"Those who wanted to copy Guardiola are imbeciles"

Javier Clemente is a more than authoritative voice in Spanish football and one of those kinds of coaches who are used to speaking frankly. In a recent interview with the radio station 'Onda Vasca', he reflected on the situation of Ernesto Valverde's Athletic and some of the tactical trends in today's game.
"Those who have done damage to football are not Guardiola, it's those who have wanted to copy Guardiola with a team of lesser quality, they are imbeciles for not having those qualities and wanting to play and get it out of the back. It's their fault and not Pep Guardiola's, who is very intelligent," he said, referring to statements by former USA goalkeeper Tim Howard.
"The ones who are stupid are the ones who copy him, not Pep, who I have had with me and know very well. You can't want to coach 13-year-olds as if they were Athletic and Barcelona. Pep has been at all the big clubs, Barcelona, Bayern and City, and each time he has played differently. They say he's shit because he doesn't play centre-forward," he added.
"The people Pep doesn't like are the bad players, he's a very clever guy and that's why he's won titles all over the place. I have a lot of personal affection for him and also for Luis Enrique, although they are very different, but they are both very clever and I love that they succeed and win titles and that things go well for them in the face of so many who criticise them."