Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
OBLAK’S CHANCE TO SHINE
Van Gaal says Pep has ditched attacking style and switched systems Champions League glory is one he wants most at City, his big trophy
ATLETICO MADRID goalkeeper Jan Oblak has brushed off rumours he is still on Chelsea’s shopping list as he prepares to face the Blues in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Slovenian star Oblak, rated the best keeper in the world by some pundits, was said to be wanted by former Chelsea manager Frank Lampard last year, until the Blues went for cheaper option Edouard Mendy from Rennes.
Now, with Thomas Tuchel (below) in charge at Stamford Bridge, the 28-year-old is back on the radar for the west London club.
But Oblak insists he hasn’t taken any notice of the rumours.
“I have a contract with Atletico and I have not spoken with any other team,” he said. “Those things are carried out by my agents.
“All I think about is being a starter, winning games and lifting titles with the club. This season our challenge is to win both La Liga and the Champions League and we believe we can do it.
“In Europe the big test begins now and we don’t want to go out.”
Oblak, who has been with the Spanish club since 2014, knows it won’t be easy – especially as Atletico have to play their home leg in Bucharest, Romania because of pandemic travel restrictions.
“I would have preferred a different opponent to Chelsea,” he admitted.
“Chelsea have been inconsistent this season, but it is still Chelsea, a club that always reacts and is capable of beating anyone.
“And of course they have changed their manager and I know that Tuchel is a good coach.
“I don’t know who will be in goal against us but they have good keepers in Mendy and Kepa. It will not be easy to score. But we are confident.”
WHEN Pep Guardiola was at Barcelona his team once put eight goals past Almeria – and got coach Juanma Lillo the sack.
Yet when Mikel Arteta walked out on Manchester City to become Arsenal boss, it was to Lillo (above) that Guardiola turned to become his cool, calm assistant.
It should worry Arteta when the Premier League leaders travel to the Etihad today that Guardiola believes he’s now become an even better manager for the change.
And Lillo, a 55-year-old Spaniard who took his first coaching role on leaving school, has been the key to unlocking more of his genius.
Guardiola says: “Juanma is a friend of mine from a long time ago and finally we can work together.
“It was a dream – and now the dream has come true.
“His knowledge of the game is overwhelming. He sees things that few people in the world are able to see – me included.
“I’m a guy who sometimes expresses my feelings too much and Juanma makes me feel more calm. I read situations better.
“I would love him to be able to speak better English to communicate more on the pitch with the players – but maybe he needs time.”
When Guardiola was winding down his own playing career with an ambition to move into coaching, it was to Lillo he turned.
In 2006, the Catalan joined Mexican club Dorados de Sinaloa only because Lillo was manager.
Guardiola recognised a man who had been born to coach.
Lillo’s first job was at the age of 16 and despite spells with clubs such as Oviedo, Tenerife, Real Zaragoza and Real Sociedad, much of his career has been spent working in relative backwaters.
His time in charge of Almeria came to a crushing end in 2010 after a Barcelona side including Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta demolished his team 8-0.
Guardiola says: “Of course it has been forgiven by Juanma.
“But if I had been training Almeria at that moment and he had been training Barcelona, I would have been defeated 8-0 too.”
Last month, when an offer came in for Lillo to become Chile’s head coach he turned it down to remain at Guardiola’s side at the Etihad Stadium.
It’s fair to say, with City pulling clear at the top of the Premier League, that Arteta has not been missed.
ARSENAL 2016/17 Round of 16 Aggregate: Man City 6 Monaco 6 (Monaco win on away goals) 2017/18 Quarter-final Aggregate: Aggre Man City 1 Liverpool 5 2018/19 Quarter-final Aggregate: Man City 4 Tottenham 4 (Tottenham win on away goals) 2019/20 Quarter-final
Man City C 1 Lyon 3
LOUIS VAN GAAL believes that this season has finally seen the launch of Pep Guardiola 2.0.
Van Gaal, the Dutchman who was Guardiola’s coach at Barcelona, reckons the Manchester City boss is so obsessed with winning the Champions League for the first time since leaving the Nou Camp almost a decade ago, that he has ditched his all-out attacking philosophy for a more pragmatic approach.
Guardiola has not progressed beyond the semi-finals in eight years with Bayern Munich and City.
