Former Manchester City defender Danilo has come clean on his relationship with former boss Pep Guardiola while they were both at the club. The player endured a frustrating time at the Etihad, including two injury-hit seasons which generally saw him side-lined until Juventus offered him a way out.
Danilo and Pep Guardiola's working relationship was short-lived (Image: GETTY)
In a frank interview with Repubblica, Danilo admitted: "It's true it's not easy to have a good relationship with him (Guardiola).
"He is never relaxed, he thinks about football all the time.
"I think at home, in the evening, he puts his wife on the couch as if she were a player on the pitch."
While Danilo's rendition of events is rather more colourful, Guardiola is well-known for his intense approach on the side-lines and obsession with the game.
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Tactically, Guardiola brought a style of play to the Premier League that English football has never seen.
Even this season, with Man City's lofty domestic and European ambitions, the coach has felt comfortable enough to take on the challenges without a recognised striker in the squad.
Still, that does not mean it is easy to have a positive working relationship with him, and Danilo is not the only one to suffer.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic also had a tough time with Guardiola while they worked together at Barcelona, but that pales in comparison to the bust-up he had with goal-scoring great Samuel Eto'o.
Samuel Eto'o scored over 100 La Liga goals for Barcelona (Image: GETTY)
"I first of all reminded Guardiola that he'd never been a great player," Eto'o told beIN Sports.
"As a coach he had proven nothing, he didn’t even know the story of the dressing room.
"Pep Guardiola has lived his whole life in Barcelona, but in the years I spent there he didn’t understand the squad. He didn’t live the life of our group.
"I said to Guardiola: ‘you’ll apologise to me because it’s me that will make Barcelona win - not Lionel Messi."
Eventually, Eto'o got his move away to Inter Milan, much as Danilo did to Juventus, but he provides further proof that working with a managerial great does not always run smoothly.