“I am not a coach for the tackles. I don’t train the tackles. What I want is to try to play good and score goals and arrive more, so what’s tackles?”



Pep Guardiola looked incredulous when he was questioned about his Manchester City team’s tackling, or perceived lack of, following a 4-2 defeat away to Leicester City in December 2016. The reporters doing the asking looked equally perplexed at his response.



‘Don’t train tackling? He won’t last long in the English game without tackling.’



English football has always held a high regard for the more physical aspects of the game, and many fans still do. Jonny Evans’ thumping challenge on Harry Kane at King Power Stadium in September got an ovation from the Leicester fans that almost rivalled the cheer that went up when Ricardo Pereira and James Maddison scored the goals that beat Tottenham Hotspur that day.



There is still a place in the modern game...