Man City boss Guardiola talks up De Zerbi when discussing Baggio | OneFootball

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has name-checked Sassuolo coach Roberto de Zerbi when discussing Roberto Baggio.

Guardiola played with Baggio at Brescia.

He told Corriere dello Sport: “If Baggio were to play in today's football, he'd score 50 goals per season. There's no doubt about it.

“I don't just mean with me or Manchester City, I mean with any coach and any team. Roby was a phenomenon when playing basically with only one good leg and in an Italian football that at the time was very difficult for a forward to survive in.

“At that time, there were so few spaces and at most four or five chances per game, but he always managed to score and often in incredible circumstances. Roby was there with Diego Maradona, Marco van Basten, Francesco Totti, Alessandro Del Piero…

“Nowadays in Serie A, you see the forwards get far more service and in more comfortable areas. Italian football will always have an element of defend and counter, because that's an aspect that is admired abroad and part of your culture, but with the revolution of Arrigo Sacchi and lately coaches like Maurizio Sarri and Roberto De Zerbi, there are teams who play the ball more and therefore also concede more."