In Man City's first home game this season, Marc Guehi was pushed up to play as a midfielder. In the match against Coventry City, Enzo Maresca continued to face a personnel problem when Nico O'Reilly was injured right before kick-off. The Italian coach had to choose between Enzo Fernandez and Ayyoub Bouaddi.
Maresca decided to give the opportunity to Fernandez, a £125 million contract, instead of Bouaddi. The Argentine midfielder then appeared in the combination that led to the only goal, helping Man City beat Coventry 1-0.
Erling Haaland continues to score and reach the milestone of 300 goals at club level. Man City also maintains a winning streak in the Premier League. After winning against Bournemouth in the opening round, Maresca once said that he needed more personnel. By the end of the transfer window, Man City had met that requirement.
Elliot Anderson, a new signing worth 116 million pounds, quickly left his mark. Iliman Ndiaye also impressed with speed and technique on the left wing after moving from Everton for 65 million pounds. Meanwhile, Haaland still takes on his familiar task: scoring goals.
After Pep Guardiola left Etihad, many questions were raised about the competitiveness of this team. However, Maresca still possesses a squad with enough depth to compete with Arsenal.
The Italian captain emphasized that Arsenal can rotate up to 5 positions in each match against Coventry and Aston Villa. Mikel Merino, Martin Zubimendi, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke or Piero Hincapie all provide additional options for Mikel Arteta.
If you want to compete, you need to have many options. Arsenal has many options. We do too" - Maresca said.
The Citizens have chosen to rebuild at a very fast pace. Instead of extending the plan to next summer, they spent more than 450 million pounds to complete the squad, of which 190 million pounds were used on the last day of the transfer window.
According to internal sources, Man City believes that the current squad is strong enough to compete in all four competitions. This is a big transfer but carried out in a short time.
Maresca clearly understands the challenge of succeeding a legendary coach like Guardiola. The history of Man United after the Sir Alex Ferguson era or Arsenal after the Arsene Wenger era shows that this process has never been easy.
However, Man City has many options. Phil Foden once had 2 assists against Crystal Palace but had to sit on the bench against Coventry to make way for Rayan Cherki. Allan Elias, a 34 million pound newcomer, is even not on the reserve list. Jeremy Doku is also absent due to injury.
The depth of the squad gives Maresca many ways to maneuver, but he still needs time for the new players to integrate.
The victory over Coventry is proof. Man City faced many difficulties and had to rely on three saves from Gianluigi Donnarumma to preserve the score. After the match, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol and Guehi successively approached to thank the Italian goalkeeper.
Anderson was voted Player of the Match, while Donnarumma also received many compliments. Maresca admitted that such victories are never easy.
Man City won all their first 3 matches under Maresca. Ahead is a trip to Porto in the Champions League, then the Manchester derby against Man United at Old Trafford.
With more than 450 million pounds of investment and a quality squad, Maresca has enough personnel to carry out the transfer. The biggest challenge is to help everyone operate as a unified team.
