In this football language post we explain a newspaper headline from the Times newspaper which is all about the big game between Tottenham and Manchester City and the phrase ‘losing it’. The phrase ‘to lose it‘ has different kinds of meanings and in this post we explain what it refers to in this report. Don’t forget we have hundreds more explanations of football language in our football glossary. If you have questions or comments about this or any other phrase then email us at:admin@languagecaster.com.Newspaper Headline: Losing it
This headline is taken from the Times back page from Monday 3rd February and reports on the Tottenham victory over Manchester City from the day before. The main focus of the headline is on Manchester City as the champions not only lost the match (2-0 against Spurs), they also lost ground on the leaders Liverpool (now 22 points behind) but also they seemed to lose the plot or lose their heads in the game. So, the word ‘it’ in the headline can refer to the match itself, their Premier League title or the fact that Manchester City appear to be losing control – in fact, the Times seems to be leaning towards this idea as they also include the following sub-heading under their main headline: ‘A red card, Sterling’s rash challenge and another missed penalty in ther 2-0 defeat at Tottenham…’. The image from the back page also reinforces this meaning by showing one of their players, Zinchenko, arguing with Spurs defender Toby Alderweireld; with the Manchester City defender later sent off for a second yellow card offence after making a stupid (and emotional) challenge to stop a Tottenham counter attack. So, the phrase ‘to lose it‘ suggests that someone has lost control because they may be over-emotional and this is what the newspaper is suggesting with their headline – Manchester City lose control.
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