Man City: Are they dirty?

[Reddy Rederson]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48028390

Ole has given a warning to his players, "There will be fouls. They will snap at your ankles and heels and kick you.".

Is this true of city? I dont watch them that much, and can really only point to Fernandino as a dirty player that gets away with so much he must be using the jedi mind trick on refs. "That wasnt the challenge you were looking for.". So is this true, are city a dirty side, or is Ole just trying to get in the refs head before the game?

 

[haram]

Yes.

 

[SirAF]

They definitely use pro fouls, but I wouldn’t call it dirty.

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

Yes they can be quite dirty. Although we are not that nice either and makes a lot of fouls. Although I say from us it is mainly from our players being too slow

In a game like this we know City always can use dives and dirty tricks to win too. Although I don't think they need it tonight.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Yes. Watch them. When they lose possession in the attacking third they will straight up foul the opposing player. Winning the ball back is considered a bonus.

 

[yumtum]

Yes, most of their fouls are in their opponents half, it's why they dont get booked and are free to keep doing it, it's why they can press high and not worry too much about counter attacks, and considering all you can really do is counter attack against them, means you're nullified.

 

[neilv93]

Tactical, yes. Dirty, no, not in my opinion. They're smart and make fouls to avoid being caught out of position on the counter but I don't view it as being dirty - we should do it more if anything.

 

[Ish]

Systematic fouling, yeah. Not sure if:
a) it’s considered dirty or
b) you really get any “clean” teams out there anyway;

It’s professional sports, just about everyone uses “professional fouls” when they need to.

 

[cvb]

Yes. Watch them. When they lose possession in the attacking third they will straight up foul the opposing player. Winning the ball back is considered a bonus.

Is that the definition of dirty, though? Don't deny that we willingly and frequently commit fouls to break up counter attacks, but they're normally shirt pulls or body checks. We rarely commit fouls that could hurt or endanger an opponent.

 

[Infestissumam]

I just love that Pep immediately got offended by Oles comment. Such precious snowflakes.

 

[Havak]

I wouldn't go as far as 'dirty' but definitely clever and sneaky. They get away with more niggly fouls that break up the play that other teams wouldn't get away with. I think it's partially because everyone, including the officials, are expecting City to press fast and high. They go into more challenges so it ends up being more of an average percentage kind of thing. They're ankle biters for the most part. They hound you. They 'foul' you but the general conseus is "it's what they do" and it will continually go overlooked.

Guaranteed we start the game frantically, pushing hard to win the ball back but give away more foils in the first 20 minutes than City do all game

 

[Reddy Rederson]

Tactical, yes. Dirty, no, not in my opinion. They're smart and make fouls to avoid being caught out of position on the counter but I don't view it as being dirty - we should do it more if anything.

That would be my opinion as well. Pulling back on the shirt though is different to kicking ankles and heels. Kicking into the oppo is where Id say the dirty line is.

 

[jderbyshire]

Yes, and Pep is simply just covering his ass by denying it.

Because they have a high line, they use tactical fouls to stop devastating counter-attacks.

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

I just love that Pep immediately got offended by it. Such precious snowflakes.

Both Klopp and Pep seems fairly easy to offend in different ways. Sad that it has not stopped them from being good managers for our rivals. I guess once they get negative momentum things could get really bad under Klopp.

Although Pep has pretty much won it in all his teams, but with the players he have things gets easier (he develop his players really well though).

 

[coolredwine]

They definitely use pro fouls, but I wouldn’t call it dirty.

Look at Fernandinho fouling and escaping cards.

 

[harms]

I've read a weird stat somewhere which looks like it can be true — that City are very close to the top in terms of fouls per time without possession rate. But they have so much possession that in pure numbers they make very few fouls.

City players definitely make many "professional" fouls where they kick a player to stop a counter without the intention of getting the ball (risking a yellow, of course), with Fernandinho being the worst culprit.

 

[thejtrain]

Committing so many players so high up the pitch, of course you have to foul some times to win the ball back. Wouldn't call them dirty, though.

 

[Charles Miller]

Impressive how they can get away with tactical fouls. Its infuriating to watch them against those small sides. They have the ball all the time and when the adversary gets an oportunity to counter attack they stop it with a foul.

 

[andersj]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48028390

Ole has given a warning to his players, "There will be fouls. They will snap at your ankles and heels and kick you.".

Is this true of city? I dont watch them that much, and can really only point to Fernandino as a dirty player that gets away with so much he must be using the jedi mind trick on refs. "That wasnt the challenge you were looking for.". So is this true, are city a dirty side, or is Ole just trying to get in the refs head before the game?

I dont they are dirty, I think they are cynical and gets away with it.

 

[SteveJ]

Impressive how they can get away with tactical fouls. Its infuriating to watch them against those small sides. They have the ball all the time and when the adversary gets an oportunity to counter attack they stop it with a foul.

You'd think referees would've caught onto it by now & punish them accordingly.

 

[IrishRedDevil]

Fernandinho is the one of the dirtiest players in the league. He seems to be able to get away with so many repeat fouls in every single game.

