SOME of the A-League coaches think they can see a trend, and they’re right. These are the statistics that show teams are fouling more, with cynical tactics that some believe are starting to spoil the spectacle of Australian club football.

Figures compiled by the Fox Sports Lab show that fouls per game are up by more than 13 per cent on last season, with some clubs in particular rather more guilty than others.

On the day of the Big Blue, one of the season’s more combustible fixtures, the hard facts are that this season it’s Melbourne Victory who are comfortably the worst offenders. More than 19 times a game they commit an offence, almost a foul more than the Central Coast, the team closest behind.

Last season’s worst, including the finals? Also Melbourne Victory, at 16.7 per game, almost a foul-and-a-half more than anyone else.

Which means Victory’s already poor record is considerably worse this season. The figures suggest the team in the A-League with most attacking flair is also its most cynical.

But they’re not the only ones, and the overall rise in fouls hasn’t gone unnoticed by the referees, who are trying to do something about it.

Various coaches have also commented on it. John Aloisi called on referees to award more early yellow cards, to put players on notice.

Graham Arnold claimed there was “a trend of fouls in transition”, as teams try to break forward. Even last season, Ernie Merrick claimed Wellington were getting kicked off the park.

By way of comparison, the team currently fouling the most in the EPL is Chelsea, at 14 fouls a game. No other side is more than 13. Put it another way — when Victory play the Mariners, you can expect a foul roughly every 100 seconds. It’s impossible for a game to flow.

media_camera Graham Arnold has called out the rise in fouls.

But the truth is, the referees are trying to stamp it out. Their boss, Ben Wilson, went to every club in the off-season and warned them that a trend of cynical fouling was apparent, and referees would clamp down on it. So far this season, yellow cards are up by a staggering 35 per cent per game.

“We’re doing what we said we would but the players aren’t responding,” said Wilson.

“Ultimately teams determine their style and their tactics. Our referees try to be as flexible as possible but they can only deal with what’s put in front of them.

“A lot of those extra yellow cards are coming in the first 10 or 15 minutes of a game, so the ref has tried to set a standard for the players to understand. We can show it won’t be tolerated, but players still keep fouling.

media_camera Muscat’s Victory are this season’s — and last season’s — worst foulers.

“We told the clubs before the season that even last year we’d seen a rise in cynical and delaying tactics especially in the middle third of the pitch.”

The coaches who send weekly emails to Wilson protesting at other team’s negative tactics should realise it’s probably a waste of time.

“We’re well aware of what patterns there are, and one of the advantages of having three full-time referees is that they can study passages of play to identify certain aspects,” Wilson said.

One A-League coached summed it up succinctly, back in March.

“If the fouls are there, they should be given, and the people who make the fouls should be dealt with,” said Kevin Muscat — the coach of Melbourne Victory.