Getting into soccer? You’re in the right place.
Welcome to The Tap-Inn. We serve simple, witty, twice-weekly explainers to help you understand soccer, the world’s most popular sport. No assumed knowledge, no PhD-level tactics, no nonsense.
—Joe, your Irish bartender (no, really)
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“Box-to-box”
/bɒks tə bɒks/
phrase · soccer
- Definition:
- A midfielder who operates across the entire field, defending in their own penalty area one moment, arriving late in the opposition box the next. They're basically the team's engine room.
- Origin:
- Evolved with modern tactical demands in the 1990s-2000s, describing midfielders who cover the entire vertical length of the pitch, from their own box to their opponents'.
“Roy Keane was the ultimate box-to-box midfielder.”
ASK THE BARTENDER
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