'Pep Guardiola ruined football – I couldn't get a club for four years because of him'

A legend of Italian football has jokingly accused Pep Guardiola of ‘ruining’ the game and his career. Luca Toni, the fourth-highest scoring Italian player of all time, met up with Guardiola and former international team-mate Roberto Baggio at a restaurant in Lombardi.

All three former players are united by their shared connection to Brescia, having each played for the club at some point during their careers. While having dinner, Toni joked that Guardiola’s revolutionary tactics stopped him from finding a club before his retirement.

The legendary Spaniard was known for using a false nine rather than a traditional striker during his time in charge of Barcelona. Toni fell into the latter category and suggested that Guardiola’s tactics being widely adopted had a negative impact on his career.

“Pep, you ruined football,” said Toni in an Instagram video while Guardiola laughed in the background. “With the false nine, I couldn’t find a team for four years. Seriously. Can you say that you only used the false nine with [Lionel] Messi? Do you even like centre-forwards?”

Responding in Italian, Guardiola said: “I have it. [Erling] Haaland, 60 goals. We won the treble with that striker, but the centre-forwards must be good! Understand?” Toni concluded: “Okay, but stop it with false nine now. Big centre-forwards are better.”

Guardiola is widely credited with inventing the false nine, a role which sees the striker drop deeper to receive passes and exploit the space between opposing midfielders and defenders.

Messi excelled in this role at Barcelona, with Guardiola introducing it before a blockbuster meeting with Real Madrid. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner previously revealed that he was surprised by the tactic until he saw how devastating it was.

“I remember that it was a surprise for me because I was called up the day before the game,” Messi told DAZN back in 2020. “I was made to go to Guardiola’s office at the Ciutat Esportiva and I was told that he had been watching Madrid’s games a lot.

“He had been talking with Tito Vilanova and they had thought about me playing as a false nine. He was going to put Samuel [Eto’o] and Thierry Henry on the outside and I was going to play as the false centre-forward.

“I wasn’t going to stay there, but rather come out and join up with the central midfield. The idea was that Madrid’s centre-backs would follow me out, and the two fast wingers that we had would go around the back. In fact, one of Henry’s goals was like that.

“It was a surprise for us and for Madrid. I remember that we had a lot of possession and we always had an extra man in the middle of the park.”