Tactical Fouling - Cynicism or Gamesmanship?

It is something of a special talent, the ability that Casemiro possesses to make tactical fouling look like an art form. The Brazilian is a master of it. It feels strange to glorify a generally cynical attribute, but there’s a definite subtlety and intelligence to Casemiro’s dark art.

Of course, he isn’t the first to apply such tactics and certainly won’t be the last, but he is particularly good at them. In a total of 2601 minutes played (the most in the Real Madrid squad) in La Liga last season, Casemiro managed to rack up eight yellow cards. It’s not a small amount but isn’t quite the most in the squad, with that honour jointly shared by Carvajal and Ramos weighing in at eleven a piece. What makes this statistic for Casemiro particularly impressive, however, is if you weigh it up against how many fouls he committed.

In the season just gone, Casemiro was penalised for a fairly whopping fifty eight fouls. It’s comfortably the highest in Real’s squad. It does, though, makes his yellow card total seem comparatively small and, indeed, it takes him just over seven fouls to receive a yellow card. It’s an impressive statistic for someone playing in defensive midfield.

This shows Casemiro’s ability to foul ‘smart’. He is more likely to be seen administering a small trip or a push in the back in an opponents half, rather than a flying challenge in his own to stop a break away. His fouls target the root of the move, consequently conceding free kicks in less dangerous positions and reducing his chances of being booked. It’s no coincidence that Casemiro has never been sent off for Real Madrid.

But isn’t this rather over glorifying a bad trait? It’s a debate that continuously hovers around football. The purist outlook says me that this is abhorrent and wrong, and must be stamped out immediately. Then there’s a more skeptical and cynical side, admitting that it’s just part and parcel of the game now. People just need to get with it.

‘Gamesmanship’ tactics spread further than just cynical fouls. How many times do we see players receive the ball in a dead end with their back to goal, only to drop sharply to the ground at the slightest contact from a defender. As we enter an era in which referees are less inclined to blow for a swan dive, players have adapted to bring some subtlety to their more devious sides.

Players who don’t keep up with the trend are now becoming a point of ridicule. Just look at the viral trend that followed Neymar’s theatrics at the World Cup. He may defend his actions but the fourteen minutes he spent on the floor tells a different story. Over dramatic diving has started to become a caricature of itself.

Discussions around such topics of diving and cynical fouls often draw out the inevitable cry of ‘back in the good old days’, when there was apparently no such form of skulduggery. Of course, this is untrue. Gamesmanship has been an ever present in football. Historically - in those days past - it was smashing your opponent early on in the game. Let him know you're there. For some reason, physical oafishness is often seen as a more acceptable form of dirty play than going down easily for a free kick.

Really, naughty gamesmanship tactics have always, and will always, be part of the game. We’re just experiencing the latest iteration of it. Various forms of ‘shithousery’ are inevitable - be it Vinnie Jones clattering the oppositions playmaker in the first couple of minutes, or Casemiro subtly tripping a player on the edge of his own D. They’re all just various, crafty forms of gamesmanship.

(Photo: Squawka)