Juanma Lillo believes that Pep Guardiola will make Bayern Munich’s players ‘better people and better footballers’, commenting ‘that is what success is’.
Guardiola was revealed last week to have agreed a three-year deal to Coach the Bavarian outfit from the start of the 2013-14 campaign.
Lillo, who spent six months as Guardiola’s Coach during the former midfielder’s brief stint at Mexican side Dorados, has expressed his confidence in the 42-year-old’s ability to leave his mark on the Bundesliga side.
“Will Pep have success in Germany? That's something no-one knows, it's all up in the air,” began former Almeria boss Lillo to CNN today.
“What I do know is that he will give them a playing style that will allow them to succeed and that he will help make those players into better people and better footballers. For me, that is what success is.
“If the ball hits the post instead of going in the goal, no one knows. What I do think is that he will be able to take them to a level where they are always right there in a position to win.
“But who knows if a Chelsea comes and sends you home despite you having them on their back heels next to their own goal for 70 minutes of the match — that's football.”
Lillo, who has been linked with joining Pep as assistant Coach at the Allianz Arena, was asked if Bayern were a good choice for him.
“Who am I to say what is a good or bad choice for someone else, but I think people will wait to see if it goes well or badly for him to say it was a good choice.
“Personally, I think it was a good choice because they have quite a few players that have that criteria and quality he looks for in various positions.
“They have already had success playing a similar style and have tasted what it can bring them, and finally they have the money to be able to go out and get the players that they currently lack to be able to play his way.
“We're also talking about one of the most important clubs of all time, that has a long history and currently has a very strong squad. I think they're a really good team and that both of them made a good choice.”
Lillo only worked with Guardiola during short stint together in Mexico, but Guardiola has always hailed him as a mentor in his work.
“The first time I saw him play, it made me so ecstatic that he could always keep the entire team in his head and know what to do in each situation to benefit the whole team. And he was so young when he did that! That ability to make everyone around him better…
“I've always seen a Coach that used to play, never a player that used to coach. Saying that, similar to a guard in basketball or a centre-back court player in handball, he was a rigorous organizer.
“What emerged from his playing days was a man concerned with the collective. He's a very involved manager – it has something to do with his personality, I think.
“He's a very good person. He's the type of person who thinks of solidarity, of the needs of everyone else, so of course his style of play was like his personality.”
