Numbers on the Touchline

C2 Proficiency · Word Formation · Cambridge Ready original exercise

For questions 1–8, read the text below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of some of the lines to form a word that fits in the gap in the same line. There is an example at the beginning (0).

CONCEIVE

PROBABLE

DENY

LOOK

OBSESS

PREDICT

SATISFY

QUANTITY

(0) ___ , a football manager's decisions rested on gut feeling and years spent watching the game from the touchline. Today, even modest clubs employ teams of analysts who track every (1) ___ statistic, from the distance each player covers to the (2) ___ of a shot from a given spot ending up in the net. The results have been (3) ___ impressive. Clubs with limited budgets have used data to identify players who had been (4) ___ by wealthier rivals, then sold them on for many times what they paid. Some have even reached cup finals that their budgets would never have predicted. Not everyone is convinced, however. Critics fear that an (5) ___ with numbers risks stripping the game of its (6) ___ , as coaches increasingly favour the percentage play over the moment of individual genius. Players, too, have voiced (7) ___ at being reduced to a column of figures on a spreadsheet, arguing that qualities such as leadership, courage and composure under pressure remain stubbornly (8) ___ .

Numbers on the Touchline

TRADITION

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