Cheslea striker Samuel Eto’o has launched a scathing attack on former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola, calling the Spaniard a cowardly manager.
The Cameroon international played under Guardiola during the 2008/09 season at the Camp Nou, but says the current Bayern boss barely spoke to him, using other players to communicate.
“Guardiola has never had the courage to say things in front of me,” Eto’o told beIN Sport.
“He passed by the players. Xavi told me they wanted me to stay but I had to talk to Pep. I say “never, if you do not respect me, I do not respect you”.
“I first of all reminded Guardiola that he’d never been a great player. He was a good player, that’s true. I told him.
“As a coach, he had proven nothing. He came in and didn’t even know the story of the dressing room.”
Eto’o recalled three occassions when Guardiola spoke to him during that season, one was when the manager wanted him to talk to Yaya Toure and another was when he was told how to play as a striker.
“Pep told me how to move like a striker,” the now 33-year-old added. “I told him: “You’re not normal!” The true story is that Pep didn’t respect the things in football.
“He shook hands with me when I was at Inter and I played against Barca, but this was just for the cameras and TV. Behind the scenes before the match, he did not greet me.”
Eto’o found much happier times under Jose Mourinho, first at Inter Milan and now at Chelsea, but was not impressed when the Portuguese joked about his age earlier this season.
However, the striker concedes it’s part of the former Real Madrid boss’ personality and says he has no problem with the controversial manager.
“He becomes someone else in the build-up to matches. Like any human being, he sometimes loses his reason,” Eto’o said. “He proved it sometimes, like when he did it with me, but he takes all the pressure on himself.”
