Pep Guardiola has been forced to deny claims he teaches his Manchester City players the dark arts.
Jose Mourinho last season highlighted what he claimed was the Premier League champions’ strategy of tactical fouling.
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville went on to echo those comments – insisting it is a hallmark of a successful team to be able to mix silk and steel.
On Monday he highlighted City’s ability to break up play by fair means or foul during their 1-0 win against Tottenham, which saw them move back to the top of the table.
But Guardiola launched a staunch defence of his side, insisting he does not send his players out with orders to commit cynical fouls.
“We don’t think about that,” said the City manager. “It never happened in my career and will never happen in my career because I understand the game in a different approach.
“(We want) To be aggressive without the ball, stay high, defend high, defend with a lot of space at the back and try to make the best football as possible to win the games.
“It never happened in Barcelona, never happened in Bayern Munich, never happened in City and will never happen in my career. Never.
“Never in my teams to focus on making something wrong.”
Guardiola claims one reason why his side cannot be guilty of conceding ritual fouls, is because they have the ball so often.
“When the opponent has the ball we are going to push them, press them to regain the ball,” he said. “That is the main thing. But the people have to know and Gary Neville knows perfectly well because he was a former player, that the opponents play too.
“Sometimes they dribble and you arrive late and they are down and it’s a foul, it happens. I am not saying we are not making fouls.
“I don’t know the statistics, but I don’t think we are a team that make a lot of fouls.
“Normally when the guy has 65 or 70 percent of the ball – I have said many times we cannot kick the opponent. We can kick each other because we have the ball. But normally when you have 10 minutes and for seven minutes you have the ball you have less options to make fouls because you have the ball.
“I don’t think we are a team that makes a lot of fouls, but I can assure you that never in my life did I say to my players you have to do that to make problems for the opponents to not let them be who they are.”
