Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time. We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.

This episode is easy so we’re looking at common football words and phrases. Things you use and need to know to play the game.

Summary

Learn more football vocabulary with Premier Skills English. Each lesson in our Premier Vocabulary section looks at one football word or phrase. This lesson looks at the words defend, defender and defence.

You can find more lessons on the side of this page.

Transcript

Rich: Hello my name’s Rich and welcome to Premier Skills English - Premier Vocabulary.

Jack: Hi there! I’m Jack. We’re here to help you with your football English. Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time.

Rich: Don’t forget you can always find the transcript for all our podcasts on the Premier Skills English website. We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.

Jack: This episode is easy so we’re looking at common football words and phrases; things you use and need to know to play the game.

Rich: The word we are looking at in this episode is: defend.

Jack: Defend is the root word we’re going to look at in this episode but we’re also going to look at other words or parts of speech that are connected to defend.

Rich: We’re going to look at words and phrases such as defend, defence, defender, in defence and defending.

Jack: Defend is a verb and it’s most common meaning is connected to protecting something especially protecting something against an attack.

Rich: The purpose of an army or a military force is to defend itself against attacks from enemies.

Jack: Animals defend their territory.

Rich: Yes, my dog always barks at strangers who come to the house.

Jack: Yes, your house or garden is its territory. It’s defending its territory.

Rich: I suppose football players have to do something similar.

Jack: Bark at strangers?

Rich: Maybe. No, they have to protect the goal. They have to stop attackers scoring. They have to defend.

Jack: Yes, the whole team have to defend - to stop the other team scoring.

Rich: You’re right but who has to defend the most?

Jack: Defenders. It’s a defender’s job to protect the goal and to help the goalkeeper.

Rich: There are some fantastic defenders in the Premier League at the moment. Who do you think is the best?

Jack: It’s difficult but maybe Aymeric Laporte at Manchester City. He’s a great defender.

Rich: He’s good but Virgil Van Dijk has to be the best central defender in the Premier League. It’s a pity he’s injured.

Jack: A central defender is a defender who plays in the middle of the defence. Central defenders are also called centre-backs.

Rich: Aymeric Laporte and Virgil Van Dijk are central defenders or centre backs. They play in the middle of a team’s defence.

Jack: The defence. A team’s defence is the part of the team whose job it is to stop the other team scoring.

Rich: A defence usually consists of four or five defenders.

Jack: A team might have two or three central defenders and then two other defenders on the left and the right.

Rich: Trent Alexander Arnold plays in defence for Liverpool but he’s not a central defender, he’s full-back or wing-back. He plays on the right-hand side of Liverpool’s defence.

Jack: Did you notice the preposition ‘in’? Alexander-Arnold plays in defence for Liverpool. He is a defender. He is very good at defending.

Rich: Did you notice the preposition ‘at’? Alexander-Arnold is very good at defending.

Jack: We can use defend as a noun by adding the gerund form -ing to defend. A common phrase you often hear when a defender does well is ‘That’s great defending!’.

Rich: There is the final whistle!

Jack: We’ll be back soon with more Premier Vocabulary from Premier Skills English.

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football. 

Discuss

Have you ever played in defence?

Who's the best defender in the Premier League?