Pep Guardiola says Carlo Mazzone taught him to ‘never give up’ but he ‘didn’t treat everyone the same way.’
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The legendary Italian coach died on
Saturday aged 86. He still is the coach with
the most Serie A appearances and worked
with some legends of the game during his
coaching career, including Guardiola,
Roberto Baggio and Andrea Pirlo.
“He was a man who said things straight, he
has no fear to go against the power,”
Guardiola told TG1 on Sunday evening.
“He loved working in smaller clubs and
knew that winning a game with them was
like winning the league with a top side. He
knew how to team up and didn’t treat
everyone the same way.
“He knew that Baggio should not be treated
like Guardiola.”
The Spanish tactician honoured his ex-coach
after Manchester City’s victory over
Newcastle on Friday.
“The image of Mazzone running under the
[Atalanta] Curva is iconic, while he was
trying to control the impetus he always
had,” argued Guardiola.
“I don’t know how many titles Carlo won in
his career, but you can have 80,000 people
applauding you, only if you are a great
person, the titles you won don’t count.”
There was a minute’s silence before all Serie
A games this past weekend in honour of the
ex-Roma boss who had a massive influence
on Guardiola’s career as a coach and as a
footballer.
“He said I like to stay down there, I like
fighting at the bottom of the table and he
taught me to never give up,” noted the ex-
Brescia midfielder.
“There is always a chance, even when you
think there isn’t and he was a master for this.”
Former Juventus and Inter boss Antonio
Conte also worked with Mazzone in the
early stages of his career and paid tribute to
his ex-coach with a letter published by La
Gazzetta dello Sport where he said Carletto
‘won the most important Scudetto.’
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