What will Manchester City look like under Enzo Maresca?

Note: This article has been contributed by our guest writer who is a supporter of Manchester City.  

Let’s start with the obvious question: How do you replace Pep Guardiola?

The simple, if not equally obvious answer: You don’t. You can’t, even if you wished to. Nobody replaces ten years of countless trophies and records, and a footballing revolution that changed how English clubs think about the beautiful game.

Given this context, what Manchester City have done instead is smart, and perhaps the safest bet. The club has opted for a manager deeply familiar with its ethos; a calculated move to maintain structural continuity despite significant distinctions from his predecessor.

That man is Enzo Maresca.

And this season, Cityzens as well as the football world at large are about to find out what “City football” looks like under a new gaffer.

Maresca was the manager of City’s under-21 reserve team in 2020-21, after which he joined Pep’s coaching staff as his assistant during the successful 2022-23 treble season. He’s not a stranger walking into the building. Since then, he’s built his own résumé, adding valuable experience to his belt: a promotion with Leicester and a Conference League and Club World Cup with Chelsea.

Tactics, Style and Approach

Here’s the thing we will probably notice first: a lot of the football will still look like City. Maresca is a product of the school of positional play, with his system heavily focused on controlling space and manipulating opponents through numerical superiority. His primary objective is to “create the free man”. Where it gets different is in the details. Pep was famous for tinkering constantly, sometimes changing his system mid-game on a whim. Maresca is known to prefer structure and less improvisation.

The goalkeeper is expected to be comfortable under pressure and start attacks from the back. Fullbacks tuck infield during buildup instead of hugging the touchline, helping the midfield control possession, while wingers do the opposite and stay wide, stretch the pitch, and stay a real out-and-out threat down the flanks.

Formation-wise, a back four on paper which shifts to a back three, something like a 3-2-5 or 3-1-6 when City attack. Loads of bodies pushed forward, but with enough cover left behind to avoid getting hit on the counter. This is where the midfield will really be tested, especially with the gaping hole that Rodri’s departure leaves behind. In terms of creativity, it will be very interesting to see how 8s and 10s like Foden and Cherki are utilised in this system.

Out of possession, we can expect City to press higher and more aggressively than before, matching opponents man-for-man rather than sitting off in a zone, which was not uncommon in Pep’s latter years.

The Squad Rebuild and Leadership Gap

It’s been a huge summer at the Etihad. Big household names like Rodri, John Stones and Bernardo Silva, along with Nathan Aké, Reijnders, James Trafford and Savinho have exited, while Omar Marmoush is also reportedly on his way out.

City have lost a chunk of their dressing room’s soul and experience, and that might be the bigger problem. So who fills the gap?

Ruben Dias is the obvious candidate for captaincy and is expected to wield the armband, while Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Donnarumma join him as the senior figures to form the core leadership group. They will be responsible to lead and motivate the team as it tries to navigate through new waters in the backdrop of a huge exodus.

New faces include last season’s standout midfielder Elliot Anderson (City record fee) and seasoned veteran goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli as the back-up between the posts. Talented Moroccan teenage midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi is on the verge to join, while Palmeiras winger Allan and various midfielders including Manu Koné, Enzo Fernandez and Adam Wharton continue to be linked to the club. Given the thinness of the squad, especially in midfield, wide and forward options, business is far from over.

The Season Ahead

City’s campaign will be judged by how well and quickly it adapts to the new times. Arsenal enter the season as favourites for the Premier League’s top spot thanks to its settled squad, a defined identity, reinforcements and none of the transitional uncertainty facing their rivals. For everyone else, it is wide open. Manchester United, Tottenham, Chelsea, and Liverpool are all navigating their own transitions and rebuilds under new management, which means City aren’t the only club searching for identity this season. But it also means there’s no guaranteed safety net for error if those sides find their footing faster than expected.

Add the Champions League and domestic cup commitments, and the fixture list offers little room to ease Maresca in gradually. The unprecedented levels of success at City have made it such that every competition demands results now, not later.

Maresca comes to a club that is built and hungry for silverware, but inherits a squad perhaps not fully equipped to challenge on all fronts this time. What then, will the measure of success be? How quickly can his City find and sustain its momentum, which may define not just this season, but also how the early post-Guardiola era is remembered? Only time will tell this tale!