Plenty of fans and pundits have accused Pep Guardiola of instructing his players to make tactical fouls in the past, but it’s something that the Spaniard has always denied.
However, in a recent interview, one of City’s new recruits, Rodri, spilled the beans and admitted that he is being taught when to commit fouls.
He said:
I am learning new things, how to go, when to stay, when I have to do a tactical foul, when I have to jump. It’s good for me to learn these things, and for the team, it’s good because we need those offensive players to be able to play our game.
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Quite what Guardiola thinks about Rodri’s interview remains to be seen, but it does give an indication into the level of detail that City go into in terms of preparation for matches, and that could be something for Liverpool to note.
The Reds, at times, have been accused of being a bit too nice to the opposition and Jurgen Klopp often shows distain when tactical fouls are committed by opposing teams.
However, City have used these fouls to stop teams countering on them for years, they even did it against Liverpool last season when Vincent Kompany took Mo Salah out with a lunging tackle to prevent him racing through on goal.
If Liverpool are going to beat City to the title, they might need to be prepared to use the ‘dark arts’ of football as well as their Manchester rivals do.
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