In this post we explain the football expression ‘chop‘. If you have questions or comments, email us at: admin@languagecaster.com.
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Football Language: (to) Chop
This weeka€™s footballa€“language expression is the word a€˜chopa€™. Now a€˜chopa€™ or a€˜chop downa€™ can be used to describe a very strong tackle a€“ a€˜to chop an opponent downa€™ but in recent times the verb to chop can also mean to dribble past an opponent. This way of beating a defender involves pretending to go one way with the ball by jumping over the ball and hitting it in a different direction with the heel while bringing the other leg across the move. Sound complicated? Here is a link to a video in the Telegraph which demonstrates this better. In fact, this video calls the move the ‘Ronaldo chop‘ as the Portuguese player uses this move frequently. The chop move will help the forward to move away from the defender mainly by wrong-footing them.
Example: In a recent away win at Burnley, Crystal Palace winger Wilf Zaha scored a wonderful goal after chopping inside the defender before firing home. Afterwards on the Crystal Palace website he said: “I was thinking, a€˜okay, I cana€™t chop any more timesa€™, so I just made sure I connected with the ball properly and Ia€™m just happy I scored really.”
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