Guardiola and his 30-hour conversation with Menotti

The death of Argentina’s former coach Cesar Luis Menotti, world champion in Argentina 1978, filled the football world with messages of remembrance and sadness and, as expected, the coach of Manchester City, Pep Guardiola big fan of him, also expressed himself.

In a statement to Argentina’s newspaper Olé Via SMS from England, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach expressed his “great sadness” at the loss of someone with whom he shared “at least 30 hours of wonderful conversation” during his four visits in Argentina.

“He is a genius for his idea”

“For me he is a genius because of his idea. He is the greatest cheater in Argentine football… Listening to him was a lesson. Caesar is all… Intelligence, education, intelligence. He turned his words into poetry and was always true to his beliefs. “Style is non-negotiable, I always say,” said Guardiola.

In his words, Pep recalled to the Argentine media that the last time he visited Buenos Aires, in March 2018, they shared “another wonderful, long, happy dinner” full of “nuances of football.”

“I just want to hear”

“I just want to listen to it,” acknowledged the Catalan coach, winner of three Champions Leagues as a coach, two with Barcelona and one with City, in addition to four Club World Cups and countless domestic tournaments.

“There are very few people who give you so much in life that they never leave…” He ended up at the newspaper Olé, who recalled that he wanted to go to Argentina when he learned of the fragile state of Menotti’s health, but in the end he was unable to do so.

Pep’s trips to Argentina

According to Argentine media, Guardiola traveled to Buenos Aires for the first time in 2006 and had on his agenda the mission to meet with Menotti and the Rosario coach. Marcelo Bielsa.

From the first dinner with ‘Flaco’, Menotti recalled later: “Many young coaches came to see me all these years to talk about football, to listen to some advice… But no one asked me as many questions as Guardiola. He’s a machine gun. But he doesn’t need to learn anything. He already knows everything.” .

Menotti praised him

Menotti even wrote in the newspaper Sport that “Guardiola is the Che Guevara of football” because, like him, “his idea is unbreakable and he will never change it.”

“He wants to play well, he wants to take the space and the ball. And he wants to manage the timing of the game,” added ‘Flaco’, thus defining Guardiola’s style, which is very similar to the one he imposed on his time as a coach.

Later, the Spanish coach traveled to Buenos Aires in 2013, 2014 and 2018, occasions where they both meet around a table.

Menotti died this Sunday at 85 years old, according to the Argentine Football Association (AFA), where he carried out his work as director of National Teams.