'Zlatan Ibrahimovic Blasts Pep Guardiola'

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has revealed that he was 'willing to die' for Jose Mourinho, but described Pep Guardiola as a 'spineless coward'.

Ibrahimovic who played under the the instruction of Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan, says the Portuguese was an inspirational coach due to his man-management style and tactical nous.

"Mourinho would become a guy I was basically willing to die for," he wrote in his autobiography I am Zlatan Ibrahimovic, excerpts of which have been reported in the Daily Mail.

"He works twice as hard as all the rest. Lives and breathes football 24/7. I've never met a manager with that kind of knowledge about the opposing sides. It was everything, right down to the third-choice goalkeeper's shoe size.

"It was a while before I met him. He's elegant, he's confident, but I was surprised. He looked small next to the players but I sensed it immediately: there was this vibe around him.

"Mourinho created personal ties with the players with his text messages and his knowledge of our situations with wives and children, and he didn't shout. He built us up before matches. It was like theatre, a psychological game."

Ibrahimovic went on to make a big-money transfer to Barcelona in 2009, but spent just a year at Camp Nou and he blames Guardiola for his troubles.