Ibrahimovic: "Guardiola is a coward, not a man"

Posted Monday, September 30, 2013 by Marca.com

Ibrahimovic:

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has launched another stinging attack on Pep Guardiola following the pair's falling-out at Barcelona: "He's a fantastic coach, but he's a coward. He's not a man", the Swede told German weekly 'Der Spiegel'.

In the interview, Ibra sheds light on the reasons behind his departure from the Catalan capital and his fractious relationship with Guardiola, saying the coach "has no balls". "He sacrificed me for Messi and didn't have the guts to tell me".

Though the PSG marksman admits that Messi is a "brilliant" player, he also claims that he was Guardiola's "pet" and that the Argentine, who was scoring less prolifically at the time, had forced him out by complaining about wanting to play in the middle.

The Swede says that Guardiola never explained why he had been dropped to the bench and claims he has nothing against his former Barcelona teammates, albeit not before questioning their attitude in the dressing room: "When Guardiola spoke they would just sit there and nod. Like schoolboys in front of the teacher".

The striker makes it clear he rates the Catalan below his other coaches: "Mourinho doesn't need to act out a role. Not like Guardiola, who wants to be perfect. Tiger Woods wanted to be perfect too, and look what happened. The same goes for Guardiola. Everyone has a dark side". While confessing he was "willing to die" for Mou, praising the Portuguese tactician's intelligence and his motivational ability, Ibrahimovic rails against Guardiola's "philosophical mumbo-jumbo". "Mourinho", he continues, "can deal with different types of personalities and has always taken on tough challenges, like now at Chelsea, whereas Guardiola avoids them".

"Why did Guardiola choose Bayern Munich? Because it's a team that worked perfectly well without him. It was already the complete package. He's brought in new players, but they weren't needed". Finally, when asked whether he saw himself playing in the Bundesliga one day, the Swedish goalscorer admitted it would be great to play for Bayern, "but when Guardiola has left, obviously".