Indian Football: AIFF Interviews Juan Manuel Lillo for Technical Director Post

Juan Manuel Lillo

AIFF on Tuesday interviewed Juan Manuel Lillo for the Technical Director post but have revealed that they are not in a hurry to take the decisions as many more Coaches will be interviewed and the best will get selected.

Lillo, the former Almeria and Real Sociedad coach faced the interviewing panel comprising of AIFF President Praful Patel, Gen. Secy. Kaushal Das and officials from Reliance-IMG and made his presentation as and how he is going to take Indian football ahead.

Lillo, the youngest Coach to have ever managed a La Liga club also monitored the training session of team India at the Ambedkar Stadium and is said to have been impressed with Colaco’s style of ‘ground play’. He spent quite some time at the Ambedkar Stadium and was also enquiring about the likes of Jo Paul Ancheri and IM Vijayan.

“Lillo spoke with the officials through the help of an interpreter. He cannot speak English and there is a belief that this could go against him. We also need to see whether, if selected, he would settle for a much lower salary than what he is expecting,” a senior AIFF official said.

“He is the first coach to be interviewed for the technical director’s post but he will not be the last. We have several coaches to be interviewed and the best person for the job will be selected. We are not in any hurry,” said the senior AIFF official.

With AIFF making it clear that, they want the Indian team to play the Barcelona way of football, the chances of Juan Manuel Lillo taking over the helm is high. He is the man credited for having given Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola much of his tactical education.

However his inability to speak English will stand a great hindrance in the process and his salary expectation will also play a great role in his quest to provide his service and knowledge to Indian Football.