Enzo Maresca and Rico Lewis held a pre-match press conference on Saturday as Manchester City prepare to face Atletico Madrid in their third pre-season friendly of the summer.
Enzo Maresca is preparing for the clash with Atletico
Enzo Maresca is preparing for the clash with Atletico
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Manchester City have just one game remaining of their pre-season tour of Asia before jetting back to the UK to prepare for the Community Shield clash with Arsenal.
City will face Atletico Madrid on Sunday in the sweltering heat of Seoul. Enzo Maresca and Rico Lewis sat down to preview the game on Saturday, but of course there were plenty of questions away from tomorrow's game, including one on Rodri.
The Spanish midfielder is the subject of transfer interest from Barcelona, though the La Liga giants have already seen one bid knocked back by City as they hold out for a fee of at least £60million.
Here's everything that was said at Saturday's press conference in Seoul:
Rico Lewis:
What is Enzo like?
"I’ve known him since the Treble season, a lot of the players know him. From the first week he was very direct and clear, very honest. The patterns and the way he wants us to work is clear."
How is he different to Pep Guardiola?
"In terms of football only so much can be different. Getting fit, getting to know the patterns, it’s pretty similar. He wants us to have the new ideas. It’s about implementing them on the pitch - as you’ve seen in the games."
What is it like now being one of the older players?
"It’s strange. Obviously I’m still quite young but I definitely feel a bit like that with some people leaving. That’s part of football. People come, people leave, people stay. I’m excited to see what the season holds."
How good is Rodri?
"I don’t think I need to say that. Everyone in this room and everyone in the world knows how good Rodri is but it’s football. People leave, people stay, and I don’t think it changes the landscape of anything the manager wants to do here. Everyone knows how good the manager is and it shows with his accolades."
Enzo Maresca:
Divine Mukasa is yet to play in pre-season?
"Divine is a good player. The only problem is that we have so many players that we have already made many rotations and we struggled to find some minutes for him, for Floyd [Samba], for Xavier [Parker]. There are three or four players that didn’t get minutes in the friendly game but are training with us every day and we can see the way they are improving. The only problem for them is the amount of players we have in this moment."
Was James Trafford's exit arranged before you were appointed?
"There are players that unfortunately, like James last year, didn’t play a lot and at the end they work every day to get minutes and to play games and when they don’t play it’s normal that they are sad and want to play more games and that was probably the case with James. The club was happy with him, everyone was happy with him, but at the end he was probably looking for more games."
Have you been able to give anyone a fresh start?
"No, the only thing I said since I started to the players is that it is a reset. All of them start at the same level and pre-season will dictate a little bit the transfer window. This has been a general message for all of them - the ones who played more minutes or less last year. For me, it’s a reset."
What has stood out for you in pre-season?
"The willingness has been very good since day one. They have been very open-minded with a new manager who has arrived and changed some patterns and structures, the way we want to play on and off the ball. This has been the main thing. Then the work ethic is important and these two weeks since we started it is also important to share time with players. I need to know them, I need a connection with them. It’s important for the future."
Is there any pressure on you given Pep's status in the game?
"No pressure, just privilege. For me it’s a huge privilege to be here and be City manager. In terms of expectations, this is a club that needs to win titles and compete for titles and we are going to try to do exactly the same."
Atletico Madrid have some new players including Lee Kang-in. What is your plan?
"He is a very good player. We are excited to play against Atletico tomorrow and against the new players. I’m sure that he will be very good for Atletico Madrid."