However, Toni had a bone to pick with the legendary coach, as he said it was because of Guardiola’s revolutionary style at Barcelona, which saw him use Lionel Messi as a false number nine, that classic striker Toni had a hard time finding work before he retired.
“Pep, you ruined football. With the false nine, I couldn’t find a team for four years. Seriously,” he joked in a video with the City boss laughing in the background. “Can you say that you only used the false nine with Messi? Do you even like [classic] centre forwards?”
Guardiola was quick to defend himself, though, pointing out that he now plays with an old-fashioned striker in the form of Erling Haaland. He said: “I have it, Haaland, 60 goals. We won the treble with that striker, but the centre-forwards must be good! Understand?”
Toni responded: “Okay, but stop it with false nine now. Big centre-forwards are better.”