What does 'bottling' mean in football & which teams are accused of it?

Tottenham, alongside with Arsenal, Dortmund, PSG and Liverpool, have been accused of 'bottling' in football, but what is the origin of the popular sporting insult?

Spurs could have secured a top-four spot with a victory over Bournemouth today, but they fell to nine men down just after the second-half whistle and eventually conceded a goal in the 91st minute.

You'll see the term used and tossed around quite frequently today, but what does it mean when someone has said that a certain team has 'bottled' something?

Football is a game of unpredictability, and almost anything can happen within the 90 minutes of regular time. But what are the implications of someone 'bottling' a game, and where did the term come from?

We take a look into its etymology, teams who are accused of being susceptible to bottling and similar phrases.

What does 'bottling' mean in football?

In football, to 'bottle' or to have 'bottled' something is to throw away a lead or a good chance of winning when you've been on the front foot. More specifically, it is when a team in a leading position loses that lead spectacularly, directly impacting the outcome of the match or competition.

Being a victim of complacency can lead to a false sense of confidence as well as defensive, costly errors. If the team doesn’t remain focused during the entirety of the game, or season, they're more than likely to concede simple chances and see everything go pear-shaped.

For instance, during the 2005 Champions League final, AC Milan bottled a 3-0 lead against Liverpool. The Reds ended up scoring three goals in the second half to equalise 3-3, and eventually won the final through penalty shootout.

For another instance, Paris Saint-Germain suffered the most humiliating comeback defeat in the Champions League history as they lost 6-1 in the second leg after winning 4-0 in the first leg.

This season the Ligue 1 side bottled a 2-0 lead over Man Utd in the Champions League, losing the tie 3-3 on aggregate on away goals.

In one of the most memorable Premier League games of all-time, Arsenal bottled a 4-0 lead over Newcastle when the Magpies came back from four goals down to finish the game 4-4.

Teams can also 'bottle' tournaments and leagues in addition to bottling single games. 

In January 2019, Liverpool were given the opportunity to go 10 points clear of Manchester City in the Premier League before the two sides met at the Etihad. Jurgen Klopp's side, however, fell to a 2-1 defeat in Manchester, therefore potentially 'bottling' their chances of lifting their first-ever Premier League title. 

The Reds drew four out of their next eight league games and threw away the top-of-the-table gap between themselves and Pep Guardiola's side.

And now? They fall one point behind City with just two games left.

According to the Guardian, semantically, the term to 'bottle' derives from Cockney rhyming slang. In it, 'bottle' means 'arse' (bottle and glass). Originally, the term suggested that you could 'lose your bottle' – as in, be so afraid to lose control of your bowel function. This has since been shortened to just 'bottle it'.

What does it mean to 'Spurs' a game?

Tottenham have their very own personalised version of the term 'to bottle'. To 'Spurs' a game, or to have 'Spursed' something is similar to 'bottling' something.

The term originates from Tottenham's 2015-16 Premier League campaign when they emerged as frontrunners to win the league. All season long, they toyed with their title-winning hopes with most of the press dubbing it a two-horse title race between themselves and Leicester City. The Londoners also had a strong chance of finishing above rivals Arsenal in the table for the first time in the Premier League.

By the end of the season, however, they 'Spursed' their title hopes as well as their top-two finish when they were beaten 5-1 by already-relegated Newcastle at St James' Park on the final day of the season – letting Arsenal leapfrog them to second in the table by a single point. In doing so, Spurs came third in a two-horse race and 'Spursed' their whole campaign after being on the front foot for such a substantial amount of time.

In the 2018-19 season, Spurs were once again pipped as title challengers following Manchester City's consecutive Premier League losses to Crystal Palace and Leicester in December. However, shortly after, they 'Spursed' their short-lived title hopes after losing 3-1 to newly-promoted Wolves.

Game by game, Spurs went from a title-chasing side to a top-four chasing side.

They still held a giant advantage over Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd a few games before, but after three 'Spursed' defeats in the recent four league games, now they are even probable to finish outside the top four.

Oh, King of bottling…