LILLO AND STITCH UP
How Guardiola got his rock sacked
PEP GUARDIOLA once got his Manchester City assistant Juanma Lillo the sack after mighty Barcelona beat his Almeria team 8-0.
Yet although Lillo has been a journeyman coach with a host of clubs with no trophies under his belt, Guardiola reckons his man has become a vital part of his own success as a boss.
Admired
From the moment he played for Barcelona against Lillo’s Oviedo in 1996, Guardiola has admired the 55-year-old coach – and even worked under him for six months in Mexico near the end of his own playing career.
Guardiola was able to reunite with Lillo last year after today’s opposing manager Mikel Arteta left the Etihad coaching staff to succeed Unai Emery as Arsenal manager.
And as Manchester City head to the Emirates to meet Arteta’s Gunners, Guardiola has insisted that Lillo is the perfect ‘bagman’ – and doesn’t need a glittering back story of big clubs to shine.
“He is a friend of mine from a long time ago and finally we can work together,” said Guardiola.
“It was a dream of mine and now the dream came true.
“His knowledge of the game is overwhelming. He sees things that few people in the world, me included, are able to see.
“He has helped me to be more calm. I’m a guy who sometimes expresses my feelings too much and he makes me feel more calm, to read better the situations.
“I would love him to be able to speak better English than he speaks so he could communicate more on the pitch with the players, but maybe he needs time.
“He helps me a lot and I would say, with Rodolfo Borrell as well, we have a good group of backroom staff.
“Rodolfo helps me a lot with the training sessions and even in the games, seeing what happens – because I need big help for some things I am unable to see or watch.
“That is why they are here. I said it before with Mikel and before with Tito Vilanova, I need their advice and support.”
Vilanova was Guardiola’s assistant and successor at Barcelona, who led them to a La Liga title but died of cancer in 2014.
Guardiola added:
“They are so important and a help to me to understand, to control my emotions and to see something I am not able to.
Patient
“All around the world it’s an uncertain, weird and difficult situation for everyone.
“That is why you have to be more patient, and Juanma helps me be patient and calm in the bad moments.
“He has told me many times, ‘It will change. Everyone is going to lose games, so be calm’.
“Juanma knows it depends on the players quality, maybe better than me, because he fought in teams he was not lucky to have, like I was lucky to have Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City.”
And is Pep forgiven for getting his pal the sack at Almeria in 2010? Guardiola said: “Of course it is forgiven, but if it had been me training Almeria at that moment, and he Barcelona, I would have lost 8-0 too!”
MANCHESTER UNITED’S famed production line is in full swing again – and it could save Ole Gunnar Solskjaer millions in the transfer market.
Marcus Rashford and Scott Mctominay were the last young talents to come through the
Old Trafford academy and flourish as regular firstteam stars for both club and country.
And the conveyor belt of stardust shows no sign of stopping with an exciting trio of teenagers fast emerging from the shadows – and getting pulses racing behind the scenes at United.
There has not been much to hearten United fans since the 9-0 demolition of Southampton, with Solskjaer’s side slipping up badly in the Premier League. Bitter rivals Manchester City have knocked them off top spot and doused Old Trafford’s fanciful title dreams.
But in midfielders Hannibal
Mejbri and Shola Shoretire and centre-forward Joe Hugill, United have plenty of reasons to be cheerful.
United academy expert and former Alex Ferguson fledgling Ben Thornley reckons the Class of ’21 could be a huge pandemic plus for boss Solskjaer.
Mejbri and Shoretire have already been promoted to United’s first-team “bubble” with Under-23 academy boss Neil Wood unable to hold the duo back any longer.
And with striker Hugill plundering 16 goals in 20 games for United’s U-18s and in Premier League Two, it is little wonder anticipation has gone up a notch at the club’s Carrington training complex.
“You’re always reluctant to put too much pressure on these lads and predict big things ahead but
United might just have hit the jackpot with these boys,” said Thornley.
“You can never really be certain how they’ll develop, especially in the transition from reserves to first team.
“But everything I’ve seen so far points to them being special talents who could save United millions in the long run in the transfer market.
“The market is financially stagnant, we saw that in January, and it’s predicted to be a similar story in the summer with many clubs reeling from the impact of coronavirus.
“So what better time to produce diamonds from your own academy? These three lads might well become regular United stars of the future, a little bit like the Class of ’92.
“What would David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt (all above) and the Neville brothers have been worth in today’s market?
“If United can get Mejbri, Shoretire and Hugill into their first team for the next five, six or seven years it could save them millions.”