Manchester City have been getting plaudits for their attacking style this season, despite
the recent defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League.
While comparatives are always hard in football, this City side is certainly one of the finest,
and most attractive, seen in the Premier League.
If one simply looked at the table of fouls conceded, Manchester City lalso ook like the
cleanest team in the Premier League.
The two worst teams are Watford, with 386, and Everton, with 404.
The five best teams for fouls conceded are Manchester City, tied with Bournemouth, Chelsea,
Burnley, and Leicester City.
However, when one takes possession into account, Manchester City start to look a little less
angelic.
Premier League sides have so far played 32 or 33 games this season and so it’s possible
to work out an approximate time spent in and out of possession.
City have had an average possession this season of 71.8% in the league, so the 28.2% of the
time spent out of possession means their opposition has had the ball for just over 800 minutes;
the next most dominate sides, Arsenal and Spurs, have seen their opposition keep the
ball for over 1000 minutes each.
Factoring in fouls, it’s pretty clear that in the limited time City’s opposition have
the ball, they get fouled a lot.
To give context, the bottom two sides for fouls per minute when out of possession are
Bournemouth and Burnley, with 0.19 and 0.18 fouls per minute respectively.
Burnley are the cleanest team in the Premier League.
So much for stereotypes.
Why do City foul so much, relative to how little time they spend with the ball?
Pep Guardiola’s sides have always kept the ball a lot, striving to use possession as
the first line of defence – when the opposition can’t get the ball, they can’t attack.
But, Guardiola teams also commit a lot of men forwards.
As we have seen before, City’s typical 4-3-3 shape looks more like a 2-3-5 in attack, with
the full backs either tucking in or pushing up wide, and five men in attack.This leaves
City clearly exposed to counter attacks, especially out wide if the full backs have tucked in,
or through the centre if they are out wide.
This is why every Guardiola side has had a player who acts as the tactical fouler, the
player who sits at the base of the 4-3-3’s midfield shape and is responsible for thwarting
attacks through the centre or covering over to the wide spaces should the danger be there.
At Barcelona, it was Sergio Busquets, at Bayern Munich Javi Martinez, and at City, it’s
Fernandinho.
These players are obviously not just hatchet men – all show superb positional awareness
and much of their defensive work is done through being in the right place at the right time
to intercept or tackle.
But they also have a job to stop attacks by any means.
The area patrolled by Fernandinho is in front of the centre backs, but also out wide and
pushing up.
As City press high, Fernandinho will move forwards to press the central midfield area,
but much of the pressing is done by the front five players.
Fernandinho is there if the press fails, or to supplement it.
City also tactically foul to stop play developing out wide on the counter.
According to the Premier League’s site, City’s most fouling player is, of course,
Fernandinho with 37.
Second to him, though, is Raheem Sterling, with 33.
Kevin De Bruyne also has 27.
These players push into the wide spaces or half spaces when City are high up the pitch
and, should the City attack break down and the opposition attempt to counter, Sterling
and De Bruyne will commit tactical fouls high up the pitch to allow City to regain their
defensive shape.
While Manchester City‘s team are fit and intelligent players with a strong positional
sense, their commitment to pushing men forwards leaves them vulnerable to the counter.
The aggressive pushing up of Nicolas Otamendi and the sweeping of Ederson can only secure
the back so much – it’s far more sensible for City to stop attacks in their tracks by
committing tactical fouls in the danger areas, rather than trying to regain a sensible defensive
posture.
Cynical or sensible, there’s no doubt that City’s fouling is deployed systemically
and cleverly, especially by Fernandinho and in the wide spaces.
City would not be able to commit so many men forwards if they were unable to stop counter
attacks.
Part of that approach requires tactical fouling.
It might not be as attractive as the rest of their play, but it’s an integral part
that allows the rest of their style to flourish.