Manchester City boss Enzo Maresca has been speaking to the media before Sunday’s Premier League game against Sunderland at Etihad Stadium (14:00 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
- Maresca said Jeremy Doku, who has been absent with a calf injury since the Community Shield, can “probably be available for the Sunderland game”.
- He was asked about the benefits of heavily rotating his starting XI for Thursday’s Carabao Cup win over Norwich: “It was very important. We gave rest to the ones that played back-to-back 90 minutes against Porto and Manchester United. It was important for them to give them rest and hopefully they can be full of energy for Sunday’s game as it will be a strong game.”
Asked why he has started so well as City boss, Maresca said: First of all, the players. The main thing when you join a new club is you can see that the players understand what the manager wants. I can see day by day, game by game, even with many changes, it’s very clear for them what we want.”
On whether being at the club before has helped him: “People inside the building, for sure, [but] the players are a completely different squad – there are three or four players from my last season here. I spend my days with the players so it’s something new. I’m happy because I can see that we’re improving.”
On the pressure of succeeding Pep Guardiola: “When I decided to join the club, I was quite sure that the club is a good club and the players are good players. At the same time, I knew that the club was in a moment of change after 10 years with the same manager and Rodri, Bernardo Silva, John Stones and Nathan Ake [also leaving]. It’s normal that there is a change, but at the same time, I’m quite confident that we can do a good job.”
On Sunday’s opponents Sunderland: “I watched the game live against Arsenal and then I watched it again in the past few days. You can see how strong they are. I think they didn’t deserve to lose that game. They are very strong, very well coached by their manager and they have already had time together, so you can see what they want to do on and off the ball. My feeling, after watching them, is that Sunday will be the toughest game since the start of the season.”
On the upcoming extended international break: “During the international break, I always used to review all the previous games and analyse what we can do better – these kind of things. But because we have three weeks, I have time enough to watch back all the games.”
Maresca said Jeremy Doku, who has been absent with a calf injury since the Community Shield, can “probably be available for the Sunderland game”.
He was asked about the benefits of heavily rotating his starting XI for Thursday’s Carabao Cup win over Norwich: “It was very important. We gave rest to the ones that played back-to-back 90 minutes against Porto and Manchester United. It was important for them to give them rest and hopefully they can be full of energy for Sunday’s game as it will be a strong game.”
Asked why he has started so well as City boss, Maresca said: First of all, the players. The main thing when you join a new club is you can see that the players understand what the manager wants. I can see day by day, game by game, even with many changes, it’s very clear for them what we want.”
On whether being at the club before has helped him: “People inside the building, for sure, [but] the players are a completely different squad – there are three or four players from my last season here. I spend my days with the players so it’s something new. I’m happy because I can see that we’re improving.”
On the pressure of succeeding Pep Guardiola: “When I decided to join the club, I was quite sure that the club is a good club and the players are good players. At the same time, I knew that the club was in a moment of change after 10 years with the same manager and Rodri, Bernardo Silva, John Stones and Nathan Ake [also leaving]. It’s normal that there is a change, but at the same time, I’m quite confident that we can do a good job.”
On Sunday’s opponents Sunderland: “I watched the game live against Arsenal and then I watched it again in the past few days. You can see how strong they are. I think they didn’t deserve to lose that game. They are very strong, very well coached by their manager and they have already had time together, so you can see what they want to do on and off the ball. My feeling, after watching them, is that Sunday will be the toughest game since the start of the season.”
On the upcoming extended international break: “During the international break, I always used to review all the previous games and analyse what we can do better – these kind of things. But because we have three weeks, I have time enough to watch back all the games.”
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