These are not easy times for Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. With the only hope of lifting the FA Cup this season, still in March, many of his detractors have taken the opportunity to pour out their criticisms of him. Among them is Fabio Capello, whose clashes go way back… when they were together at Roma.

Guardiola's response to Capello

Before receiving Brighton at the Etihad Stadium for matchday 29 of the Premier League, ahead of the FIFA break, Guardiola was asked about some words Fabio Capello had said about him in recent days and weeks. Guardiola, rather than avoiding the question, chose to address the matter that has been following him for over two decades.

"I hear everything that is said about me. Be careful. It’s not the first time that Mr. Fabio Capello has said something like this. I’m not good enough to win in a football league like the Italian one. Maybe he’s right. A big hug for Fabio…” replied Pep Guardiola ironically to the criticisms from the man who had been his coach at Roma years before retiring.

The Capello-Guardiola clash

During those months, between July 2002 and January 2003, Pep Guardiola went through an absolute nightmare that led him to decide to return to Brescia six months after arriving in Roma. "They surely didn’t like each other, but not as people, rather because of their opposing ideas on football," confessed a legend of Roma, Daniele De Rossi, some time ago.

Pep Guardiola's response in the press conference relates to some recent comments from Capello in an interview with El Mundo: "Do you know what I don’t like about Guardiola? His arrogance. The Champions League he won with Manchester City was the only one where he didn’t try anything strange in the decisive matches." A cold war… that seems to have no end.