Football
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Jose Mourinho says Manchester City prone to commit tactical fouls

Manchester City are prone to committing a "tactical foul," according to Jose Mourinho.

On the eve of Sunday's Manchester derby, United boss Mourinho has been talking about how Pep Guardiola's attacking City side are able to recover defensively.

The blue side of Manchester has become synonymous with free-flowing football under Guardiola, particularly in this, the second season of his tenure.

Mourinho is a fan, but reckons committing fouls on purpose helps their mastery.

"It is a strategy [City] have," he told multiple English newspapers.

"They attack with a lot of players. When they lose the ball, they are many times unbalanced in numbers, they have lots of people surrounding the ball area and have a very strong -- and this is a great quality -- transition in the next few seconds after they lose the ball, and many times they need what is called a tactical foul.

"Then it is up to the referee to analyse and make a decision about it, but I cannot speak about that."

While Mourinho's comments were not hugely inflammatory, they come out just a day after he said it only takes a "little bit of wind" to send City's players to the floor.

The Portuguese has been largely complimentary about his old foe Guardiola and his players, though, saying: "They are a good team. They defend well, they react well to the moment they lose the ball.

"They have a good dynamic in attack, they have creative movement. They have amazing players, they have a fantastic coach, they have lots of good things."

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