{"id":1162,"date":"2026-03-21T05:11:49","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T05:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/?p=1162"},"modified":"2026-03-21T05:11:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T05:11:49","slug":"where-does-your-team-respect-the-ball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/?p=1162","title":{"rendered":"Where does your team \u2018respect the ball\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cMy players made the decision that they wanted to be around the ball, to respect the ball and show unity and leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liam Rosenior\u2019s explanation of the Chelsea huddle just before kick-off against Newcastle last weekend is destined to be one of the most memorable quotes of the season. Not only did referee Paul Tierney loom in the midst of the players\u2019 centre-circle gathering like a sort of PGMOL meerkat, but their head coach also introduced the idea of reverence towards an important, but ultimately inanimate object: the PUMA Orbita Ultimate (Thrill Edition).<\/p>\n

All of which begs the question \u2014 how exactly do you respect the ball, <\/em>and where do you do it?<\/p>\n\n

Perhaps the earliest incident of the ball truly being respected came in 1872, when the first official regulations about its dimensions were drawn up by the Football Association. A weight of 14 to 16 ounces was decided upon, and that \u2014 contrary to anyone you know who insists that \u2018real footballs\u2019, back in the day, were heavier \u2014 has been the required weight ever since.<\/p>\n

But as interesting as Victorian sports legislators undoubtedly are, this is the Premier League in March 2026. Let\u2019s focus on that instead.<\/p>\n

The first decision is how we compare the teams.<\/p>\n

The player with the most passes? That\u2019s Virgil van Dijk, but a central defender knocking the ball around at the back doesn\u2019t feel laden with respect. Most shots? That\u2019s Erling Haaland, but leathering it towards goal feels more like respecting the fans than respecting the ball. It\u2019s arguable that Konstantinos Mavropanos respected the ball more by blocking a Haaland shot with his face in last weekend\u2019s game between West Ham and Manchester City. You have to respect his bravery, too.<\/p>\n

No, we need to respect the readers and go a bit deeper (much like Chelsea and\/or Tierney should have done at around half past five last Saturday). So here are this season\u2019s 20 Premier League clubs split up by where each of them dominates the ball, compared to their peers.<\/p>\n

Football is a sport that enjoys a zone, from the probably-apocryphal \u2018Back to square one\u2019 days of radio commentary, to the moral panic over zonal marking in the 2000s, to the hushed reverence modern analysts show the fabled \u2018Zone 14\u2019.<\/p>\n

And now we can add to these the zones of respect. The half-spaces of esteem. Let\u2019s explore them.<\/p>\n\n

The opposition-half campers<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

These are the alphas of the Premier League, willing to dominate the ball in the most prestigious areas of the pitch \u2014 the football equivalent of slapping down a hotel or two on Mayfair and Park Lane in Monopoly.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s Arsenal, respecting the right-hand side of the penalty area, a space where Bukayo Saka does so much of his damage. Liverpool favour the left space just outside the 18-yard box, a patch of grass custom-built for Florian Wirtz to probe in.<\/p>\n

Manchester City\u2019s passing dominance is slightly deeper (as it must be with the deadly-but-largely-uninvolved Haaland up front), while Manchester United\u2019s red zones seem almost directly mappable to Bruno Fernandes, who may well end up as the 2025-26 Premier League\u2019s player of the season.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/p>\n
\n

\n Bruno Fernandes treating the ball \u2014 if not the quadrant \u2014 with the respect it deserves (Stu Forster\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

The own-half enjoyers<\/h2>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

A big cohort this, and though some may argue it shows a lack of ambition to favour the relative safety of your own half, there\u2019s still narrative to be extracted.<\/p>\n

For instance, who\u2019s the biggest personality in the Aston Villa team? Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, surely, and just look at Villa\u2019s mastery of their own penalty area.<\/p>\n

The very essence of Brentford, meanwhile, can be extracted from their map. A deep block with a distant colony in the opposition 18-yard box, the very space that their long throws get hurled into. Sunderland, in contrast, rarely have a look inside the other team\u2019s penalty area \u2014 something they may want to address this summer ahead of what\u2019s already a tough-looking second season back in the top flight.<\/p>\n

And do Brighton win the prize for the most condensed respecters \u2014 narrow and resolutely in their own half? It\u2019s no surprise, then, to learn that centre-backs Lewis Dunk and Jan Paul van Hecke have hit a combined 4,120 Premier League passes so far this season.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/p>\n
\n

\n Brentford\u2019s Dango Ouattara respecting a PUMA Orbita Ultimate, Thrill Edition (Adrian Dennis\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Respect the\u2026 touchline?<\/h2>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

In many respects, there\u2019s not a more dangerous place for the ball than the touchline. It\u2019s one miscontrol or bad pass from going out of play and \u2014 in this era of the multi-ball system \u2014 leaving the game completely and being placed gently on a cone as one of its cousins enters the fray as its replacement.<\/p>\n

But there are teams who enjoy being out on the flanks. Bournemouth\u2019s and Everton\u2019s maps speak of departures, namely Antoine Semenyo to Manchester City and Jack Grealish to, well, Manchester City too (for treatment on his loan-season-ending foot injury). Nottingham Forest\u2019s preference for the area next to the corner flag is apt for a season where they have already sacked three head coaches, while Tottenham\u2019s love of the right-back zone is perfect for a campaign where they might end up right back where they started (18th, on alphabetical order).<\/p>\n\n

The just-a bit-confusing crew<\/h2>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

The impact of Crystal Palace not using wingers is clearly visible here, and I\u2019m starting to develop a theory as to why Burnley have had fewer shots than any other Premier League team this season.<\/p>\n\n

Chelsea \u2013 ultimate ball-respecters <\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

All the above leaves one club remaining, and it\u2019s the leaders of this scene, albeit a short-lived one that has now been scrapped by Rosenior.<\/p>\n

Even so, could there have been a more perfect conclusion to this experiment than to find out that the area of the pitch where Chelsea dominate passing is on or around the centre spot?<\/p>\n

Does this mean a reassessment of the huddle is needed? Were they simply inspecting the very space where they do their best work? Is Opta somehow including stares at the ball pre-kick-off in its analysis of the Premier League?<\/p>\n

We simply don\u2019t know. All we can do is thank Rosenior for even making us think about it. Respect.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cMy players made the decision that they wanted to be around the ball, to respect the ball and show unity and leadership.\u201d Liam Rosenior\u2019s explanation of the Chelsea huddle just … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}