Man City assistant reveals Guardiola is 'watching' Sheffield United
Pep never stops! Man City assistant manager Juanma Lillo reveals Guardiola is busy ‘watching’ and studying Sheffield United at home in Barcelona as he recovers from emergency back surgery… despite not being on the touchline this weekend
- Pep Guardiola is recovering at home in Barcelona after undergoing back surgery
- Juanma Lillo has insisted that the manager’s presence continues to be felt
- WATCH: It’s All Coming Up – Mail Sport’s preview show for the weekend’s football
Pep Guardiola will be managing remotely from Spain when Manchester City visit Sheffield United on Sunday.
The treble-winning manager is at home in Barcelona, recovering from a back operation that will keep him away from work for two City games.
But his stand-in, number two Juanma Lillo, has confirmed that the workaholic boss has already been preparing for the game while recovering at home.
And he will not only watch proceedings live from Bramall Lane but will also have an open line to Lillo on the City bench as he manages by ‘proxy.’
‘Of course. Pep is always there,’ joked Lillo, confirming Guardiola’s role on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola will be absent from the Man City touchline until after the international break
Juanma Lillo (left) was appointed to replace Mikel Arteta as Guardiola’s assistant in 2020
Julian Alvarez’s (left) goal maintained Man City’s 100 percent record at the start of the season
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‘The contact will be continuous, he is watching Sheffield right now. What’s important is his health. It doesn’t keep him from being who he is. He’s fully focused on the match.
‘He is telling us the surgery has been successful, his recovery has to take the necessary time. He feels fine. I’m happy to see him going correctly.’
One responsibility that Guardiola has handed over, however, is the pre-match team talk which the City boss decided should be delivered in person, rather than by video call.
However, he has already outlined to Lillo what the pep talk should contain.
‘Pep prefers face to face, so I will deal with it,’ he said. ‘Obviously the form and content is his work.
‘We won’t do a video conference because he doesn’t want it. He wants face to face and is within the messages that are relayed.
‘There is still a few training sessions and sometimes it’s about the feeling you have. With regards to the rival, the team. Pep has been doing his work and we will talk about it.
‘Whatever he will say, whatever the input that’s what will happen.’
Lillo, 57, was appointed to replace Mikel Arteta as Guardiola’s assistant in 2020.
Doku has signed a five-year contract with the Treble winners as they strengthen their squad
Bernardo Silva, who signed a new deal at the Etihad this week, has recovered from illness and is likely to play at the Blades
But he quit to manage in Qatar last season before returning to Guardiola this summer, after former City assistants Rodolfo Borrell and Enzo Moresca left the Blues – prompting Guardiola to joke recently that his assistants always leave him.
‘I’m an old man. Those are the upstarts,’ joked Lillo. ‘I’m coming back, I’m already on my way back so to speak. Pep is someone very special to me, not only in a football manner.
‘I am here to be with someone who’s been very important in my life. It’s different. When I left it was more a ‘see you later’.
Bernardo Silva has recovered from illness and is likely to play at the Blades while new signing Jeremy Doku is in the squad.
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