Claudio Ranieri has claimed that he was the first manager to utilise the tactics and systems currently being deployed by Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
The Leicester City boss was quoted in the Daily Mirror as he revealed that he had implemented similar in-game decision making during his time in charge of Italian side Cagliari in the late 1980s.
Guardiola is currently viewed as arguably the world's best manager in club football thanks to his unrelenting chopping and changing of tactics and formations throughout each and every game, but Ranieri said he believes that he came up with the original idea over 30 years ago - and was lambasted by the media for his incessant tinkering.
He said: "Guardiola, for example, now you don't know when he starts with three at the back or four at the back. He changes the system every time and during the match.
I made this 20 years ago in Cagliari and people said, ˜Oh Ranieri made a mistake, started with one and changed'. But after 20 years it is now something clever.�
The Foxes host Guardiola's City side at the King Power stadium in Saturday's evening kick off, with Ranieri set to welcome the Spaniard in a reversal of roles that had, at one point, seen the Italian visit Guardiola's former club Bayern Munich during a spell of unemployment.
Claudio Ranieri has won 7 of 8 #PL matches against Manchester City, with the only draw coming in this fixture last season #LEIMCI pic.twitter.com/h5ZJZg1qxd
The former Chelsea boss visited Bayern's training base after being sacked as Greece manager to keep himself up-to-date with the inner workings of the modern game, and stated that he had been left impressed by how Guardiola worked with his players.
Ranieri continued: Pep impressed me with the players that he had. He had fantastic players.
He is an intelligent man because he blends very well the Spanish philosophy with also the Italian philosophy because he played in Italy and now he has also the German philosophy. He is getting better and is one of the best managers in the world.�
Leicester head into their 15th league encounter of 2016/17 languishing just two points above the relegation zone - a far cry from their seemingly impossible Premier League title triumph last term.
The Foxes, who qualified for the last-16 of the Champions League despite a 5-0 mauling at the hands of Porto on Wednesday, can now focus all their energies on lifting themselves away from danger, and Ranieri is of the opinion that the run of matches during the packed festive fixture period will be vital to his side's chances of avoiding the drop.
He added: This part of the season is our key moment. The players aren't satisfied, they want to play better and fight more, but it's important to fight together as a team.
Claudio Ranieri: Pep Guardiola is stealing my tricks from 25 years ago https://t.co/efPwynIR3d #MCFC
Our strength was this “ if we made a dream last season it's because we were together, not because we were a big team. With our effort we made a story.
Do you see the same team from last season? I don't see, we have to react, to come back.
The recruitment area are working hard but they wait for me to say, ˜OK, now I need this, this and this. Until then I want to check my players and the only players who will stay with me are the ones who want to fight until the end.�
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