They say that football is getting softer and becoming a non-contact sport but there are still players who bloody adore a hefty challenge.
There are still a number of lads in the Premier League who are very much of the Roy Keane school of winning the ball back (i.e. man/ball – it’s all the same).
Here is your definitive list of the players who have committed the most fouls in the 2014/15 season:
8. Lee Cattermole is surprisingly low down this list with a measly 54 fouls this season, a full 20 less than the man in top spot, but he was never not going to make it, was he?
7 (J). Jack Colback came in with 57 fouls this season and, playing under John Carver, we can’t blame the man for feeling frustrated.
7 (J). Craig Gardner is Tony Pulis’ new hard man and the midfielder brought 57 fouls to the table this season.
6. Connor Wickham’s 58 fouls in this campaign will have his captain Lee Cattermole raging that it’s he who has the tough-tackling reputation.
5 (J). Marouane Fellaini racked up 61 fouls for Manchester United this year with his elbows presumably accounting for 60 of them and his horror tackle on Paul McShane providing the last.
5 (J). Fernandinho doesn’t get enough credit for his ability to break up play but that sometimes comes via the breaking up of his opponents’ calves and he also earned (can you earn a foul?) 61 this year.
5 (J). Gareth Barry’s place on this list will surprise absolutely nobody. He’s a banker to lump on to be booked in every game and is very much the new Paul Scholes in terms of tackle-timing with 61 fouls under his belt this season.
5 (J). Mame Biram Diouf forgot to jump on board with Mark Hughes’ attempts to rid Stoke City of their reputation as a dogged, scrappy team as he also committed 61 fouls.
4. Leonardo Ulloa has been hanging around with the aggro Nigel Pearson for too long. The Leicester front man finished the season with 67 fouls to his name.
3. Victor Wanyama chipped in with 68 fouls for Southampton this season and is very much seen to provide the dirty work while midfield partner Morgan Schneiderlin pulls off the prettiness.
2. Graziano Pelle’s attempts at regaining possession resulted in a number of what are known as “striker’s challenges” this season and he was penalised 70 times for fouls over the course of the campaign which means that he scored roughly one goal for every 6 fouls committed.
1. Ashley Barnes committed 74 fouls in this campaign but will be hacking men down in the Championship next season after his Burnley side were relegated at the first time of asking. The 25-year-old was branded a “criminal” by Jose Mourinho after a dangerous tackle on Nemanja Matic led to the Blues’ midfielder reacting angrily before being sent off.
