Manchester City feel they have the ideal manager to take over from Pep Guardiola | OneFootball

Manchester City have confirmed Enzo Maresca as their new manager. The Italian manager steps into the role after Pep Guardiola called time on his trophy-laden spell as Manchester City’s manager after a decade in the role. Maresca has had impressive spells as the manager of Leicester City and Chelsea recently. He guided Leicester to promotion to the Premier League from the Championship, winning the league title in the process during the 2023-24 season. Maresca also won the UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup during his time at Chelsea. Prior to that, Enzo Maresca was Pep Guardiola’s assistant manager during City’s 2022-23 treble-winning season, and he also led Manchester City’s EDS side to the Premier League 2 title in the 2020-21 season. Enzo Maresca knows what Manchester City is about, which should help him take over from Pep Guardiola.

Manchester City have confirmed that Enzo Maresca is their new manager.

Today has seen Manchester City confirm the appointment of Enzo Maresca as their next manager. The former Chelsea manager has signed a X year contract. Speaking about the challenge of managing Manchester City, Enzo Maresca said: “Manchester City is a club I know very well and to have the chance to manage this team is a brilliant opportunity for me.”

“City is an incredibly well-run football club. Everything they do is innovative, planned and purposeful. For a manager, that is a dream situation. It provides the consistency I need to do my job effectively.”

“This will be my third spell here. I know this Club, I know the demands and I know the expectations.”

“The quality of the people who work here is what makes it so special, and I want to thank them for showing faith in my ability.”

“I cannot wait to start coaching the players. I want us to win, play good football and enjoy the pressure of representing Manchester City.”

Enzo Maresca has learned from Pep Guardiola but he will bring his own methods and style to City.

There is no doubt that Enzo Maresca has massive shoes to fill as Manchester City manager. Maresca steps into the role after Pep Guardiola has dominated English football and changed the game as City manager over the past decade. However, Maresca shouldn’t be expected to be Pep Guardiola. He is his own man and will bring his own methods and style to the role.

Enzo Maresca has similar philosophies to Pep Guardiola. Maresca prefers his team to play a possession-based style, and he will inherit a City squad that has been indoctrinated in the Pep Guardiola way. In this regard, the changeover from Guardiola to Maresca should be somewhat seamless for the City players. At Chelsea, Maresca typically employed a fluid 4-2-3-1 formation. However that could morph into a 3-2-4-1 or a 3-4-3 with a full-back inverting into midfield at times. Reece James did this for Chelsea, as did Marc Cucurella. City do have Nico O’Reilly, Josko Gvardiol, Rayan Ait-Nouri who can play this role as can Matheus Nunes.

In attack, Maresca typically kept his wingers wide to maintain width when his Chelsea and Leicester City sides attacked. Cole Palmer was an attacking weapon under Maresca, although he wasn’t as effective under Maresca as he was during his first season at Chelsea. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Rayan Cherki or Phil Foden be the creative hubs for Maresca’s Manchester City side in a similar role. Also, at their best, Maresca’s Chelsea side was fluid with its movement in the final third. It was a common sight to see Marc Cucurella operating in advanced areas in the final third. Nico O’Reilly, Josko Gvardiol and possibly Rayan Ait-Nouri, seem ready-made for this duty.

The goalkeeper plays an important role in the buildup for Enzo Maresca, as does the high press.

In Maresca’s time at Chelsea, the goalkeeper played a prominent role in the buildup from the back. Gianluigi Donnarumma isn’t elite with his feet, but you do feel that Enzo Maresca may adjust this to cater to the Italian goalkeeper.

In terms of high pressing, Maresca’s Chelsea side was active in this area. If a team played out from the back, they were happy to let their opponents play it wide before the press was engaged. This saw Maresca’s Chelsea side aggressively look to win back possession in dangerous areas high up the pitch. If the press was beaten, Chelsea would typically have two holding midfielders deployed, which gave them security in the middle of the pitch. They also employed a high defensive line, so there isn’t a massive need for Maresca to adjust a lot of what the Manchester City players are already used to.

All told, Enzo Maresca has similar philosophies to that of Pep Guardiola. Although, Maresca is his own man and manager. The transition from Guardiola’s methods to Enzo Maresca’s should be as seamless as possible for the Manchester City squad. That should be a massive positive for City when Maresca manages his first game for the club.

A Chelsea writer reveals his opinion on Enzo Maresca as a manager.

Enzo Maresca’s last job was as Chelsea manager. Ahead of Maresca being unveiled as City manager, I spoke with Will Faulks of Chelsea News to learn what Chelsea fans thought of the Italian manager. The Q&A can be seen below.

What were the strong points and deficiencies of Enzo Maresca’s tactics?

Will Faulks: There’s no doubt that he got the team really well drilled and the players bought into what he was trying to do. Defensively they were far more reliable than they were before he arrived and after he left. At times he had them playing some nice attacking football, but the more time he had with the group the more it felt like they were having that trained out of them. There is a lot of sterile, sideways football, and not a lot of variety if things were going wrong.

Before Enzo Maresca left Chelsea, was he viewed as a potential long-term manager of the club who could win major trophies?

Will Faulks: Absolutely. The fans didn’t always love him but he seemed like the stable, safe pair of hands the ownership wanted. He looked like he would be able to get us into the Champions League regularly and we all hoped that he could continue to grow the team into something more fun to watch and more able to compete for the league. It’s easy to see him picking up Pep Guardiola’s team and having success right away.

Lastly, what were the biggest criticisms of Maresca as manager that Chelsea fans had outside of how he departed the club?

Will Faulks: There was a bit of a personality clash with Chelsea fans in general. Not just in the style of football, but in his general demeanour. He’s very intense and serious, a bit like Guardiola, but without the charming genius glint in the eye. It didn’t feel like he ever really connected with the supporters and that meant that when results started to go wrong he didn’t have much to fall back on.

He also failed to use the academy players as much we would have liked, although that’s a criticism you can make of the majority of recent Chelsea coaches. Tactically he’s smart, but it’s the kind of football that’s only bearable when you’re winning – and that wasn’t always the case.

Final thoughts.

Manchester City have confirmed Enzo Maresca as their new manager. The Italian manager could be considered a Pep Guardiola disciple, but he is his own man rather than a “lite” version of Guardiola. Maresca is a modern day manager whose philosophies do marry up with the make up of this City sqaud.

Also, Enzo Maresca shouldn’t be expected to be Pep Guardiola. That isn’t fair on Manchester City’s new manager. He now has the opportunity to put his own imprint on City, and he has been officially unveiled as the man to begin the next new era at Manchester City.