This football language podcast for learners of English, looks at the phrase ‘rooted to the spot’ and other language related to it. You can read the transcript for this podcast below, and you can also access our huge glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at [email protected].

Learn English Through Football Podcast: Season 2022-23: Rooted to the Spot

DB: Hi there everyone! Welcome to the football language podcast for everyone who enjoys football and also wants to learn the language of football in English. My name is Damon, one half of the languagecaster team. I’m currently in a cloudy, cool Japan, as autumn has arrived. Damian, the other half of the team is in London. I wonder how he is feeling after his side, Tottenham got all three points by beating Brighton and Hove Albion 1-0 away. I know how I’m feeling about football at the moment – not great!  And this is because Arsenal have just beaten the team I support Liverpool 3-2. Oh well, there is always the next match!

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (Turkish)

Rooted to the Spot

DB: Yes, you are listening to languagecaster.com, and that message was in Turkish.

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OK, let’s turn to some football language, and we’re going to focus on a minute-by-minute report in the Guardian on the match I mentioned at the start of the show: Brighton vs Tottenham. Here is a description of a shot by Brighton.

MacAllister tees up March, just to the right of the Spurs D. He takes a touch inside and creams a low drive millimetres wide of the right-hand post. Had that been on target, Lloris, rooted to the spot, was never getting there. Brighton getting closer and closer.

Now, in that description we have Lloris, the Tottenham goalkeeper was rooted to the spot. This phrase means to stand still, to not move. Your legs and feet are stuck to the ground, almost like a tree trunk and its roots, which keep it in the ground. In a  football match, we want players to be mobile to move, especially goalkeepers if there is a shot. Here, Lloris does not move at all, and the shot flies towards the goal. He is rooted to the spot.

(to) Cream a shot

DB: So, why doesn’t Lloris move? Well, the shot is hit so hard, the keeper has no time to react. Maybe a defender is also standing in front of the keeper. The commentary says March creams a low drive wide of the post. To cream a shot or cream the ball is to hit it fiercely; to hit it hard. You may hear someone say, she absolutely creamed it into the top corner. She hit the ball hard and scored.

Low Drive (piledriver)

In the description we are focused on, the shot is described as a low drive, so the ball is driven, hit hard, along the ground or just above the ground. A related word is a piledriver – a really hard shot.

So,