Manchester City enters the 2026-2027 season with a new chapter when Enzo Maresca is chosen to replace Pep Guardiola on the coaching bench. After many years working with Guardiola and contributing to the historic treble in the 2022-2023 season as assistant, the Italian strategist now faces the biggest challenge of his career: maintaining Man City's dominant position.
Maresca is not a strange face at Etihad. He used to lead the academy team in the 2020-2021 season before returning to be an assistant to Guardiola. Although he has accumulated a lot of experience in top-level environments, this is the first time he has directly taken on the responsibility of leading Man City to conquer major titles.
The early season schedule brings a certain advantage for Maresca when Man City successively meets Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Coventry City in the first three rounds. This is seen as an opportunity for the 46-year-old coach to convey a new philosophy, and at the same time help the players who just returned from the 2026 World Cup gradually regain their fitness.
Rodri is a typical case. The Spanish midfielder has just had a very high intensity summer and is likely to be used cautiously in the early stages. However, Maresca is also under pressure to achieve good results immediately because Man City will then continuously face Manchester United and Liverpool in September.
Despite inheriting a quality squad, Maresca understands that he will not enjoy the patience of Guardiola. President Khaldoon Al Mubarak appreciates the Italian strategist, but the requirement for him is still to maintain the ability to compete for titles right from the first season.
In terms of expertise, Maresca's philosophy has many similarities with Guardiola when they both emphasize ball control, high intensity pressing and control the game. However, the Italian captain tends to use wide-wing players, prioritizing attacking the flanks instead of constantly confining to the center as under Guardiola.
If applying the familiar 4-2-3-1 formation, Phil Foden or Rayan Cherki are likely to take on the number 10 role, a position that once helped Cole Palmer shine when he was working with Maresca at Chelsea.
Besides tactical changes, The Citizens are also rejuvenating the squad under the management of Sporting Director Hugo Viana. The average age of the team has decreased significantly after the departure of Bernardo Silva, John Stones and before that Kevin De Bruyne.
However, the Etihad home team still retains the experienced squad with Rodri, Ruben Dias, Mateo Kovacic, Josko Gvardiol and Erling Haaland. In the summer transfer window, Man City continues to invest heavily by spending 116 million pounds to recruit Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest and bring in young talent Jeremy Monga from Leicester City.
They are also looking for another right-back, a winger and are particularly interested in young midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi of Lille after his impressive performance at the 2026 World Cup in Moroccan colors. In the opposite direction, Savinho, Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Jack Grealish, Tijjani Reijnders and Rico Lewis can all leave Etihad if they receive a suitable offer.
In addition to the pressure of achievements, Maresca also has to face a volatile atmosphere in the Premier League. Liverpool, Chelsea and Man United are all entering a new era with coaches like Andoni Iraola, Xabi Alonso and Michael Carrick. That opens up opportunities for any team to create an advantage if they quickly stabilize.
Another challenge is the case related to 115 allegations of violating Man City's financial regulations. Guardiola has faced questions from the media about this issue for many years and always knows how to control the situation. For Maresca, this will be a new challenge both on and off the pitch if the ruling is made next season.
Successing one of the greatest coaches in football history is not an easy task. Maresca's success will not only be assessed by the number of titles won, but also in his ability to maintain his winning identity and lead Man City through the important transition period after the Guardiola era.
