Former England boss Fabio Capello says ‘arrogant’ Pep Guardiola has done ‘tremendous damage to football’

Fabio Capello has reignited his feud with Pep Guardiola and said the Catalan has done “tremendous damage to football”.

The former England boss believes other coaches’ desire to copy Guardiola’s brand of possession-heavy football has turned many fans off football as it’s “boring”.

Capello and Guardiola first clashed when the latter joined Roma from Brescia in 2002. Capello was manager at the Stadio Olimpico at the time and the pair’s different footballing philosophies saw Guardiola spend most of his time in the Italian capital on the bench.

Guardiola has since gone on to become one of the most successful coaches of his generation, winning 12 domestic league titles and three Champions League trophies across spells with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City.

But Capello says he has done more harm than good to the game as a whole.

Fabio Capello: “Guardiola does strange things to be able to say that the players do not win, that he wins. Has done tremendous damage to football ” https://t.co/7PL0dgyFGb

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Capello tears into Guardiola

He told Spanish newspaper El Mundo: “He has done tremendous damage to football.

“Everyone has spent 10 years trying to copy him. That’s what has happened in Italian football, which has lost its identity. The absurd idea that playing well is just keeping possession.

“Touch, touch, touch, touch, touch, touch, touch…now, in Italian football, even the goalkeeper plays with the ball. It’s a disaster and boring and has scared away many football people.

“Why are you going to watch 90 minutes of horizontal passes without a fight.”

Guardiola is “arrogant” – Capello

Capello also repeated his claim that Guardiola’s “arrogance” has cost him more Champions League success.

He said: “Do you know what I don’t like about Guardiola? His arrogance.

“The Champions League he won with City (in 2023) was the only one in which he did not try anything strange in the decisive matches. Every other year, 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 didn’t win it, I did”.

“And that arrogance has cost him several Champions Leagues.”

Capello insists he has not taken any extra pleasure from Guardiola’s struggles this season, however, with four-time defending Premier League champions City currently in fourth place and struggling to qualify for next season’s Champions League ahead of tomorrow’s crunch trip to Nottingham Forest.

Next stop: The City Ground 🛣️

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“No not at all,” he said with a chuckle. “I value Guardiola a lot as a coach, he has done wonderful things.

“I have experienced three revolutions in soccer, one every 20 years or so: (Johan) Cruyff’s Ajax, (Arrigo) Sacchi’s Milan and Guardiola’s Barça. I have no problem saying it.”

Capello lauds Madrid boss Ancelotti

Capello has no such issues with fellow Italian Carlo Ancelotti and marvels at the way he handles his star-studded Madrid squad.

“He’s the best in the world at that,” he said. “Carlo was intelligent as a player and now he is very intelligent as a coach. Training Madrid is not easy and with many stars it is even more difficult, but he does it like a mother.

“Sometimes people who don’t know about soccer despise it, but those of us who know are very clear. He knows when he needs to speak loudly and when to be funny. That is the intelligence that has allowed him to succeed everywhere.

“As a player, he retired with me, in Milan, and I offered him the chance 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 what a great coach he was going to be.”