fabio capello the former england and ac milan boss has launched a strong attack on pep guardiola saying the manchester city manager has caused tremendous damage to football the 78 year old italian who once coached guardiola when he was a young player at roma in the early 2000s did not hold back at all when he was asked about a figure many see as one of the best managers in
football history guardiola who has now spent almost ten years at the etihad stadium has turned man city into a powerhouse that few would have believed possible at the start of the century in the 2022 23 season he managed an amazing treble winning the fa cup the ninth of city’s ten premier league titles and finally that elusive champions league trophy city fans see him as a legend someone who changed the whole club since arriving from bayern munich in 2016 he has overseen 364 wins in 515 matches which is a win percentage of over 70 but capello says that while he does respect guardiola as a
coach there are things he cannot ignore and feels have hurt football badly speaking to el mundo and reported by 90min the italian coach who is famous for his blunt honesty first made clear he has no personal problems with guardiola saying 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 then he turned to his big criticism of the spaniard saying 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 in 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 capello didn’t stop there though he added although it is no longer his fault he has done tremendous damage to football when pressed on what he meant by tremendous damage capello explained that guardiola’s ideas had influenced so many coaches and clubs to try to copy his style
without having the players to do it everyone has spent ten years trying to copy him that has ruined italian football which has lost its nature he said i told them 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 capello’s words are sure to divide opinion with many seeing
guardiola as the man who brought beautiful possession football to the modern era while others have grown tired of the slow buildup and endless passes without penetration he is far from the first to question whether guardiola overcomplicates things in big champions league games city had several painful exits in europe under him with people pointing to strange tactical decisions like starting no defensive midfielders against lyon or overloading the midfield against chelsea in the final capello’s criticism is that guardiola wants to prove himself the genius even at the expense of practicality and that coaches everywhere copied his style without
understanding it or having the players to do it in england too many critics have sometimes said city’s dominance of possession can make games boring for neutrals although city fans would argue they love it because it wins trophies pep himself has sometimes admitted he overthinks the big champions league games but also says he needs to adapt to different challenges he has defended his methods saying he would not have won so many leagues if he didn’t adjust and try new things but capello’s point is that the revolution he led at barca with xavi iniesta and messi could not be copied by everyone and that in italy especially it hurt the game’s traditional strength of defending and direct play capello’s remarks are also
interesting because he coached guardiola briefly at roma when pep moved there in the twilight of his playing career they know each other and he has always said he respects guardiola’s intelligence and commitment to his ideas but he clearly feels that a generation of coaches ruined their own teams by trying to be mini guardiolas the debate is part of a wider conversation in football about style vs substance how much should you stick to principles vs adapt to circumstances and whether modern football
sometimes forgets the fans who want excitement goals and unpredictability guardiola’s barca side is widely seen as one of the greatest teams ever with their tiki taka style crushing opponents and winning everything in sight but some people see that style as having turned sterile when copied without the same talent even in england teams have tried to play out from the back often leading to mistakes and goals conceded pundits love to debate whether guardiola’s influence has made the premier league better or worse capello’s words suggest he thinks it made it worse by removing what made italian football unique he misses the days of strong defenses
tactical discipline and lightning fast counter attacks his argument is that italy lost its soul trying to play like barca but without messi and co it was never going to work capello also pointed to spain winning euro 2024 by playing a faster more direct style with wingers as evidence that football is changing again he sees that as a good thing football he says is moving away from endless sideways passes back to more entertaining play for neutral fans this will be music to the ears while many coaches and fans still love guardiola’s ideas others say it’s time to move on from the possession obsession guardiola
of course might not agree he has often said his style is about controlling the game reducing randomness and giving his team the best chance to win he has argued that passing is not boring but a way to draw out the opponent create space and exploit it when it opens up he points to city’s many trophies and goals as proof it works in manchester city fans have watched their club transform from mid table also rans to one of europe’s elite they’ve seen league titles fa cups league cups and that elusive champions league win in 2023 pep’s legacy there is secure but capello’s words will add fuel to the debate about how lasting that legacy is on football as a whole the italian coach’s comments reflect a worry that football became too uniform too many teams playing the same way regardless of
their own traditions or players he’s calling for a return to variety styles that suit the players and the fans who want drama passion and unpredictability it’s a debate that goes beyond one manager it’s about the soul of football itself whether the game should be an art form that prioritizes control or a contest that thrives on chaos unpredictability and the magic moments that make fans scream capello’s attack on guardiola’s arrogance will also sting for a man known to be extremely confident in his methods pep’s critics have often accused him of overthinking big games trying to prove he’s the genius even when it costs his team but
his defenders say that experimentation is what makes him great that without it he would not have revolutionized the game at barca bayern and city the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle guardiola’s influence on football is undeniable he has changed the way teams train the way they build from the back how they use space and press but that influence has not always produced beauty when imitated blindly by less talented teams capello is arguing for a football that is truer to itself each country each team playing to its strengths instead of trying to copy the blueprint of one of the greatest club sides ever built around three of the best midfielders in history it’s a warning to coaches not to forget who they are in the chase to be seen as progressive capello’s
words are sure to cause debate in coaching circles in italy where results have sometimes suffered after clubs tried to move away from their traditional defensive roots while fans there have often grown impatient with slow buildup play that doesn’t deliver goals or excitement in england too some pundits have started to wonder if guardiola’s influence has made the premier league less open with teams more cautious about pressing high and leaving space behind for
counters at the same time many would argue that guardiola’s city has produced some of the most breathtaking football ever seen in england with 100 point seasons record breaking goal tallies and a level of dominance that even alex ferguson’s united would envy pep’s legacy is complicated both genius and divisive beautiful and at times boring depending on who you ask and capello’s comments will ensure that the debate continues for years to come
