The death of the former Argentine coach César Luis Menotti, world champion in Argentina 1978, filled the world of football with messages of remembrance and sadness and, as could not be expected, the Manchester City coach, Pep Guardiola, great admirer of his, also expressed himself.
In a statement to the Argentine newspaper Olé By SMS from England, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach expressed his “great sadness” at the disappearance of someone with whom he shared “no less than 30 hours of wonderful conversation” during his four visits to Argentina.
“He was a genius for his idea”
“For me he was a genius because of his idea. He was the greatest seducer in Argentine football… Listening to him was a lesson. Caesar was everything… Wit, education, intelligence. He made his words his poetry and was always faithful to his convictions. “Style is non-negotiable, I always said,” Guardiola said.
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, fun dinner” full of “football nuances.”
“I just wanted to hear it”
“I just wanted 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 local tournaments.
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“There are very few who give you so much in life that they never leave…” He concluded to the newspaper Olé, remembering that he wanted to have gone to Argentina when he learned of Menotti’s fragile state of health, but in the end he was unable to do so.
Pep’s trips to Argentina
According to the Argentine media, Guardiola traveled to Buenos Aires for the first time in 2006 and had on his agenda the mission of meeting with Menotti and the Rosario coach. Marcelo Bielsa.
From that first dinner with ‘Flaco’, Menotti remembered later: “Many young coaches came to see me during all these years to talk about football, to listen to some advice… But no one asked me as many questions as Guardiola. He was a machine gun. But he didn’t need to learn anything. He already knew 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 modify it.”
“He wants to play well, he wants to take over the space and the ball. And he wants to manage the timing of the game,” added ‘Flaco’, who thus defined Guardiola’s style, very similar to the one he imposed in his time as coach. .
Later, the Spanish coach traveled to Buenos Aires in 2013, 2014 and 2018, occasions all in which both met around a table.
Menotti passed away this Sunday at 85 years of age, according to the Argentine Football Association (AFA), where he carried out his work as director of the National Teams.
