Enzo Joining a Bigger Club? Maresca: Chelsea and Manchester City Are Both Big Clubs

In Premier League Matchday 3, Manchester City will host Coventry. The previously restricted parts of Manchester City manager Maresca's pre-match press conference have now been released after the embargo period ended.

Enzo, looking at your current squad depth and the variety of players you have, apart from becoming a winning machine—which is clearly what you want most—do you think the team can also become a highly entertaining side this season?

I think when you manage Manchester City, you have to compete, you have to try to win titles, or at least, as I said, remain competitive. We will do our best. For me, as I have said many times, the main focus at this stage is seeing how the team can improve from one match to the next. This is my main objective. So my focus now is not where we can be in March or April next year. I am focused on tomorrow, on how we can win tomorrow's game and how we can do better.

Enzo, besides wanting to build a winning team and make them play according to your ideas, do you also want and expect the team to play beautiful, attractive football? Is that something that can truly excite the fans? Is it an important part of the team for you?

I think every head coach has their own philosophy. But ultimately football is about winning games. I like to win in the way we want to play. That is the most important thing, not only when we have possession but also when we do not have the ball. For me, that is the core.

Talk about the captain choices. You mentioned Ruben, Haaland, Marc Guehi and Donnarumma. What specific qualities made you choose those four?

First, Marc had already been captain at Crystal Palace, so he has plenty of experience. Gigio (Donnarumma) is also the captain of the national team and has experience. These four will be our captains. At the same time, I also considered Phil (Foden), because Phil is an excellent homegrown player from the academy. Although he is not on the list of those four, in my mind he is also one of the captains and part of that core leadership group.

With this captain group, will you give them full responsibility to manage the dressing room, or will you deliberately keep some distance from that area?

Yes, completely. The reason I chose them is because I can see they can help teammates and know how to guide the dressing room to show the right behavior.

Hello, Enzo. Still on Enzo Fernandez. I think many people were surprised by his transfer fee of up to £125 million, which was a British transfer record. You know his personality well. Is he someone affected by his price tag, or does he not think about it at all?

No. As I have said many times, if you look back, you will see that I always emphasize one thing: do not judge players based on the transfer fees clubs paid for them. This does not only apply to Chelsea (a slip of the tongue), no, Manchester City, but also all clubs, whether Chelsea, Arsenal or Tottenham. Do not judge players based on transfer fees because I do not think that is right. Enzo is an extremely good player. He has a winning mentality, which is exactly what we need. He has energy, and that is the most important thing.

You have also brought in Ndiaye and Alan. This gives the team excellent strength and depth on the wings. Enzo, where do you think Phil Foden's best position is? He clearly often plays wide, but he may prefer to play centrally. What do you think?

I think Phil's best position is in the middle. But he is currently trying to help the team by moving wide because in the first two games, due to Jeremy (Doku)'s injury, we lacked options on the wings. Without doubt, Phil can play better centrally. From day one, I have been very, very satisfied with Phil's performances. His training attitude is very good, and even in the last two games when he was asked to play wide, he performed well. You can see he is more comfortable centrally. But ultimately, as we mentioned, Phil will try different positions because he is very good, and excellent players can often play different positions.

Hello, Enzo. I do not know if you noticed that in recent days Cesc Fabregas and Luis Enrique both mentioned in their press conferences that positional structures like Barcelona's in the past no longer exist because against modern tactics such as man-marking, you need constant movement. I want to know your view on this topic and the development of modern football.

Honestly, I have not seen those comments. I think football must continue to evolve. If football moves in one direction, you have to try to understand the trend and think about how to improve yourself. As for whether positional structures are disappearing, I am not sure. I think that is just Luis and Cesc's personal view. Honestly, I cannot give a definite answer.

Speaking of evolution, midfield has now undergone a complete reshaping. Considering current football trends, you previously mentioned that Paris Saint-Germain were very strong in pre-season because everyone could play man-marking. Did you consider these factors when signing new players this season? Clearly, you now have Enzo Fernandez and Elliott Anderson, who has a very physical style in midfield. Was this also part of the recruitment considerations?

Yes, it was part of the recruitment considerations. For Elliott, Enzo and Ayoub (Bouaddi), we brought them in first because we knew the team needed some changes. Secondly, because they are all very young and full of energy. Of course, how they are used depends partly on our tactical plans, but without doubt these three players will become important members of the team.

Still on Enzo Fernandez. As a player, he has changed a lot. Perhaps since winning the World Cup—when he was still at Benfica before joining Chelsea—he was a deep-lying defensive midfielder with excellent defensive and tackling ability. But over the past few years, his position has moved forward. How do you think he will fit in here? How do you view his evolution as a player?

Enzo can play as a number 6 or a number 8, and he can make forward runs into the box. It completely depends on the tactical needs. When I coached Chelsea before, he scored many goals by making forward runs. So it depends on the situation, and we will use him in different positions.

Following on from that, in your midfield system, would you place Enzo in a deeper role behind players like Rayan (Cherki) or Phil?

As I said, I can see Enzo as a deeper number 6, or I can push him higher to make attacking runs. It depends on the actual needs of the match, and we will use him in different positions.

I wanted to ask, the team has undergone such huge changes this summer. You replaced Pep, and the squad also changed significantly during the transfer window... How do you feel about this? Has such a major transformation helped your coaching?

Yes, I can feel these changes. Now, this is our team. As I said, my main objective is to see how players improve day by day and match by match. That is the most important thing. In the past few games, we have done that. But this is only the beginning of the Premier League season. We have a long journey ahead and need to continue getting every detail right.

But with so many new faces and new energy in the squad, does this make everyone feel it is a completely new beginning and a new chapter, which can help the team?

Everyone at the club and the players understand this. The coaching staff also knows this is the beginning of a new project and something new. When you start a new job, the most important thing is seeing the team perform better in October than in September, and better in November than in October. That is what we need.

Hello, Enzo. Do you find it interesting that Enzo Fernandez has finally joined a big club? It sounds as if it suggests Chelsea was just an insignificant small club.

No, I think Chelsea, where Enzo Fernandez played before, was already a very big club. Of course, he is now very happy to be with us.

Could you perhaps say he has joined a bigger club?

What?

Compared with Chelsea, is Manchester City a bigger club?

My answer is the same. I think Chelsea is a big club, and Manchester City is also a big club.

Returning to his performances on the pitch, do you think he will bring a certain intelligence and craftiness to your tactics? If you understand what I mean. That feeling of a seasoned player; I do not know exactly how to express it...

I do not know if that is what you mean by intelligence and craftiness. But what is certain is that he knows very well how to win games. When you want to compete and win titles, having players who already understand how to do that is much more important than having players who have never had championship experience. Of course, Enzo is not the only one. Many players in this team know how to compete and win titles, and that is exactly the quality we have always been looking for.