possessions.

Jack: These are the objects and things which are ours - we own them. Our personal possessions could be anything really; clothes, books, photos, ornaments, computers, mobile phones, even cars or houses. 

Rich: We also use in possession of to describe the state of having or owning something. Did you know that I am in possession of some very interesting information about the transfer of Lionel Messi?

Jack: I don’t believe you’re in possession of anything but gossip and rumours you have read in the newspapers.

Rich: This is the meaning we use when we talk about possession on the football pitch, too. 

Jack: Before we talk about possession of the ball let’s think about the spelling of the word possession.

Rich: Yes, it can be a bit tricky to remember. How many ‘Ss’ are in possession?

Jack: There are four ‘Ss’ in possession. P - O - double S - E - double S - I - O - N.

Rich: So, we had just started to talk about possession of the football. On the pitch, possession describes the state of having the ball.

Jack: We can talk about possession of the ball or ball possession but usually we just use the word possession.

Rich: Possession is one of the statistics that are often used to talk about a match. We might say a team has had 70% possession.

Jack: This means they have had the ball for 70% of the time played.

Rich: There are a few collocations we use with possession when talking about football. 

Jack: One common collocation is hold onto possession. This means keeping the ball and not giving the ball to the other team. 

Rich: We might also hear the phrase to keep possession which means the same thing. Some teams are better at holding onto or keeping possession than others. 

Jack: Some teams might hold onto possession or keep possession for long periods of time because that’s their style of play - they play possession football.

Rich: However, most teams try to hold onto possession in the last few minutes if they are winning. They don’t want to give away possession and give the other team a chance to attack.

Jack: To give away possession or lose possession means to lose the ball and give possession to the other team.

Rich: Teams like Manchester City and Barcelona famously rely on possession but it is becoming more common to see teams do well without possession.

Jack: A team with little possession can often defend well and then when they get possession can counter-attack quickly and create opportunities to score.

Rich: So, maybe precision is more important than possession?

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. 

Comment

Discuss

How important is possession in today's game?

Do you prefer to watch teams with styles based around keeping possession?