Relaxed and tanned, Enzo Maresca offered a warm note with his first words to the media as the manager of Manchester City, who must somehow follow the generational Pep Guardiola. “Before we start, I would like to send a message and a big hug to Kevin Keegan’s family for this moment,” said the Italian in tribute to a football legend, following his death on Monday.
Keegan, of course, was a former City manager who had at Newcastle famously locked horns with Sir Alex Ferguson when he led Manchester United, the fierce rivals of Maresca’s new team. When the 46-year-old, sat on the dais occupied for 10 mostly glittering years by Guardiola, offered an unsolicited reference to Ferguson – and Arsène Wenger – you could see he comprehended the mammoth task before him.
“Enzo Maresca replaces Pep Guardiola at Manchester City; Premier League fixtures set with Bournemouth opener.”
“The history of the manager with many years in the same club always struggled a little bit. After Sir Alex, after Arsène,” Maresca said. “But also, it’s a challenge to try to do the right things immediately for this organisation, for the fans, for everyone.”
The challenge begins at home against Bournemouth on Sunday 23 August, as confirmed by the Premier League fixtures released last month. City start life after Guardiola at the Etihad at 2pm, while Andoni Iraola takes Liverpool to Newcastle for his debut match on the same day.
Speaking in front of a giant “Welcome back Enzo” billboard, a reference to his previous leading of City’s elite development squad in 2020-21 as well as his stint as Guardiola’s assistant manager in the 2022-23 treble season, Maresca would have been aware the font of goodwill will not prove deep if results go south. So he cutely pointed to the patience of City’s chairman, Khaldoon al-Mubarak, and his executive. “This club has had three managers in 17 years,” he said. “This is not normal, so this is one of the things that I’m confident we can do a great job and continue to do the job that has been done in the last years. Roberto [Mancini] was here, then Manuel [Pellegrini] and then Pep – for 10 years.”
Mancini’s tenure began in December 2009, ended with his sacking in May 2013, and was angst-ridden: anathema to al-Mubarak and his chief executive, Ferran Soriano. If Mancini could be volatile, Pellegrini proved serene, and Guardiola was, simply, a legend who claimed 20 trophies in a decade. Now Maresca must write his own chapter, starting against Bournemouth.