Fabio Capello rekindled his quarrel with Pep Guardiola and said that Catalan had done “enormous football damage”.
The former boss of England believes that the desire of other coaches to copy the football brand of GUARDIOLA has extinguished many football fans because it is “boring”.
Capello and Guardiola clashed for the first time when the latter joined Brescia Roma in 2002. Capello was director of the Stadio Olimpico at the time and the various football philosophies of the pair saw Guardiola spend most of his time in the Italian capital on the bench.
Guardiola has become one of the most prosperous coaches of his generation, winning 12 national league titles and three trophies in the Champions League through spells with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City.
But Capello says he did more harm than good for the game as a whole.
Fabio Capello: “Guardiola hace cosas raras para poder decir that no ganan los jugadores, that Gana Él. Ha hecho a daño tremendo al fútbol » https://t.co/7pl0dgyfg
– El Mundo (@elmundoes) March 7, 2025
Capello tears in Guardiola
He told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo: “He did enormous damage to football.
“Everyone has spent 10 years trying to copy it. This is what happened in Italian football, which lost its identity. The absurd idea that playing well is to keep possession.
“Touch, touch, touch, touch, touch, touch, touch … Now, in Italian football, even the goalkeeper plays with the ball. It is a disaster and boring and has frightened many footballers.
“Why are you going to look at 90 minutes of horizontal passes without fighting.”
Guardiola is “arrogant” – Capello
Capello also repeated his assertion that Guardiola’s “arrogance” cost him more success in the Champions League.
He said, “Do you know what I don’t like about Guardiola’s?” His arrogance.
“The Champions League he won with City [in 2023] was the only one in which he tried nothing strange in the decisive matches. Every two years, in Manchester and Munich, on key days, he always wanted to be the protagonist. He changed things and made inventions to be able to say: “The players did not win it, I did it”.
“And this arrogance cost him several champions leagues.”
Capello insists that he did not take additional pleasure from Guardiola’s difficulties this season, with the quadruple defending champion of the Premier League currently in fourth place and fighting to qualify for the Champions League for next season Before the trip of Crunch of tomorrow to Nottingham Forest.
Next stop: the city of the city 🛣️
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– Manchester City (@Mancity) March 6, 2025
“Not at all,” he said with a little laugh. “I really appreciate Guardiola as a coach, he did wonderful things.
“I have known three football revolutions, about 20 years old: [Johan] Ajax de Cruyff, [Arrigo] Milan de Sacchi and Barça de Guardiola. I have no problem saying it.
Capello rents Madrid Boss Ancelotti
Capello has no such problems with his Italian compatriot Carlo Acelotti and marvels at the way he manages his starred Madrid team.
“He’s the best in the world,” he said. “Carlo was intelligent as a player and now he is very intelligent as a coach. Forming Madrid is not easy and with many stars, it’s even more difficult, but it does it like a mother.
“Sometimes people who do not know football despise him, but those of us who know are very clear. He knows when he needs to speak loudly and when to be funny. It was intelligence that allowed him to succeed everywhere.
“As a player, he retired with me, in Milan, and I offered him the opportunity to join my team immediately, but he already had a commitment with Arrigo to be his assistant with the Italian national team.
“We already knew how much he was going to be a great coach.”
