Diving forward and flicking the ball with your heels behind you, legs bent like a scorpion's tail. The opposite of a bicycle kick, which goes backwards. Extremely rare because the situation has to be exactly right and it's incredibly hard to pull off. When it goes in as a goal, it wins every award going. Giroud's against Crystal Palace in 2017 won the FIFA Puskás Award.
Olivier Giroud's scorpion kick goal for Arsenal against Crystal Palace in 2017 won the FIFA Puskás Award - Alexis Sánchez's cross came behind him, and Giroud improvised a diving back-heel flick that arced into the goal, defying physics and belief.
Robbie
Feb 8, 2026
Loose balls after clearances, headers, or blocked shots. Winning second balls is a skill - you need anticipation, positioning, and aggression. Some teams play direct football specifically to create second ball situations. Commentators obsess over it, especially when one team dominates the aerial duels but can't collect what drops. It's a sign of midfield control.
Burnley under Sean Dyche built their entire game around second balls - they'd launch long balls forward, and when the header came down, their midfielders would be positioned to collect it and sustain attacks.
Robbie
Feb 4, 2026
A clause giving the selling club a percentage of any future transfer fee. If you sell a player for £10m with a 20% sell-on, and they're later sold for £50m, you get £8m (20% of the £40m profit). Smart for clubs who develop young players - you benefit from their continued success even after they leave. Can complicate future deals though.
Southampton's sell-on clauses on former players like Gareth Bale, Luke Shaw, and Sadio Mané generated millions in additional revenue when those players moved for bigger fees - a key part of their business model.
Robbie
Jan 17, 2026
A mocking nickname for teams that score most of their goals from corners, free kicks, and throw-ins rather than open play. It implies they can't break teams down through actual football and have to rely on set pieces to get results. Sometimes it's fair criticism, sometimes it's just cope from fans whose team just lost to a header from a corner.
Arsenal got called Set Piece FC during the 2024-25 season after scoring loads of goals from corners and free kicks. Fans of other clubs used it as an insult, but Arsenal supporters just leaned into it since the points counted the same.
Robbie
Jan 17, 2026
Plays just behind the striker, arriving late into the box to score or finding pockets in the channels. Unlike a classic 10 who drops deep, the shadow striker focuses on forward runs and finishing. Thomas Müller calls himself a "Raumdeuter" (space interpreter) - he finds gaps and arrives in dangerous spots without defenders noticing. Often racks up goals despite playing nominally behind the main forward.
Thomas Müller has made the shadow striker role his own at Bayern Munich - his "Raumdeuter" (space interpreter) movement sees him ghosting between the lines, arriving in dangerous positions seemingly from nowhere to score crucial goals.
Robbie
Jan 16, 2026