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.’