"They Don't Care About the Noise" - Enzo Maresca Rejects Hostile Post-Verdict Away Reception for Manchester City Players
Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca has addressed how his players handle hostile away crowds ahead of Wednesday night's Carabao Cup fourth-round tie with Brighton and Hove Albion.
Manchester City have faced a challenging atmosphere on the road since their guilty verdict.
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Maresca and co suffered their second defeat in four games last week, going down 2-1 at Aston Villa as a brace from Nicolas Jackson cancelled out a header from Erling Haaland at Villa Park.
City remain top of the Premier League after eight matches, though Arsenal, who beat Everton 2-0 on Saturday, are level on points with the Blues and sit second on goal difference.
After starting the season with seven straight league wins under the Italian, Manchester City have endured a tougher spell that also included a 4-2 home defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League earlier this month.
The club are at a nascent stage of the transition from Pep Guardiola to Maresca, who has overseen major squad changes alongside director of football Hugo Viana since taking charge from long-serving executive Txiki Begiristain last summer.
All of this has come against the backdrop of an independent commission's guilty verdict on 114 of 115 charges, with the club declaring their innocence and lodging a comprehensive appeal at 7pm on 1 October.
Maresca: Man City players have shown they don't care about the noise
Speaking in a press conference ahead of the Brighton and Hove Albion tie, Maresca was asked about his players learning to face a hostile crowd away from home.
The Manchester City manager said: "I think we played Liverpool away, we played Aston Villa away - and the players showed they don't care about the noise in terms of they play the game, they focus on the game and they're doing the right things."
Maresca was then asked whether the noise from the crowd is on the minds of his players when they travel. "If you ask, they need to answer! If you ask about the crowd, the noise, they need to give some answer and it's normal that they're going to say something," he added.
"At the end, I think we are focussed on our job and the players are focussed on what they can do on the pitch."
Manchester City have played two Premier League matches on the road since the verdict was published, winning 3-0 at Liverpool after the September international break through goals from Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki before the defeat in Birmingham on Saturday.
What is the wider context of Maresca's quotes for Man City?
City entered the defeat in Birmingham with several injury concerns, with Matheus Nunes missing the match entirely and Nico O'Reilly and Mateo Kovacic named among the unused substitutes on the day.
Maresca was criticised for not bringing Ayyoub Bouaddi off the bench against Villa, although the 19-year-old Morocco international is expected to start against Brighton after the manager explained that technical midfielders were needed on Saturday.
Marc Guehi and Gianluigi Donnarumma were both singled out for errors in the defeat, with Guehi's loose touch leading to Jackson's opener before Donnarumma allowed the striker's second effort to slip beneath him.
Maresca had given Haaland, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Guehi and Donnarumma three days off after the loss to Villa to 'recover their energy', whilst Geronimo Rulli is expected to start in goal against Brighton in the cup.
The wider legal picture remains unresolved, with the sanctions phase yet to begin and sources suggesting full resolution may not arrive until 2028 or 2029, whilst Tottenham and Manchester United are among the clubs reported to be preparing civil claims worth around £800 million.
Manchester City face Fabian Hürzeler's Brighton in the Carabao Cup fourth round at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night, before hosting the Seagulls to the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday.