Enzo Maresca ready for Manchester City judgment days ahead of Hong Kong clash
New boss shrugs off pressure of replacing Pep Guardiola and vows to not be ‘copy-and-paste’ boss, does not rule out Erling Haaland Korea trip
Enzo Maresca played a straight bat in a 12-minute press conference, as he uttered his last public words before taking charge of Manchester City for the first time on Saturday against Inter Milan.
Italian Maresca played down the importance of making a fast start as boss, saying he was ready to be “judged always, not just tomorrow”.
The former Chelsea boss refused to be drawn into the controversy over Fifa’s deeply unpopular plot to sell stakes in its competitions to private investors, and gave short shrift to questions over the future of midfielder Rodri, a player young teammate Ryan McAidoo would later call “arguably the best No 6 ever to play the game”.
Nonetheless, Maresca did not entirely rule out the prospect of Erling Haaland joining the South Korean leg of City’s Asian tour.
Maresca and McAidoo spoke either side of City’s 1½-hour open training session on Friday at Kai Tak Stadium, whose bosses announced an attendance of 22,858, from around 27,000 issued tickets. To the naked eye, the 50,000-seat venue appeared about one-fifth full, while organisers might have winced at the sight of the playing field cutting up.
Appointed in June to replace Pep Guardiola, who delivered a mind-boggling 17 trophies during his 10-year tenure, Maresca vowed to do the job in his own style.