Enzo Maresca has opened up on life at Manchester City, as his first season as head coach of the club draws near.
The former Chelsea boss spoke to BBC Sport and other members of UK football media while in Seoul during City’s preseason tour of South Korea.
He revealed how he has been coping with the expectations that come with following in the footsteps of Pep Guardiola, how the Premier League has changed since he was working as Guardiola’s assistant in 2023 and the dilemma he’s facing over who to hand the captaincy to for City’s new era.
“After 10 games, if we have got 10 points, 20 points, 30 points. People will be comparing it to Pep after 10 games, it doesn’t put pressure on me. I have said many times while I was at Leicester [City] or Chelsea, he is the best manager in the world over the last 15 or 20 years,” Maresca said to reporters.
“When he started in Spain, everyone wanted to play like Barcelona, he moved to Germany everyone wanted to play like Bayern [Munich], he comes to England and everyone wants to play like City.
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“Someone asked me if it’s the impossible job to follow him — maybe, but at the same time it’s a privilege.”
Guardiola was a coach unlike any other at City, having led the club to six Premier League titles — including an unprecedented four in-a-row — as well as the Champions League trophy, three FA Cups and five Carabao Cups.
Maresca also said that he met with Guardiola in Barcelona the day before he officially signed his contract to take over from the Spaniard.
“We spent some hours together. We had planned before the season finished here to spend some time in the summer holidays together,” he said.
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“I like to go in empty sometimes to see things for myself — but he was here so long, he has his opinions. But also you have to arrive and see things for yourself, see all the picture.”
The Italian also spoke about the the rise of set pieces in the Premier League and how important they now are for teams hunting the title — as shown by Arsenal‘s success last season. The Gunners scored 25 goals from set pieces and clinched the title while City finished second.
He said City are looking to “try and improve” at set pieces but also said that he thinks the Premier League remains the best league in the world, despite criticism from some that it has become too focused on set pieces and on slowing the game down.
“It is because of the quality of the players, the quality of the managers, the organisation of the Premier League. It is completely different compared to other countries,” he said.
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“Which league can compete with the Premier League? Spain? Barcelona, Real Madrid, yes, but then the rest is not the same. You have six teams here who are more or less there.”
Maresca is also tasked with choosing the next City captain, following Bernardo Silva‘s move to Real Madrid. The current leadership group is made up of Erling Haaland, Rodri and Rúben Dias.
Rodri’s future at the club is in doubt, with sources telling ESPN that Barcelona have had an opening bid in the region of €50 million ($58m) for World Cup-winning Spain midfielder rejected by City.
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“Erling was one of the first to send a message when I joined the club,” said Maresca.
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“At Leicester and Chelsea, I had a rule that when we scored the captain had to come to the bench, not to celebrate, but for instructions. But if he scores, then he can celebrate.
“If Erling is the captain, we have a problem, can you imagine? If you saw the game [against K-League XI] on Wednesday, when we scored the first goal, Ruben came over to the bench.
“I think even if it is two or three minutes, there is always something to adjust. At the moment, we have three or four [in the leadership group] and we are missing one. In the case of Rodri, see what happens.”
City’s new life under Maresca will begin at the Etihad on Aug. 23 against Bournemouth.
