Football’s new phrase book – modern language or just jargon?

Is it simply the modern language of football? Or just “jargon” dressing up the game’s time-honoured glossary of terms in fancy new clothes?

From a “low block” to a “high press”, football’s phrase book has gained countless new entries in recent years that have become part of the conversations before, during and after games.

These words alone spark debate from supporters to players past and present, from the cynics who dismiss them, to the newer generation who embrace them as an integral part of the football experience.

BBC Sport pundits Pat Nevin and Chris Sutton, who have to decide which to use or avoid, have outspoken views on the subject.

Former Scotland forward Nevin says: “I think it’s just jargon used in every industry. It is showing someone you’re in a little cosy club. You are saying ‘we know about these things’ and it makes you sound a bit cleverer.

“It is saying ‘we’re in the club, we’re in the know – you’re not’. I never use them, or if I do I immediately apologise or flag it up.

“For instance, I might say a team is defending really deep, then add ‘or as they say in the modern parlance, a low block’.”

Sutton said: “It’s just the evolution of the game. They’re just different words aren’t they? I’m not one who gets too stuck in the past – but there might be one I take real umbrage with.”

So what are these modern terms? And what do they really mean?