Pep Guardiola insists Pelé could have “played in every generation” and that the Brazilian’s influence on the world game will be everlasting as he joined other Premier League coaches in paying tribute to the three-times World Cup winner after his death on Thursday.
“When I was nine, 10 I started to watch some games,” said the Manchester City manager. “Now I realise how strong he could do everything. People say the rhythm in the period was completely different but these type of players playing right now, he would have adapted the rhythm and spaces because he was so good. They control the games, so good in skills and mentality and everything. He could play in every generation.”
Guardiola added: “Neymar said a great sentence when he said before [Pelé’s] No 10 was just a number and after it became something special. Every top player wanted to wear No 10 in their team. What he has done for football is there and always will remain. It’s like a good movie, the legacy after many years. That we are still talking about him like a good movie or a good book is because he was so good.
“I think Pelé, Maradona, Cruyff, Messi, Beckenbauer, Cristiano Ronaldo – these type of players will be forever, they will be eternal.”
Frank Lampard, the former England and Chelsea midfielder who is now manager of Everton, recognised the enormous impact Pelé had in the game. Lampard, 44, said: “There’s huge respect for him as a player and as a person, as all the responses since yesterday have shown. He was a great man as well as a great player. He was one of the greatest without doubt.
“The reach of his name in the game was obviously huge. It just gets bigger with age. We have lost him unfortunately but his name will continue for evermore because of his impact on the game.”
The Tottenham manager, Antonio Conte, said when he was young his father had told him all about Pelé. “The first person who spoke to me about Pelé was my father. My father was in love with Pelé because for him, he was the best player in the world and many times he spoke about him. Then I watched some games that he played and especially the final of the World Cup and [in] some situations it was incredible what he did with the ball.
“If I have to compare Pelé with Maradona, it is different because about Pelé I listened, I had my father and I watched through the TV his quality and that he was an amazing player. About Maradona, I had the opportunity to play against him. Then to see and to touch his ability. But I repeat, Pelé for my father was the best footballer in the world.”
Players will wear black armbands while there will be a minute’s applause prior to kick-off at all Premier League and EFL games this weekend.
