Enzo Maresca found a temporary solution to the Manchester City midfield mix, which worked against Bournemouth | OneFootball

When the Manchester City starting lineup was announced prior to City’s 2-1 win over Bournemouth yesterday, it did appear that Nico O’Reilly, Rico Lewis, and Elliot Anderson would form City’s midfield. However, that was not the case. Rico Lewis lined up at right-back, with Ruben Dias, Abdukodir Khusanov and Josko Gvardiol starting in defence. Elliot Anderson, Nico O’Reilly, and Marc Guehi formed Manchester City’s midfield. A criticism of Manchester City’s play in the four preseason matches they played before yesterday’s match was how open their midfield was. By starting Guehi and Anderson together, Enzo Maresca addressed this issue. Guehi put in a strong display in midfield, which fully justified Maresca’s decision to play Guehi in City’s engine room.

Marc Guehi played an important role for Manchester City in their win over Bournemouth.

Manchester City have one of the elite centre-backs in the Premier League in Marc Guehi. Guehi has quickly established himself as an important player for his team since signing for the club from Crystal Palace during the January transfer window. Yesterday he once again showed his importance to Enzo Maresca’s side, albeit in a completely different role.

Marc Guehi played in midfield yesterday. To his credit, he looked right at home in his new role. Guehi was good on possession, and he did get himself in the right positions out of possession. Typically, when a centre-back plays in midfield, they look clunky. Guehi was the exact opposite yesterday. He was integral to City’s possession dominance, and his pairing with Elliot Anderson and then Mateo Kovacic was crucial to City’s win.

Marc Guehi was a threat going forward at times yesterday, especially in the second half. He should have scored just after halftime when he missed a header from two yards out five minutes after halftime. Guehi did create one great opportunity for Erling Haaland in the 75th minute as he showed that he knew when to get forward. Eventually, Guehi got his goal in the 84th minute when he headed home a Rayan Cherki corner.

Come the final whistle, Geuhi had put in an brilliant all-around display in midfield and he fully vindicated Maresca’s decision to start him in midfield.

Enzo Maresca thought Guehi was very good in midfield, and Guehi was happy to help his team pick up three points yesterday.

Speaking after his team begin their 2026-27 Premier League campaign with a win, in quotes relayed by the BBC, Enzo Maresca believesd that Guehi played well in midfield. Maresca added that City had trained with Guehi in midfield and he was happy with the results. The Manchester City manager said: “Marc Guehi has never played as a midfielder, today he was very good, so I am happy with the effort from the players. Sometimes you visualise things. I know Marc from Palace and I always thought he could play as a midfielder because he is very good. So we tried it for a few days and I think he was quite good.”

Speaking after the match, Marc Guehi thanked his teammates for making him so comfortable playing in midfield. The England international said: “I enjoyed it simply because I got so much help from so many people. When you have that you feel comfortable to just go out and play and do what you can for the team.”

Enzo Maresca deserves credit for coming up with the idea of playing Marc Guehi in midfield. Guehi deserves all the credit in the world for playing so well in an unfamiliar role. Guehi’s contribution to Manchester City’s win over Bournemouth was immense and the fact that it came from midfield wouldn’t have been on anyone’s bingo card ahead of kickoff.