26 August 2023 , 21:30
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Pep Guardiola's coaching inspiration has got some bad news for the rest of the Premier League after revealing that Manchester City ’s history-making boss is getting even better.
Juanma Lillo, the 57-year-old Spaniard who will take charge of the champions for their trip to Sheffield United with Guardiola recovering in Barcelona after undergoing an operation on his back, has been an inspiration for the City manager since playing under him at Mexican club Doradas de Sinaloa almost 20 years ago and helped to put him on a pathway to become the most coveted manager in the game.
Lillo returned to the Etihad to advise the Catalan when the Blues were successfully winning the Treble last season - and has stuck around for a second stint as Guardiola’s assistant after the departure of Enzo Maresca to become manager of Leicester and Rodolfo Borrell’s decision to take up the director of football role at MLS club Austin FC Sporting.
Now he has lifted the lid on what makes Guardiola tick - and his verdict on the man who has lifted 38 trophies in just 16 years as a manager is that he hasn’t yet reached his peak.
Lillo said: “It is indeed the case that Pep is still improving - and that helps to improve everyone around him.
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“We have worked hand in hand for many years. He was my player back in the day so we have a relationship that goes all the way back and we understand things in the same direction.
“He was already a bit of a coach when he was a player. Pep is always very open and he always wants to improve and apply new things.
“It can depend on the players he has available because they are never the same. That is something that he has a very sharp sense over.
“He is very intelligent, he grasps not only what he's going to do but with whom he is going to do it. You are always interacting and exchanging ideas on a day-to-day basis.
“We all improve and try to pitch in for Pep. Nevertheless he doesn't need a lot of input because he's constantly building and debating and generating ideas. When he was a player he was the same. He had a true and global vision of everything.
“It is very difficult to find someone such as him with such a capacity and willingness year after year - and I don't feel as if he's lacking that now.”
Guardiola has kept in contact with his players and staff during a series of telephone and video calls - and has even been watching training sessions from his sickbed.
He will also watch the game against the newly-promoted Blades on TV and have a communications link to his coaching staff throughout the 90 minutes.
But the City boss has instructed Lillo to prepare a team talk - and the Spaniard insists that it’s still impossible for the players to perform on autopilot despite the level of intense coaching they receive.
Lillo added: “We have to accept that at the end of the day you have to adapt to circumstances and you can't mechanise these things.”
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City will have Bernardo Silva back after a bout of illness as they look to extend their perfect start to the season and will be strengthened further by the arrival of new £55million Belgian winger Jeremy Doku from French club Rennes.