Revealed: Manchester City stars ‘bemused’ by lack of communication from coaching staff last season | OneFootball

Manchester City’s players were reportedly left ‘bemused’ by the lack of communication from backroom coaching staff during the course of last season, it has been revealed.

The developments concerning last season come after Manchester City have moved to make significant changes to their backroom coaching structure working directly alongside and around Pep Guardiola ahead of the new season.

Such was the need for reinforcements as soon as possible, City officials made recruitment within their coaching staff a priority before the start of the FIFA Club World Cup, welcoming three new faces onto the training ground.

The most notable of those arrivals was Pepijn Lijnders – the former assistant coach to Jurgen Klopp during his long-standing and successful spell as Liverpool manager, masterminding several battles with Manchester City in previous years.

Recruiting directly from Anfield, City also welcomes Arne Slot’s opposition analyst in James French to take on the role of set-piece coach at the Etihad Stadium, ending his run of more than a decade with the Merseyside club alongside Brendan Rodgers and Klopp, too.

And in a temporary promotion, but a move that could yet be turned into a permanent switch into first-team duties, Kolo Toure stepped up from Manchester City’s Under-18 set-up to work at the Club World Cup this summer.

But looking back on last season and the events that may have led to the major shake-up of staff working around Pep Guardiola, new insight has detailed the view from within the camp around those that have now left their respective posts.

As revealed by MailSport’s Jack Gaughan, sources inside the Manchester City dressing room say that Pep Guardiola’s squad were left ‘bemused’ by the lack of communication from the backroom team last season.

It has been revealed that none of the supporting coaches would instigate one-on-one chats to perhaps explain the manager’s thinking, as had been the norm previously, and that players were left ‘second guessing’ the head coach.

A source says, “The guys were more detached than ever”, while it is speculated whether the backroom team did not know whether to stand off and give players space or not, with one coach reduced to just refereeing six-a-side games at the end of sessions and never spoke.

Discussing exits, the report says while Juanma Lillo had been more hands-on in his first spell as Pep Guardiola’s assistant, he became more reserved when returning. Inigo Dominguez – seen as Lillo’s man – made no lasting impact, while neither learned English.

In the case of Lillo, while there may remain a hope of returning to the top of the game in some capacity, the 59-year-old ultimately expressed a desire to return to his native home of Spain, with little details on his next steps alongside Dominguez.

Carlos Vicens – who held responsibilities as a set-piece coach for Manchester City – claimed the top job at Portuguese side SC Braga following an interview process, taking on his first senior head coach job of his career.

For now, it remains to be seen whether any other changes are made to Manchester City’s coaching structure before the start of the new European football calendar, while a decision is yet to be taken on Kolo Toure in particular.