Pep Guardiola hired Juanma Lillo as his assistant coach at Manchester City because he wanted an “intellectual challenge.” He says, “I don’t want people agreeing with me all the time. I want people around me who’ll tell me that I should be doing things differently.”

Excerpt from the book “The Pep Revolution” by Martí Perarnau:

I chat to Pep by phone on the morning Juanma starts (for obvious reasons dinner isn’t possible). ‘I felt it was really important to bring Juanma in. I need intellectual challenge and Juanma will provide that. I thought about it over the last few months and I think it’s definitely the right decision although not necessarily the easiest option from my point of view. A more conventional assistant would make my life easier but I think I need someone who’s going to challenge me more. I think I can improve, do much more as a coach but, in order to do that, I need someone who’s going to pressure me, who knows more than I do and who’s willing to challenge me. Do you see what I mean?’

Obviously I completely understand what he means but he seems keen to explain it again: ‘Juanma has so much expertise. He sees things in football that nobody else does. He has a lot of experience and will know exactly how to challenge me. “It’s very possible that we’ll disagree regularly and even end up fighting. But he’ll insist that I check everything I do every day and will question if it’s the right thing to do. It’s the intellectual challenge I need. I don’t want people agreeing with me all the time. I want people around me who’ll tell me that I should be doing things differently. And Juanma is perfect for that. I’ve thought about it long and hard at home. If I’d wanted to make things easy for myself I’d have picked someone else but I’m not here to take things easy. I’m here to work hard and keep getting better.

‘I’m completely serious about needing intellectual challenge. I want to do everything better, be a better coach, take one more step on the ladder. And I really think that Juanma’s the man to help me do that. It won’t be easy but it’s exactly what I need.”

You will remember Juanma Lillo from this post “Football is finished”, where he argues against managers like Pep who have a lot of control and influence over where each player moves, how they move, who they pass to, and where they can’t move. Juanma Lillo seems to clearly disagree with this approach.

Therefore, when you bring him in, it is no surprise why last season we saw more positional rotations, more emphasis on the diagonals, and then this season we’re seeing players being given more and more freedom.

But think about it. Arguably the best coach and the best manager in the world wants to continue to improve. He is not content with simply winning; he never stops learning. He is the best right now, but he has that mindset that someone is hungrier.

Why are we content if he is not?