[article=http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/06/zlatan-ibrahimovic-pep-guardiola-barcelona]
Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Pep Guardiola was a 'spineless coward' at Barcelona
• Striker reveals how Guardiola made him feel like an 'alien'
• Swede also gives his opinion on Wenger and Mourinho
Guardian staff
theguardian.com, Friday 6 September 2013 10.16 BST
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has described his former manager Pep Guardiola as a "spineless coward" in his new autobiography, while revealing how José Mourinho became someone that he would be "willing to die for" during his time at Internazionale.
The charismatic striker talked of how former the Barcelona manager Guardiola was a "brick wall" during his time in Catalonia and how "every hour with the club I wished I could be out of there".
Following Barcelona's semi-final exit in the Champions League to Mourinho's Internazionale side in 2010, Ibrahimovic spoke of how he confronted his manager in the dressing room. "I yelled: 'You haven't got any balls!' and worse than that I added: 'You can go to hell!' I completely lost it, and you might have expected Guardiola to say a few words in response, but he's a spineless coward. He just picked up the metal box, like a little caretaker, and then left, never to mention it again, not a word."
The 31-year-old, who moved to Barcelona in a deal worth £57m in 2009, had been expected to compliment the then-European champions, but revealed in an extract in the Daily Mail how he was at odds with not only Guardiola, but the club philosophy as well: "I'd already got the impression that Barcelona was a little like being back at Ajax, it was like being back at school. None of the lads acted like superstars, which was strange. Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, the whole gang – they were like schoolboys. The best footballers in the world stood there with their heads bowed, and I didn't understand any of it. It was ridiculous.
"Everyone did as they were told. I didn't fit in, not at all. I thought, just enjoy the opportunity, don't confirm their prejudices. So I started to adapt and blend in. I became way too nice. It was mental. I said what I thought people wanted me to say. It was completely messed up. I drove the club's Audi and stood there and nodded my head. I hardly even yelled at my team-mates any more. I was boring. Zlatan was no longer Zlatan."
After falling out with Guardiola, the Swedish striker subsequently left Barcelona 2011 but while he "knew all about the incredible things that had happened at Manchester City", he went on to join Milan after a successful loan spell. Ibrahimovic also mentioned how he could have Arsenal in 2000 but was put off when Arsène Wenger demanded that he have a trial, the deal fell through.
"You can have a trial with us," he said. "You can give it a try. You can test things out. No matter how much I wanted to behave, those words set me off."
However, Ibrahimovic was full of praise for the current Chelsea manager Mourinho: "That guy says whatever he wants. I like him. He's the leader of his army. But he cares, too. He would text me all the time at Inter, wondering how I was doing. He's the exact opposite of Pep Guardiola. If Mourinho lights up a room, Guardiola draws the curtains. I guessed that Guardiola was trying to match up to him. Mourinho would become a guy I was basically willing to die for."
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Pep Guardiola was a 'spineless coward' at Barcelona
• Striker reveals how Guardiola made him feel like an 'alien'
• Swede also gives his opinion on Wenger and Mourinho
Guardian staff
theguardian.com, Friday 6 September 2013 10.16 BST
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has described his former manager Pep Guardiola as a "spineless coward" in his new autobiography, while revealing how José Mourinho became someone that he would be "willing to die for" during his time at Internazionale.
The charismatic striker talked of how former the Barcelona manager Guardiola was a "brick wall" during his time in Catalonia and how "every hour with the club I wished I could be out of there".
Following Barcelona's semi-final exit in the Champions League to Mourinho's Internazionale side in 2010, Ibrahimovic spoke of how he confronted his manager in the dressing room. "I yelled: 'You haven't got any balls!' and worse than that I added: 'You can go to hell!' I completely lost it, and you might have expected Guardiola to say a few words in response, but he's a spineless coward. He just picked up the metal box, like a little caretaker, and then left, never to mention it again, not a word."
The 31-year-old, who moved to Barcelona in a deal worth £57m in 2009, had been expected to compliment the then-European champions, but revealed in an extract in the Daily Mail how he was at odds with not only Guardiola, but the club philosophy as well: "I'd already got the impression that Barcelona was a little like being back at Ajax, it was like being back at school. None of the lads acted like superstars, which was strange. Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, the whole gang – they were like schoolboys. The best footballers in the world stood there with their heads bowed, and I didn't understand any of it. It was ridiculous.
"Everyone did as they were told. I didn't fit in, not at all. I thought, just enjoy the opportunity, don't confirm their prejudices. So I started to adapt and blend in. I became way too nice. It was mental. I said what I thought people wanted me to say. It was completely messed up. I drove the club's Audi and stood there and nodded my head. I hardly even yelled at my team-mates any more. I was boring. Zlatan was no longer Zlatan."
After falling out with Guardiola, the Swedish striker subsequently left Barcelona 2011 but while he "knew all about the incredible things that had happened at Manchester City", he went on to join Milan after a successful loan spell. Ibrahimovic also mentioned how he could have Arsenal in 2000 but was put off when Arsène Wenger demanded that he have a trial, the deal fell through.
"You can have a trial with us," he said. "You can give it a try. You can test things out. No matter how much I wanted to behave, those words set me off."
However, Ibrahimovic was full of praise for the current Chelsea manager Mourinho: "That guy says whatever he wants. I like him. He's the leader of his army. But he cares, too. He would text me all the time at Inter, wondering how I was doing. He's the exact opposite of Pep Guardiola. If Mourinho lights up a room, Guardiola draws the curtains. I guessed that Guardiola was trying to match up to him. Mourinho would become a guy I was basically willing to die for."
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