 

[Wiltord02]

They get away with it because they foul early. If the opponent intercepts and goes past a few players, the ref is much more likely to book a player for stopping a developing attack. However, City strangle the attack at birth with holding and tripping. Ive seen their attackers get away with so much in the last two seasons.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Not dirty, but definitely toe the line in terms of fouling while somehow not picking up cards. PSG did the same thing against us and got away with it as well.

 

[duffer]

Filthy.

 

[Physiocrat]

Yes, they foul a lot if you take into account the time they don't have the ball which is what the BBC articles misses. Of course they foul less than United as they have the ball 70% of the time, rather than 55% (at best)

 

[SteveJ]

Despite Pep Bobbins' protests, I find it hard to believe that the tactical fouls aren't coached.

 

[Aloysius's Back 3]

I hate when we talk like this - we sound so second fiddle

 

[RobinLFC]

Yes. Watch them. When they lose possession in the attacking third they will straight up foul the opposing player. Winning the ball back is considered a bonus.

That's not dirty, that's smart. Hardly any of those are "dirty" fouls in my book, bar some of Fernandinho's maybe.

And they'll continue to do so as long as it goes unpunished by the referees. We do it as well, and I don't mind it. It's infuriating to play against though.

 

[Sir Scott McToMinay]

Of course, that was Barca’s thing too.
If they don’t do that, they’ll get battered on the counter by most decent sides.

 

[Ødegaard]

Yes. Absolutely.
One of the worst teams I've ever seen when it comes to making "tactical" fouls.

 

[SteveJ]

I hate when we talk like this - we sound so second fiddle

It's not the same as us speculating that they're all on drugs or that Silva's wig is grown in a Spanish laboratory.

 

[Ian Reus]

Both citeh and liverpool use a tactic whereby they foul the opposition in the opposition half so as to stop play or counter attacks.
However these could often go unpunished as their in our own halves.
It's dirty and the reason why they're getting so many wins without losing players to cards.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Is that the definition of dirty, though? Don't deny that we willingly and frequently commit fouls to break up counter attacks, but they're normally shirt pulls or body checks. We rarely commit fouls that could hurt or endanger an opponent.

I'd say yes. If you genuinely intend to win the ball and commit a foul, or even are physically challenging your opponent and foul them, that's part of the sport. Going out to stop someones forward movement by tripping them or otherwise impeding them is unsportsmanlike and therefore can be considered dirty.

 

[RobinLFC]

Fernandinho is the one of the dirtiest players in the league. He seems to be able to get away with so many repeat fouls in every single game.

He has averaged 1.35, 1.17 and 1.50 fouls per game in the last three seasons.

So either he doesn't make as much repeat fouls as we think he does, he has a lot of games without any fouls at all, or, the most probably options, he makes a lot of fouls which the referees don't even notice.

 

[jojojo]

A lot of tactical fouls that refs don't see as yellow card worthy because they happen early in a move, or because they take out the passing player rather than the one receiving it - with an intent to stop a return ball or reduce the numbers available on a counter-attack. Sometimes meaning advantage is played where no actual advantage is available.

Generally speaking, it's not particularly violent of aggressive stuff - just stuff they get away with that an ordinary team, committing a traditional tactical foul, wouldn't. More a refereeing issue than anything.

 

[youngrell]

Both Klopp and Pep seems fairly easy to offend in different ways. Sad that it has not stopped them from being good managers for our rivals. I guess once they get negative momentum things could get really bad under Klopp.

Although Pep has pretty much won it in all his teams, but with the players he have things gets easier (he develop his players really well though).

Yeah, I reckon Fergie would have had a field day winding Klopp up if he were still around the last few years.

 

[macheda14]

In their doc Arteta literally says 'foul them in the transition'. So yes, they are getting away with something

 

[Charles Miller]

You'd think referees would've caught onto it by now & punish them accordingly.

I think Guardiola realized that EPL referees dont give foul at any contact like in other leagues, also they would prefer just talking with players that commit the first foul, unless its a violent conduct or if you grab the shirt of the adversary, something like that. In other words, in general any City midfielder will have the chance to stop two counter attacks before be booked if they are smart. I dont think its an exaggeration to say that it could be the difference between winning the league by 1 point or losing it.

 

[BobbyManc]

Not as dirty as the majority of teams we play against, so no. I don't think Fernandinho is a dirty player, he almost never seems to commit fouls that actually endanger an opponent. Depends how you define it I suppose. Dirty in the context of football in my view is someone who often looks to leave something on his opponent or provoke a reaction, for example Michael Brown was an absolute prick for this. The closest we have to anyone like this is Delph, he can be a bit of a bastard when he challenges for the ball, but that's about it. Aguero whenever he's on the same pitch as David Luiz too. Toure was prone to some proper shithouse challenges.

I do love the idea though that somehow City are an especially dirty side because Fernandinho likes to clip heels and pull back shirts to stop counter attacks, meanwhile the likes of Sterling, de Bruyne and Silva are constantly kicked and pushed and pulled to try and dispossess and hurt them. If you look at last season in particular there was that one run of games where we suffered numerous red card challenges that went unpunished, including two in one game v Spurs.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Nah.