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There’s no denying it. All the great teams have employed the dark arts.
Arsenal under Wenger (Keown and Viera) used to kick the shit out of players. Keane and Scholes were horrible at times. I could go on.
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True, but the Keane/Keown/Vieira dark arts were a bit more obvious, IMHO. Often booked and sent off. There's a Ramos/Busquets/Fernandinho style which is subtler and much more tactical. It just straddles the line between what a ref will punish and what they won't, I know Fernandinho has had a fair few red cards but honestly he could get two yellows in about half the games he plays.
Tonts
He's got the snide, though. Whereas Makelele was a positional master and wonderful at recycling the ball. Citeh's success under Pep has been based on/supported by midfielders who are masters of the tactical foul.