Juanma Lillo | Leaving the club before the CWC (p52)

[manimanc]

Made up with this.
It's turning into a good week and there may be more news soon who knows..

 

[supercity88]

Has he changed his opinions of positional play then? He did an article for the athletic after the World Cup saying he regrets promoting this way of playing, that he doesn’t like it when the system is king and he wants it to be the players’ individuality that finds the solutions on the pitch. Very weird to write an article of all your regrets surrounding this style of play to then return to it so soon. Maybe I’m missing something.

I think the headline was a bit misleading. He basically talks about the obsession with statistics and tactics when individuality should be allowed to thrive. But he's not dismissing a system or tactics completely, he's keen to create something which provides the flexibility and environment for players to express themselves and thrive. I don't think that's too much of a stretch from what Pep would believe in any case. He's worked with players like Messi, Robben and Ribery where you simply can't restrict them. Last season he created a system that enabled us to get the ball to Haaland more without leaving the defence wide open on the counter. Players like Grealish would have loved a bit more freedom, but you'd still see him running with the ball down the middle of the pitch at times, or across the box. That ability to go and express themselves was still there. And in De Bruyne, you've got a player you just have to unleash sometimes. You tell him where to position himself, and you let him do the rest. I'm sure Pep wanted him closer to Haaland, particularly in that Arsenal game at home, but he may have wanted him to look to play Haaland in or to retain possession if an opportunity to slide him in wasn't there. But De Bruyne thought, fuck that, I'll just run with the ball and smash it in the net instead!

 

[Johnny Mars Bar]

Brilliant news this. Can’t underestimate just how much the Spanish Keegan did for us behind the scenes and it’s great for Pep to have his best mate back in Manchester.

 

[The perfect fumble]

Pep certainly seems pleased!

Based on nothing more than hope, Lillo would be an excellent caretaker manager, should Pep want to take a year off to recharge his batteries before signing a new five year contract.

 

[Kippax77]

Or maybe he balances pep out? We need to be fluid and have different quivers to our bow.

Lovely metaphor

 

[ninjamonkey]

None of us really know what he brings but we won stuff when he was here previously and it makes pep happy, that's all that matters so it's a no brainer.

Hopefully lasts the season before somebody else looks to poach our backroom staff in a bid to grab a slice of peps magic for themselves.

 

[ealing blue]

Be interesting to see whether he becomes a contender to replace Pep when he leaves. Would give us some continuity even if he hasn't got managerial experience

 

[splinter]

Happy days

 

[The Future’s Blue!]

How did he do as a manager in Qatar, didn’t he go to the team that had won it for many years?

Won a treble without him, hopefully it was his previous work that set us up for last season.

 

[Jazzyblue]

This is excellent news. We've had some big departures this season and we have other big departures on the horizon. Backroom continuity is key.

 

[Cityfan]

I hope all our ex-players go on to have good careers elsewhere and only come to City if they really are good enough and are exactly what we need.

I don’t like the idea of ex-players coming back to the club just because they are ex-players. It’s what started the downward spiral at Liverpool with Souness and Evans etc. through the 90s and with United having ex-players in the background all last decade and eventually having Solskjaer as coach.

I think it’s the wrong way to go about things.

Cryuff, Guardiola,Enrique and now Xavi have all done pretty well at Barca.
Zidane didn't flop at Real.
Tony Book was our best manager between Mercer and Mancini.
If the player is good I have no objections. I think the problem comes when the move is by an owner/board who is looking to appease the fans with someone popular.

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

I hope all our ex-players go on to have good careers elsewhere and only come to City if they really are good enough and are exactly what we need.

I don’t like the idea of ex-players coming back to the club just because they are ex-players. It’s what started the downward spiral at Liverpool with Souness and Evans etc. through the 90s and with United having ex-players in the background all last decade and eventually
having Solskjaer as coach.


I think it’s the wrong way to go about things.

Ollie was good - for every PL club bar the Rags.

 

[lazerblue]

fuck me i didn't realise he was only 5yrs older than pep, he must have had an hard life but i'm glad he's found his way back

 

[Brightwell Bros.]

Finally, someone brave enough to tell Pep when to make subs. The bald fraud can't be trusted on these matters.


/s

 

[leo_city]

Brilliant for us. Hopefully better set pieces in opposition box. He’ll no doubt help Pep figure out new solutions to our attack too

 

[Brightwell Bros.]

Cryuff, Guardiola,Enrique and now Xavi have all done pretty well at Barca.
Zidane didn't flop at Real.
Tony Book was our best manager between Mercer and Mancini.
If the player is good I have no objections. I think the problem comes when the move is by an owner/board who is looking to appease the fans with someone popular.

Liverpool's dominant 80s could be chalked up as much to their continuity as much as the decline in the 90s. There's arguments for and against.

One thing for clear is that Solskjær was obviously out of his depth from day one and whoever kept him in post for as long as they did doesn't have to buy a round in any pub I am in.

 

[RayCTID]

Welcome back Lillo and the main thing Pep really trusts him and the team did get on with him first time around.

 

[Cityfan]

Liverpool's dominant 80s could be chalked up as much to their continuity as much as the decline in the 90s. There's arguments for and against.

One thing for clear is that Solskjær was obviously out of his depth from day one and whoever kept him in post for as long as they did doesn't have to buy a round in any pub I am in.

Actually from day one Solskjaer was pretty successful, for Utd that was the problem, he was so good for the first three months or so that they made the appointment permanent.
No matter he was not the right manager for them and didn't have a track record in England.
As assistants and helping former players don't have a terrible track record.
If you take the three dominant managers in the first fifteen years or so of the premier league.
Ferguson won the treble with Kidd and lately did well with Phelan. Wenger had Rice for his successful spell and Mourinho had Clarke.
We even had Kidd as part of the coaching structure.
I am not suggesting that former players should be appointed willy nilly but I wouldn't reject one in the coaching structure who is unproven if Pep or simply thought they had the right credentials.

 

[5 Hit Gibbon]

What's Kevin Keegan doing coming back?

 

[KS55]

Fucking brilliant news. Pep's a genius, but he's at his best when he has someone next to him who will give it back to him if it's not going right. As much as I liked Rodolfo and maresca, they always just looked like pep was talking at them, whilst lillo looked like he was bollocking pep nonstop.

Plus he seems to play good cop with a lot of the players.

Lillo is highly respected by Pep for his vision, knowledge and hard work. Great move this.