"It Always Takes Time to Compete Again" - Enzo Maresca Makes Manchester City Silverware Prediction After Pep Guardiola Exit
Enzo Maresca is adamant that his Manchester City side is moving “in the right direction” ahead of their Premier League clash with Brighton and Hove Albion this weekend.
Enzo Maresca received heavy backing from Hugo Viana and co in the transfer market upon Pep Guardiola's exit.
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It is exactly four months since the Italian succeeded Pep Guardiola in the north-west and in doing so, signed up for perhaps the hardest job in world football.
Guardiola won 20 major trophies across his decade stationed at the Etihad Stadium, including six Premier League titles, three FA Cup triumphs and an unprecedented Treble in 2023 - the first by an English club since Manchester United in 1999.
And while Maresca was part of the Treble-winning year - as Guardiola’s assistant - this job produced an incomparable workload in contrast to his previous roles at Leicester City and Chelsea.
Maintaining high standards at the club hasn’t been a difficult task for Maresca, and it seems the 46-year-old has brought an invaluable ability to increase squad cohesion and find a togetherness that is very much overlooked.
Manchester City went on an eight-game win streak before losing to Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League, where back-to-back wins after that defeat preceded a more recent descent again.
Last weekend, City were beaten by Aston Villa away from home and although they won in the Carabao Cup against Saturday’s opponents on Wednesday on penalties, Brighton and Hove Albion looked the better side and should have taken something from the game.
Man City going in the right direction, insists Maresca before taking on Brighton in the Premier League
Speaking ahead of his side’s second meeting with Brighton in four days, Maresca said: “We’re going in the right direction. After so many years, to change the manager, many players, it always takes time to compete again.
On whether his Manchester City side are competing at the moment, he added: “I think, at the moment, we are competing, and we changed many players and changed manager.
“But the good thing about the club is that I think we are competing in all competitions, and we know that it takes time, but at this moment we continue in the same way.”
A positive start to the season under Maresca - but are errors threatening a total collapse?
It has been an incredibly encouraging start to the season for Manchester City, particularly in huge early-season tests against the likes of United, Liverpool and PSG.
Even in defeat against Luis Enrique’s side, there were a handful of positives to pick from a much-improved second-half performance, alongside obvious and avoidable mishaps that can be worked on in training.
Another example of that came against Villa, where Marc Guehi and Gianluigi Donnarumma both had games to forget after making mistakes that played into their opponent's hands.
The latter was dropped for the Carabao Cup win over Brighton, but is likely to return to the starting squad this weekend as part of several changes across the pitch.
Five players, including Erling Haaland and Elliot Anderson, were granted three days' holiday to go into the weekend fully fit, where Maresca will hope his side can retain the top spot in the Premier League table.