Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini has claimed that Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola's style of play is ruining Italian football.
The Spaniard's fluid, interchangeable, attacking tactics have been adopted by Serie A sides such as table-topping Napoli, and the veteran centre-back believes that this has had a negative impact on the game.
"Guardiolismo has ruined Italian defences," the 33-year-old told Tuttosport. "Now all the defences know how to organise themselves, but they don't know how to mark the striker.
"When I was young they trained me to feel the man, mark them well in the box – now that doesn't exist.
"Now Italian defences leave everyone free. It's a pity we've lost the essence because although we need talents, we have to keep some things the same.
"We cannot play tiki-taka, it's not part of our DNA."
City met Napoli in the group stage of the Champions League earlier this month and defeated them 4-2 to book their place in the next round.
Mark Langshaw
