Pep Guardiola has responded to Fabio Capello’s claim that the Man City boss is “arrogant” and has “done tremendous damage to football”.
The Citizens have not had the best of seasons but Guardiola is still seen by many as one of the best managers to have ever lived.
Guardiola has won countless trophies with Man City, Bayern Munich and childhood club Barcelona as a manager – but he was also a top player during his career.
His style of play, philosphy and tactics have been so effective in modern football that many managers have attempted to copy or use some of his methods.
However, Capello recently criticised the Man City boss as being “arrogant” and slammed the Catalan for doing “tremendous damage to football” despite his many successes.
When asked in an interview with El Mundo if he was anti-Guardiola, Capello said: “No, no, not at all. I value Guardiola very much as a coach, he has done wonderful things.
“I have lived through three revolutions in football, one every 20 years or so: [Johan] Cruyff’s Ajax, [Arrigo] Sacchi’s Milan and Guardiola’s Barca. I have no problem saying that.”
But Capello added: “Do you know what I don’t like about Guardiola? His arrogance. The Champions League he won with City was the only one in which he didn’t try anything strange in the decisive games. But every other year, in Manchester and Munich, on the key days, he always wanted to be the protagonist.
“He changed things and made up things so he could say: ‘The players don’t win, I win’. And that arrogance has cost him several Champions Leagues. I respect him, but I see that clearly. Also, although it is no longer his fault, he has done tremendous damage to football.”
When pushed on exactly what he meant by the “tremendous damage” that the Man City boss had done, Capello continued: “Everyone has spent ten years trying to copy him. That has ruined Italian football, which has lost its nature. I said: ‘Stop that, you don’t have Guardiola’s players!’. In addition, the absurd idea that playing well was just that. Touch, touch, touch…
“Now, in Italian football, the goalkeeper plays the ball! A disaster and also a bore that has scared many people away from football, they just have to watch the highlights. Why are you going to watch 90 minutes of passes and horizontal passes without fighting, without running…?
“Luckily, football is changing. It has changed, first of all, Spain by winning the Euro [2024] with two wingers and playing fast.”
When asked about Capello’s comments, Guardiola pointed at the journalist questioning him and replied: “I listen to everything that people say about me, so be careful.
“It’s not the first time Mr Fabio Capello has said that,” the Man City boss continued. “I’m not good enough to ruin Italian football, it is very important. A big hug for Fabio.”
As Guardiola pointed out in his press conference, Capello made a previous jibe, with the former England boss claiming in December that the Man City boss was “far too arrogant and presumptuous”.
Capello added at the time: “At times he has even lost trophies because he wanted to prove that he was the one winning and not the players, so he dropped key figures from the side in the big games. That was in my view an attempt to take the spotlight and the credit away from his squad.”