In this post we explain the football phrase ‘loose pass,’ used to describe a mistake. If you have questions or comments, email us at: admin@languagecaster.com.
- You can also find many more examples of soccer vocabulary by going to our football cliches page here and our huge football glossary here.
Football Language: Loose Pass
The phrase loose pass, is a combination of an adjective ‘loose‘ and a noun ‘a pass.‘ Loose, in this context means bad, with the added inference that the passer of the ball was not concentrating when they passed the ball. Usually, a loose pass is intercepted or goes straight to a player on the opposing team. We could also say it was a misplaced pass, although using this phrase means the speaker does not criticise the passer as much as if they used a loose pass.
Verb phrases with the same meaning include ‘to give the ball away cheaply,’ and ‘to gift the ball to.’
In the Champions League this week, Mo Salah of Liverpool made a loose pass, allowing Neymar to link with Mbappe, who scored and equalising goal. also, in Fernandinho’s loose pass allowed Lyon to score against Manchester City. Here is an example from The Guardian about Mo Salah: ‘Salah played a loose pass in his own half, presenting the ball to Neymar, who sprinted towards the Liverpool box.
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