Juanma Lillo reactions to Man City stoppages show Pep Guardiola effect on Sheffield United win

An enforced stoppage 20 minutes into the game saw Paul Heckingbottom call over seven of his Sheffield United players to the dugouts for an impromptu tactical chat at Bramall Lane. The Manchester City technical area was completely empty.

Juanma Lillo, who had remained seated for the opening stages, didn't feel the need to do the same for his City players - leaving captains Ruben Dias and Kyle Walker to have an animated chat of their own in the centre circle, as others wandered around. It felt uncharacteristic for City to manage themselves in such a manner, with nobody on the touchline offering any tactical tweaks.

Pep Guardiola was watching on from Barcelona as he recovered from back surgery, with Lillo promising that 'Pep is everywhere' in the build-up to the game, and that the approach would still be led by the manager even if he wasn't there personally.

Lillo also stated that City aren't the 'mechanical' unit that people make them out to be, able to play at the top level regardless of personnel or system. Lillo's point was that someone needed to make that machine work, and make changes when needed. Lillo was never that person, and in the first half at Bramall Lane, he wasn't anywhere to be seen.

ALSO READ: Alvarez is making Man City's Foden decision harder to manage

Guardiola spends the majority of the game on the very edge of his technical area in order to bark instructions, observe patterns up close, and often find himself so engrossed that he falls to the floor. When a stoppage occurs, he wastes no time in telling certain players what to change, with the results often coming off almost instantly.

Lillo is the calming, level-headed presence to Guardiola's energy, and clearly saw no need to change his own matchday