Al Sadd’s new coach Juanma Lillo expressed his satisfaction with the progress of his side’s preparations ahead of the 2022-23 season. The Qatar Stars League champions started their training in Vienna from July 5 and will be there at the Austrian capital till July 20.
Speaking to the club website, the Spaniard said: “Pre-season has been very good for us, everything is going in the ideal manner. We completed our preparatory period in Doha, and then we have intensified our preparation at the overseas camp in Austria, so that we can take the players to the required level of readiness.”
Juanma last month left his job as an assistant to Pep Guardiola at Premier League champions Manchester City to sign a two-year contract with Sadd. The 56-year-old has vast experience in a coaching career spanning 40 years that has also taken him to clubs in Spain, Mexico and China. Having started coaching before his 20s, he was the youngest manager in charge of a La Liga club, having taken over Salamanca at not yet 30 years of age.
Juanma follows in the footsteps of his countrymen Xavi Hernandez and Javi Gracia, who led Sadd to two consecutive league titles.
Asked about his philosophy, Juanma said: “When you describe something, you reduce the idea at the same time. For me, it’s more about the philosophy being transmitted from players to coach, than from coach to players. The best philosophy is to have a good diagnosis for the players and not to interfere with their abilities.”
Juanma said it was ‘great to work with someone as special as Guardiola’ at Manchester City.
“It’s been two years and four months with him and we have played in high-level competitions such as the Premier League and the Champions League and with players of the highest calibre. This allows us to compete and win titles in these competitions. It’s so great to work with someone as special as Pep. I am so grateful to all the people I worked with at the club,” he said
Speaking about Sadd’s objectives for the new season, the coach said: “This season is different because our Qatari internationals who are usually with us will not be with us this time. So we don’t have specific goals now but we will define our goals through the season.”
When asked to evaluate the pre-season period so far, Juanma replied: “One of the goals is to watch and discover the skills and abilities that each young player possesses. When we have a problem due to the absence of international players we also have to see the opportunity to see the young players. So far they are working hard to understand all the things we do in training sessions. They pay attention to the instructions and make a lot of effort with the best intention.”
AL Sadd defeat Austrian side Bruck an der Leitha in friendly
Meanwhile, Al Sadd defeated Austrian side Bruck an der Leitha 2-0 in the first friendly match of pre-season training camp in Vienna. The Qatari’s took the lead through Spanish midfielder Santi Cazorla in the 40th minute, before Mohamed Salem al-Quraishi added the second goal in the 90th minute.
Sadd played in the first half with the following lineup: Jehad Mohamed, Jung Woo-young, Bahaa al-Laithi, Nayef Hamid, Abdulrahman Rashid, Abdulrahman al-Nuaimi, Faisal Azadi, Santi Cazorla, Ahmed al-Saeed, Hassan Ahmed and Baghdad Bounedjah.
In the second half, Youssef al-Balushi, Abdullah Abdulraouf, Talal Behzad, Mohamed Mannai, Moaz Gad, Abdullah Mahdi, Guilherme Torres, Muaz al-Wadia, Abdulrahman al-Dosari, Mohamed Salem al-Quraishi, Abdullah al-Yazidi, Andre Ayew and Rodrigo Tabata came on as substitutes.