Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says Carlo Mazzone taught him to ‘never give up’ but he ‘didn’t treat everyone the same way.’
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.
Guardiola arrived for post-match interviews wearing a T-shirt depicting Mazzone’s legendary celebration in a Lombard derby between his Brescia side and Atalanta.
“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.’