City v Sunderland Post Match

[dasblues]

I haven't had a chance to watch the match today, but some interesting stats glared at me and was wondering if anyone can help out.

City: Tackles 15 Fouls 14 Possession 64
Mackems: Tackles 20 Fouls 7 Possession 36

While tackles are not always associated with fouls, I was wondering how we committed almost the same number of fouls as tackles whereas sunderland committed only 7 fouls in comparison when they attempted 20 tackles. I also can't see us committing double the number of their fouls when we had twice the possession. Why would we commit fouls when we had the ball.

Was it a dirty game, poorly officiated, or did it just get out of hand near the end?

Thanks

These kind of stats have been representative of most City games for quite sometime now, the level of ''fouls'' we supposedly commit is ridiculously high.
Here's me thinking we're one of the best sides in the league when it comes to keeping possession and passing the ball when in fact the stats PROVE we're just a bunch of talentless, clumsy cloggers who are constantly chasing the the game and hacking the opposition players down.

Still, no agenda though...

I've been looking at this issue for quite some time now and it is quite clear that one of the reasons for this is it is quite clear that refs only give free kicks when a team loses possession.
For example Silva gets fouled on average 6 times a game but because he is so quick and gets the ball away in the direction of a City player as the foul comes in refs don't give the foul. I'm at a loss to understand how it can be an advantage to City that a foul is not given - especially when the bus is parked - but there you go. (Incidentally Silva gets both his feet in the air as the challenge comes in so little damage is done (somthing else that is worth noting). The same applies to Nasri and YaYa to la lesser degree.
That said refs have a basic reluctance to blow up for a foul on City yet will blow up instantly when a City player pulls the same trick, so I'm sure City would have to face many more break away attempts if City player went down without trying to retain possession.

The reason for the discrepancy between tackles and fouls is that we generally dont go in search of the ball to win it back because we have more possesion.

Our fouls are usually the result of 'tactical' fouling to stop a counter attack, which are always pulled up, and we also have a high booking to foul ratio becuase of this ie the referee always books an obvious tactical foul

 

[grim up north]

These kind of stats have been representative of most City games for quite sometime now, the level of ''fouls'' we supposedly commit is ridiculously high.
Here's me thinking we're one of the best sides in the league when it comes to keeping possession and passing the ball when in fact the stats PROVE we're just a bunch of talentless, clumsy cloggers who are constantly chasing the the game and hacking the opposition players down.

Still, no agenda though...

I've been looking at this issue for quite some time now and it is quite clear that one of the reasons for this is it is quite clear that refs only give free kicks when a team loses possession.
For example Silva gets fouled on average 6 times a game but because he is so quick and gets the ball away in the direction of a City player as the foul comes in refs don't give the foul. I'm at a loss to understand how it can be an advantage to City that a foul is not given - especially when the bus is parked - but there you go. (Incidentally Silva gets both his feet in the air as the challenge comes in so little damage is done (somthing else that is worth noting). The same applies to Nasri and YaYa to la lesser degree.
That said refs have a basic reluctance to blow up for a foul on City yet will blow up instantly when a City player pulls the same trick, so I'm sure City would have to face many more break away attempts if City player went down without trying to retain possession.

The reason for the discrepancy between tackles and fouls is that we generally dont go in search of the ball to win it back because we have more possesion.

Our fouls are usually the result of 'tactical' fouling to stop a counter attack, which are always pulled up, and we also have a high booking to foul ratio becuase of this ie the referee always books an obvious tactical foul

Or the opposition fall over 30 yards from our goal in the hope they might score from a set piece

 

[bluefn]

Had a few too many scoops to post when I got back last night but I heard we took a bit of stick from those in the media and the agenda, so thought Id clear a few things up for those that lurk on here, you know who you are.

Firstly, you can f##k off. This Chelsea love in is getting on my tits now. Im so very f#####g glad they got banjod last night, couldn't have happened to a nicer club. I really cant see how else we could have played yesterday. When a team comes and puts 10 men behind the ball, is compact and intentionally forces a team that plays so centrally to play wider, what the f##k else are we supposed to do? I'll give a little here, perhaps we could play with a bit more pace, but that's not how we roll so f##k em'. It worked. We broke them down eventually, and anyone who watched that last 15 minutes will know that they were dead on their feet (sunderland) after we gave them a f#####g run around. They were chasing the ball for 90 plus minutes and that is credit to how we play.

Now then, what happened after we went 2 up, I'm still trying to understand. Its something we need to look at. That is twice now. And we conceded too much space against west brom as well. I haven't seen us look this vulnerable to being attacked since f#####g leslie was here. Sunderland had to come out after the first and second went in and it was way to easy for them for about 10 minutes, where a better side would have put us to the sword. At the moment I'm reckoning that the movement we are needing to compensate for not having a striker and the work rate these lads are putting in has caught us over Christmas. The link between attack and defence was disappearing as the game went on, both yaya and fern were blowing through their arses and that leaves a lot of space. The whole team has had to work harder and the sooner we get our top boys back the better. Although saying that I thought the mangler was top banana yesterday.

 

[Don Howe]

A few thoughts of mine...

http://www.standingalone.co.uk/manc...the-etihad-city-go-joint-top-after-nervy-win/

 

[Patientman63]

Its also to do with how the opposition sets out. Teams that sit very deep and get numbers behind the ball are instructed NOT to commit to tackles, but to stay on their feet, marshal us sideways and backwards, and watch for overlaps. If you jump in for a tackle, that's when the highest chance of a foul occurs, and when you're sat so deep, the last thing you want to give away is a free kick close to your 18 yard box. Its as dull as fuck, but if done properly (see Barca v Chelsea in the ECL 24 April 2012) it is nigh on impossible to penetrate. Even a side as technically gifted as Barca couldn't get through.

 

[gio's side step]

Had the fortune of listening to Pellegrini speak recently at a League Managers Association event and he recalled 3 moments which he felt were key last season in us winning the title.

I think he might just recall this result come May also. Sometimes results are far bigger than 3 points. Mentally to experience the deja vu of conceeding 2 after a 2 goal lead at home (only 4 days after having done so previously during a really defining part of the season) could have been really damaging for the rest of the season. After the Burnley game I think I was probably the only person around me who actually felt relief rather than frustration and anger because I really felt like we could have lost that game 3-2 in the last few minutes. Again at 2-2 yesterday, whilst we've been on a fantastic run having to navigate tough CL games with injuries to such key players, we were really mentally vulnerable and to have drawn again would have set the context for every remaining home game in the new year.

But to find a way of going ahead meant that vulnerability was addressed and we then played with the confidence and fluidity in creating a number of chances to have won 5 or 6.

A critical match during a critical period. And the first test of pressure we've really put on Chelsea and they failed.

Get our key players fit asap and I dont think we'll lose more than 2 games in the run in.

 

[Bentheblue]

I was the gents in the North Stand after the Sunderland home draw last season, a Sunderland fan using the urinal next to me said "that draw was no good to either of us".
After getting over the initial shock of an away fan having the nerve to start a conversation in the gents. I agreed.
However we were wrong, the point we each gained helped us win the league and helped them beat relegation.
Every point is a prisoner.