Van Gaal feels it is the only trophy that now matters to the Catalan – to the extent he has abandoned his old ways and built one of football’s most formidable defences.
Former Manchester United and Bayern boss Van Gaal, who won the European crown with Ajax during a glittering coaching career, said: “Pep sees winning the Champions League as his big target, his big trophy at City.
“He has won it with Barcelona twice, but he wants to prove he can do it with another team.
“And let’s not forget,
City as a club are desperate to also win the Champions League.
“One thing that is helping Pep and why I can see him having a good chance is that he has evaluated his principles of attacking football. He has let go of his dogmatic principle of always playing attacking football.”
City have never gone beyond the semi -final stage in the Champions League – and Guardiola’s four attempts so far have all ended in bitter failure.
Last summer, even Kevin De Bruyne criticised City’s tactics as they were dumped out in the quarter-finals by Lyon.
City spent £63million in the summer to bring in Ruben Dias from Benfica. The Portuguese defender’s arrival has led to a renaissance for John Stones.
And this season, City have conceded just 15 goals in 24 Premier League games and are storming towards the title.
They conceded once in their Champions League group, and now face a last-32 clash with Borussia Monchengladbach – the first leg takes place in Budapest on Wednesday.
Van Gaal (left) said: “Pep is no longer pushing both his fullbacks up so high because he saw how that caused his centre-backs problems.
“They had too much space to cover and were beaten in the counter attack.
“Even the best central defenders cannot cope with just the two of them when opponents break.
“Pep now only lets one full-back go. The other one drifts in midfield or covers for the central defenders. This is Pep’s new trick!”
Van Gaal added: “Pep also scouts his players for his own system much more than other coaches.
“It really looks like Pep has decided to change things in his BYfootball vision and style.
“I discussed his style in my latest book – and I know he went mad when he read it.
“It was about his dogmatic attacking. But he may have done something with my advice after all!”
FOOTBALL is nothing without the fans.
I have so many derby memories, but it struck me when I was going through them for this column that all the best – and most of the worst – involve fans.
You hear it trotted out glibly all the time, without people knowing what they even mean by saying it.
Well, I can help because I can’t get my head around what it’s like to play in one of the biggest games in the world without supporters.
I admire what they did yesterday, going out to do the job properly, and trying to put the right amount of passion in.
But you could tell something was missing.
There wasn’t the same pumpedup passion, definitely not that same adrenaline you get – and the hairs standing up on the back of your neck – when you walk out to that cauldron of noise.
On both grounds, few noises can rival it before kick off.
I found myself feeling sorry for the Liverpool and Everton players when they walked out.
You live for that as a footballer.
You know that debate on what makes a top player into a great player? Well, a big part of it is the belief that those stages were made for you.
You could still see it meant a lot to both sides, but it’s hardly the same as say Divock Origi scoring in the last minute, Tim Cahill’s goal or his pile-on with Lee Carsley.
The energy you get from the crowd in those moments is indescribable. It’s the perfect storm, and I really do believe the top players have the mindset that thrives on that energy – it makes them grow.
I think some players have felt more at ease during the time without fans, because the pressure isn’t on from the terraces.
Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why the season has evened out so much, why there have been so many shock results. Because some of the weaker teams are not buckling under the pressure of the fans.
Manchester City are the only top side who haven’t really been affected by the lack of fans. Yet, in truth, even they started the season badly.
I think with City, though, they play a type of football that is almost FIFA at times, you know, computer stuff, it’s so technical.
Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp have relied on intensity, and I said at the start of the season they may struggle a bit without the fans. It took a long time for that to be translated through to results, but four home league defeats after yesterday’s 2-0 loss to Everton tells such a revealing story.
I feel sorry for all the players not having fans and it must have been eerie yesterday evening not to feel that intense surge of electricity around the stadium.
People say you played in front of no fans as a kid, and that’s true, but all that time you are busting a gut to get in front of the supporters.
That was my real motivation, not money, not fame.
It’s made for a desperate situation really. No one thinks ‘poor football’ in the time of global tragedy, and a national scandal of so many deaths when there really shouldn’t be.
But it’s still not football as we know it. So the sooner we get fans back into grounds, the better for everyone in football.
It would be good to think there won’t be any more derbies played in front of empty stadiums.
My motivation was to get out and play in front of the supporters