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A player who's always getting hurt. Whether it's bad luck, poor training habits, or physical fragility, the pattern repeats. Clubs hesitate to invest heavily in injury-prone players because you can't rely on them. The label can be unfair when injuries are random, but some players genuinely seem to break down every few months.

A young player with exceptional talent who's expected to become world class. The label creates pressure and expectations. Some wonderkids fulfill the hype (Messi, Mbappé), others don't (Freddy Adu, remember him?). Football Manager made the term mainstream - everyone's hunting the next wonderkid before their price explodes. The hype machine starts younger every year.

How often a team plays forward rather than sideways or backward. High verticality means lots of progressive passes; low verticality means lots of circulation and recycling. Neither is inherently better - it depends on what you're trying to do. Guardiola teams often have lower verticality in possession but devastating vertical moments when gaps appear. Direct teams have high verticality throughout.

The central area just outside the penalty box, roughly where the "D" sits. Called zone 14 because it's the 14th zone when you divide the pitch into an 18-zone grid (6 across, 3 deep in each half). Receiving the ball here is dangerous because you're facing goal with shooting and passing options. Classic number 10s live in this space. Getting the ball into zone 14 is a key attacking objective.

The tense period during VAR reviews when everyone waits to see if a goal stands or gets disallowed. Named after the literal thing fans do. Games now have these long pauses where nobody knows what's happening, the referee draws a rectangle in the air, and then you find out if you're celebrating or mourning. Changed the rhythm of how goals are experienced.