New managers at major clubs often strike a cautious tone when asked about immediate targets. Focusing on daily improvement rather than bold predictions is a common approach in the early weeks of pre-season. Rival coaches, by contrast, can afford to set clearer standards after recent success.
Title defences create natural pressure on both the champions and those chasing them. Measured comments from the opposing dugout leave room for performance to dictate the narrative. Supporters on all sides look for early indications of intent.
Enzo Maresca has said Manchester City will try their best to win titles this season but insisted it is too early to assess their Premier League chances. The new Etihad manager was speaking after a pre-season penalty shoot-out defeat to Inter Milan.
“We are going to try our best to win titles this season,” Enzo Maresca said. “The Premier League is one of the titles we need to try until the end.
“In terms of our chances [of winning the league], it is too early to say. What I like is day by day helping players improve. Because if you improve players, the team improves. This is important. I am very happy, yeah.”
Maresca has replaced Pep Guardiola and inherits a side that finished second last season after Arsenal were crowned champions. The Italian faces the task of restoring City to the top of the table while competing against Mikel Arteta’s title holders.
Arteta has struck a more assertive note about Arsenal’s ambitions. “This has to be the start, and this has to be the standard,” the Arsenal manager said. “Excellence has to be our standard, and this has to drive [us] to attack the future.
“The way we behave daily with more and more determination and ambition because we’ve shown that we’ve got it. Now we have to show that we belong to this level, and we want to increase and take this football club to a different dimension.”
The contrasting tones reflect the different positions of the two clubs. Arsenal are defending a hard-earned title, while City begin a new era under Enzo Maresca. Both sides will be among the favourites when the Premier League season begins, with the Community Shield offering an early meeting.
Supporters will note Maresca’s emphasis on incremental improvement and Arteta’s focus on maintaining high standards. The coming months will reveal which approach yields the stronger results as the title race takes shape. Further comments from both managers are expected as pre-season continues.