We’re learning more about Maresca’s methods every day, says Nico
Nico says that while City are getting to grips with Enzo Maresca’s fresh ideas, it will take time to fully understand what he wants from his team.
Maresca returned to City this summer but this time in the hotseat, having previously coached our EDS and then been part of Pep Guardiola’s backroom staff during the historic 2022/23 season.
Nico is part of the 31-strong squad currently flying to Seoul after a week in Hong Kong.
The Spaniard played 45 minutes of Saturday’s meeting with Inter and will be hoping for more game time in this week’s clashes with K-League All Stars and Atletico Madrid.
With the Community Shield now less than two weeks away and the start of the Premier League a few days later, Nico feels City are in a good spot.
However, he did concede that the job of understanding a coach’s demands and adapting to the wider world of football as it changes is never done.
“We won’t know everything that we could learn during the year before the first week of the season but even when one year has passed, we will always keep learning,” he said.
“That’s football and that’s life. It’s not easy because some players will come the same week as the Community Shield but for us that have been here since day one it’s going to be easier to be ready for that match.
“The season is so long so we have keep being ready to adapt to new things that Enzo asks us.
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“I’ve been enjoying our sessions with Enzo. Obviously there are differences to last year with Pep but there are a lot of similarities in the way we are playing.
It’s the same whole idea of high pressure and getting the ball as quick as possible and doing a lot of passes.
It’s important that we keep the same level as we’ve been playing the last years and with that ambition. I think those are the ideas of Enzo and I am loving it.”
City have trained every day in the sweltering heat of Hong Kong and will remain in the Far East until Sunday night.
Nico says this is the perfect time of year to put in the hard yards on the training pitch.
“I feel tired because we’ve been training a lot,” he began.
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“That’s good though, we have to get used to this rhythm. It’s been a long summer and we have to be ready and suffer a little bit.
“We did a good job against Inter, the ideas are getting more clear and that’s the most important thing for now.”
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After Saturday’s meeting with Inter, we’ll now head to Seoul to play a K League All-Stars side on Wednesday 5 August and then Atletico Madrid on Sunday 9 August. Both games begin at 12:00 (UK).
Each game will be available to watch on mancity.com and our official app for current CITY+ subscribers globally*.
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* K-League All Stars v City: Globally available except South Korea
City v Atletico Madrid: Globally available except South Korea, Spain