Ex-England manager launches scathing tirade against ‘arrogant’ Pep Guardiola

Former England manager Fabio Capello has launched a stunning attack on Pep Guardiola, labelling the Manchester City manager “arrogant” among other things.

Capello, who managed Guardiola as a player during his stint in charge of Roma in the early 2000s, didn’t mince his words when discussing the world’s most revered modern coach.

Speaking with El Mundo, the Italian was astonishingly critical of Guardiola despite insisting that he has no personal issues with the City boss.

“No, no, not at all. I value Guardiola very much as a coach, he has done wonderful things,” said Capello when asked if he was anti-Pep. “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.”

Despite these claims, the retired Champions League-winning coach quickly changed his tune, stating: “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.”

Quizzed on the “tremendous damage” Guardiola had done to the beautiful game, 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.”

Capello’s opinion is unlikely to be one shared by the majority of modern football supporters, with Guardiola still considered the leading manager in the game despite a difficult 2024/25 campaign with City.