Luca Toni, the fourth-highest scoring Italian player of all time, jokingly accused Pep Guardiola of ‘ruining’ soccer and his career when the pair met up in a restaurant
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Italian football legend, Luca Toni, has humorously claimed that Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola "ruined" the game and his career.
The fourth-highest scoring Italian player of all time, Toni, recently met with Guardiola and former international teammate Roberto Baggio at a restaurant in Lombardi. All three ex-players share a connection to Brescia, having each represented the club at different stages of their careers.
During the meal, Toni quipped that Guardiola's revolutionary tactics prevented him from finding a club before he hung up his boots. The iconic Spaniard is renowned for utilising a false nine instead of a traditional striker during his tenure at Barcelona. Toni, who was a conventional forward, suggested that the widespread adoption of Guardiola's tactics negatively affected his career.
"Pep, you ruined football," declared Toni in a playful Instagram video with Guardiola chuckling away. "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 center-forwards?"
Guardiola laughed in response: "I have it. (Erling) Haaland, 60 goals. We won the treble with that striker, but the center-forwards must be good! Understand?" The Italian finished: "Okay, but stop it with false nine now. Big center-forwards are better."
Guardiola, known for his tactical innovation, particularly with the 'false nine' tactic – a move which involves the striker dropping back to blend midfield and attack – famously deployed it with Messi during his Barcelona days.
This approach came as a surprise even to the Ballon d’Or maestro, who at first didn’t grasp the genius of the strategy until witnessing its effectiveness, especially in big matches like against Real Madrid.
"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 center-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 center-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."
