Cesc Fàbregas has said he learned patience from Arsène Wenger and bravery from José Mourinho, but Pep Guardiola was the coach that had the biggest impact on his career when he played under him at Barcelona.
Following a long-playing career in Spain and England, Fàbregas, 37, is in his first full season as coach of Serie A club Como.
The former Arsenal midfielder played the 2011-2012 season under Guardiola at Barcelona and said of the Manchester City manager to ESPN: "I think, tactically, Pep is the one that I learned the most from. He always studied the opponent. He always knew exactly what they could do and he could give you solutions. And this is what I try to bring to the table for the players. They always need help to identify what's happening on the pitch. And I think Pep helped me a lot in this way to understand different things."
Fàbregas had previously played eight seasons under Wenger at Arsenal.
"I think Arsène was a gentleman," the former Spain star said.
"What I learned from him the most is the patience you must have with the players. I know that nowadays patience doesn't exist because coaches are fragile and we are too scared that if you lose two games, you're out.
"So you always try to compensate that by putting the most experienced players or the best players, or maybe not the ones who deserve it the most."
Fàbregas served last season as an assistant to Osian Roberts as Como won promotion to Serie A for the first time in 21 years. He is putting to good use what he learned from Wenger.
"I'm liking a lot working with the young players," Fabregas said.
"And this requires patience as well, because there is ups and downs with a young player. "You need to put a little bit more effort in the training sessions, more time globally. This is something that I learned, that when you want to develop something, you need patience."
Fàbregas won his first Premier League title under José Mourinho at Chelsea in the 2014-2015 campaign. He described Mourinho as "very brave" when it came to decision making.
"What I like the most about him is how he handles the dressing room," Fàbregas said of the now Fenerbahçe coach.
"How he plays with the head of the players, how he knows how to identify who is in the right mental predisposition to achieve whatever the team needs in that moment. He's very fast at understanding the player, what the team needs at each moment, and who can give them what he needs in order to win games.
"He's not scared to make changes. I remember sometimes he would make three changes at half-time because he knew exactly in his head how he wanted to achieve different things in the second half.
"And in this case, I think José was very, very brave. And he always used to tell me, go with your idea. Once you identify a problem, fix it immediately. Don't let it pass."