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Fouls and cards

Fouls and cards are part of the game's decisions: when stopping an attack is worth a free kick, and how a booking changes what a player can risk.

A foul in the middle of the pitch can stop a dangerous counter before it starts, at the cost of a free kick far from goal. The same foul near the box, or by a player already booked, is a much bigger risk.

A player on a yellow card has to defend differently: stay on his feet, show the attacker away, and let a teammate make the challenge.

What to look for

  • Where on the pitch the foul would be
  • Whether the attack is really dangerous if you let it go
  • Your own booking before you challenge
  • A teammate better placed to make the tackle

The common mistakeDiving in with a yellow card already shown, when jockeying would have done the job.

Worked plays

8 plays from Footy Eye's training pool, with the best read and why.

  1. Play 1

    The situation
    They break three-on-one through the middle. You’re the only one back, level with the ball.
    Best read
    Take the tactical foul now
    Why
    Three runners at your last defender is a goal waiting to happen — end it before it starts. A cynical foul trades a yellow and a free kick sixty metres out for the counter that would have punished you. Delaying a three-on-one only chooses which runner scores.
    The other options
    • Delay him — buy time for runners You back off, and he picks which free runner to play in.
    • Show him wide, away from goal He goes wide and squares it for the runner you left.
    • Fly into a full-blooded tackle He knocks it past your lunge, and three of them are through.

  2. Play 2

    The situation
    30th minute, 0–0. Your booked centre-back has just been rolled into the channel. You’re the nearest cover.
    Best read
    Get across and take the man yourself
    Why
    A booked centre-back can no longer make a tackle, so everyone around him must make sure he never has to. Get across early and the duel is yours, with a clean card and eleven men. Telling him to foul buys thirty yards and costs sixty minutes with ten.
    The other options
    • Hold your line — it’s his man You hold your spot, and the striker runs clear of your booked man.
    • Shout at him to make the foul He hauls the striker down: a second yellow, and you’re down to ten.
    • Hold the middle and protect the goal You guard the goal, and your booked man faces the duel alone.

  3. Play 3

    The situation
    71st minute, 1–0 up, you’re on a yellow. Their winger knocks it past you by the touchline, forty yards out.
    Best read
    Stay up, show him down the line
    Why
    The tactical foul is a tool, not a reflex — for a booked man forty yards out with cover arriving, it costs more than it buys. He’s heading for the touchline, so run him there and hand him to your centre-back. Clipping him or diving in is a second yellow and twenty minutes with ten.
    The other options
    • Clip him — take one for the team You clip him: a second yellow, and you’re down to ten.
    • Dive in and win it back cleanly You slide, he toes it on, and you take him: second yellow.
    • Back off into your own box He has time to cross, and their runner attacks your box.

  4. Play 4

    The situation
    84th minute, 1–0 up. Clipped in their half — you can stay up, but the ball is running to their midfielder.
    Best read
    Accept the contact — take the free kick
    Why
    A free kick in their half at 84 minutes is thirty seconds off the clock, ten yards of territory and a breather for a tired back line — all guaranteed. Staying up chases a ball already closer to their midfielder than to you, and the turnover starts their counter with your team pushed on.
    The other options
    • Stay up and drive on Their midfielder gets there first and breaks with your team pushed on.
    • Ride the challenge and lay it wide The ball never reaches you; their midfielder collects it and breaks.
    • Get up and press to win it back He shields it, turns away from you, and their counter is on.

  5. Play 5

    The situation
    Their counter is a 2v1 at your last line — you’re the only man back, your cover stranded upfield. Read it.
    Best read
    Break it up now: take the tactical foul
    Why
    Delay only works when cover is recovering — here there is none, and a 2v1 at your keeper is a goal. Jockey and he slides the square ball; dive in and he skips past. The professional foul trades a certain goal for a card — take it while a card is all it costs.
    The other options
    • Backpedal and jockey him toward the touchline He slides it square, and the runner is one-on-one with your keeper.
    • Dive in and win the ball clean He skips past your tackle, and it’s 2v1 against your keeper.
    • Drop off fast and protect the space behind He carries to your box and slips the runner in.

  6. Play 6

    The situation
    He turns you in midfield and drives at your set back line. Your six is goal-side; you’re half a yard behind.
    Best read
    Shadow him and steer him into your six
    Why
    The tactical foul is a reflex, not a read: it belongs when nothing is behind you, and here everything is. The yellow costs a card and hands them a set piece. Stay in his hip pocket and the cover does the work — give up, and your six defends a 1v1 alone.
    The other options
    • Grab him and take the yellow now The referee books you, and they line up a free kick.
    • Dive in from behind and hook it away You catch his heels, and the referee gives the free kick.
    • Give up the chase, rejoin the midfield line Your six faces him alone, with the runner free outside.

Train it

Short untimed sessions with the reasoning after every answer.

Train Fouls and cards

Test it

Ten plays, twenty seconds each, one Football IQ from 60 to 140.

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Shows up in

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