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With Enzo Maresca set to be the new Man City Manager, will he be able to continue the legacy of Pep Guadiola?

Who is he?

    Enzo Maresca is an Italian football manager who mas managed Leicester and Chelsea and has been one of Guadiola's assistants at Man City. He has won the EFL Championship with Leicester and the UEFA Conference League with Chelsea so he knows how to win and can withstand the pressure of being a manager of a big club where trophies are expected.

Why might Man City want him as their new head coach?

    Maresca is probably the most logical choice for City as he is out of work and also has experience with the club, but also with their predecessor, Pep Guadiola. At Manchester City, it is paramount for at least 1 trophy per season to be won as a bare minimum and Maresca has accomplished that in his previous jobs as he won the Championship with Leicester and the Conference League with Chelsea. This also means that he knows both how English and European Football is played so he can lead City in both competitions.

Image: Timfilbert, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

Chelsea Compensation 

   Seen as Maresca resigned as the Chelsea head coach, due to a suspected fallout with the board, he was still in contact at The Blues and this therefore results in Man City having to pay Chelsea compensation of around 17 million pounds to secure the Italian at the Man City dugout. This will be no issue for City though as 17 million is like spare change for them and Abu Dhabi so it will be no issue and the move will still happen as things stand and things are very unlikely to change as he has been linked with this job for a while.

How does he play?

    Enzo Maresca typically plays a possession based 3-5-2 system that starts off as a 3-2-4-1, which is very similar to Pep Guardiola. One of his most renowned tactics is the inverted fullback. This is where the fullback, normally the right back, pushes forward and joins the defensive midfielder to create a double pivot in midfield. A double pivot is where there is two defensive midfielders. This allows for the team to effectively stop counter attacks and also enables them to have better distribution options and it means that the defence squeeze up to make a 3 at the back. His teams have slow build up play that is centred around the defenders and goalkeeper. This invites the opposition press and he uses this to his advantage. One the opposition have got to their defence, they will exploit the empty space to use quick passes to rapidly get moving forward. Maresca uses high and wide wingers to isolate defenders and then they use their pace and skills to get past their man and get into open space, this means that he requires fast, skilled wingers so that they can bet defenders in 1v1 situations. Enzo Maresca likes to have mid midfielders to occupy the spaces between the opposing defensive and midfield line and as soon as the wingers have got into space, they bomb forward into the penalty area to get on the end of a cross. Maresca likes his striker to drop deep into midfield to overload that area. This confuses defenders and they come and press the 4 or 5 in midfield, this then allows for the central midfielder to run in and sprint through on goal. In his full season at Chelsea, Maresca's side scored 64 goals and were very clinical scoring 39% of their shots, which will be very useful at City and in the PL in general as it is crucial total your chances. In midfield, besides the double pivot, mares a has a 2-2 box midfield outside of possession with the double pivot sitting behind two creative attacking midfielders. Maresca likes to have his midfield occupying the space between the opposition defense and midfield line. His midfield rotate with the striker and has them on the edge of the box as a last line for cutbacks, this allows allows them to recycle the ball and restart attacking. The midfield also has to have excellent ball distribution in order to dispute the ball to strikers and out wide, this shows as they averaged in 24/25 a passing accuracy of 91.5% and had over 5,000 touches in the midfield region of the pitch. Out of possession he plays a 4-4-2 system with the fullback in midfield getting back to their defensive duties. He prefers to use body positioning and interceptions rather than tackles to win the ball and jockey their man an tend to avoid diving in. Maresca plays a high defensive line and wants his players to go man to man with their marking. He strategically clusters midfield which forces his opponents out wide. This is not a good thing as they are close to the byline and it is harder to keep the ball in play. In the air, they are normally superior, winning 61% of their ariel duels in the 24/25 campaign. The defenders and goalkeeper have to be calm and composed on the ball as their build up play is slow and comes from the back so they have to have good passing as well as defensive skills.

Is he the right man for the job?

    Whether Maresca is the right man for the Manchester City job is very subjective and opinionated; but the stats say that he is a good fit for them tactically as he replicates the majority of the things the Pep Guadiola incorporated so it's not too much of a change for the player. In addition, he has worked for City in the past so he knows the club through and through. His spells at Chelsea and Leicester were very successful and won trophies in both his seasons so he knows that all important winning formula and can show that he can do well at big clubs where the pressure is on. The Itallian also knows how to beat big clubs, defeating PSG, Liverpool and city rivals Manchester United in his time at Chelsea.

Is Man City "Too Much" for him?

    At Man City, the pressure is always on and the standards are always sky high with trophies being expected every season. When City hired Pep Guadiola, he had already managed 2 of their biggest clubs in the world(Barcelona and Bayern Munich), who's expectations were the same or even higher that at City. Enzo Maresca has not had that experience yet and has managed Chelsea, who at this time are not in their prime so expectations are lowered. If it doesn't go well at City, it could put his future in jeopardy as he has shown he can't do it on the big time.

Image: SNL

Final Words