Can Maresca Make City Great Again?

The 2026/27 Premier League season is drawing closer. Champions Arsenal will get the campaign underway when they host Coventry on Friday the 21st of August. It is set to be a fascinating campaign. It is never easy to retain the title. That makes the achievement of Pep Guardiola in winning four in a row with City even more incredible.

However, City’s last triumph came in 2023/24. They finished second last term and third the year before that. Now, of course, Pep has left, and City have turned to Enzo Maresca to try and revive their fortunes. This means that Arsenal are the only member of the big six to be starting this season with the same manager who was in charge in August 2025/26.

With Andoni Iraola and Xabi Alonso adjusting to life at Liverpool and Chelsea respectively, and Roberto de Zerbi and Michael Carrick having much to do at Spurs and Man United, this looks like a real opportunity for Mikel Arteta’s Gunners. However, can Maresca put City back on top again?

City Set to Lose World’s Best

The biggest problem that Maresca faces at the Etihad is losing star midfielder Rodri. The midfield maestro won the Ballon d’Or in 2024. Injuries have disrupted him since but as Guardiola predicted, he was back to his best at the 2026 World Cup. He captained Spain to glory. Additionally, FIFA named him the tournament’s best player, awarding him the Golden Ball.

Many fans would list stars such as Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland or Lamine Yamal as the best player in the world. But coaches and experts may favour Rodri. He was stupendous at the World Cup. The former Atletico Madrid man completed 93% of his passes, making more than any other player at the World Cup. He made the most line-breaking passes and final-third ones too, as well as covering the most distance.

The way he reads the game makes him invaluable in the middle of the pitch. He makes everyone he plays with better. And yet City and Maresca seem set to lose him. Both Barca and Real Madrid want the Spanish skipper, and his departure seems imminent.

Pep Started Rebuild for Maresca

Rodri played just three times for City in the Premier League in 2024/25. He made 21 league appearances last term but was not at his best. We cannot attribute all of City’s drop-off after winning four in a row to the Rodri factor but he will leave a huge hole in the centre of the park.

Replacing him will be impossible. However, much of the City rebuild under Maresca, can actually be viewed as a Pep pre-build. The club had made too many unsuccessful signings. This had allowed a core of key players to grow old together. The likes of Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Kyle Walker and Kevin De Bruyne were instrumental in City’s sustained success. However, age caught up with them and City were unable to play at the same level.

Guardiola and the board realised this. In the last two years of his time with City, and especially from the winter window at the start of 2025, Pep brought in a number of big-money signings. Some, chiefly Antoine Semenyo, have really hit the ground running but all provide a strong core of younger talent for Maresca to work with.

Evolution of Style

City have known for a long time that they wanted Maresca to replace Pep. It recently emerged that this was part of the reason why the Italian left Chelsea. This will be the former Leicester and Chelsea man’s third stint at City. He led their Elite Development Squad to glory in Premier League 2 in 2020/21. The Italian then worked alongside Pep during the successful 2022/23 campaign when the Manchester outfit won the treble.

He knows the club and the club certainly know him. The new man learnt a lot from Pep and was very highly regarded by the outgoing manager. His style of management and football is very much informed by his time working with the former Barca boss. But there are differences.

New Energy

This could well help City make a seamless transition from one manager to the next. There are many foundational basics that will stay the same. But there will be enough change to bring a fresh approach. It will be an evolution of style, while also bringing fresh energy.

Phil Foden recently backed this up, saying “It’s very similar to how we played under Pep, but there are still things that are a bit different,” adding that “the defending’s a bit different” and that they have “different ideas about how to play out from the back”. The England man also spoke of “A different variety of things on the ball”.

Finding a way to succeed without Rodri will be top of Maresca’s list. But also high up will be getting the best out of Foden. Not so long ago he was regarded as one of the best young footballers in the world. In the treble campaign he contributed 24 goal involvements. That rose to 39 in 2023/24 but his output has dropped markedly since. Aged 26 now, he should be at his peak. If Maresca can get the best out of him it will be like a new signing for City. The player himself noted that he had “found it good” and that “a new manager is a fresh start”.

Tactical Differences

Maresca’s style is undoubtedly similar to Pep’s. He knows the club, he knows the league and he knows the former boss. He even looks like Pep! But there are differences. While the new boss will want maximum control of the ball and prioritise possession, his adherence to juego de posicion is less rigid than his mentor’s. There is more individual freedom, which could possibly mean a way back for Jack Grealish.

The flexibility also applies in defence. One of Maresca’s managerial highlights was winning the FIFA Club World Cup with Chelsea. PSG were big favourites but the Blues boss produced a tactical masterclass. His side dismantled the European champions and much of that was down to how they rotated defensively to nullify PSG’s flexibility in attack. That won plaudits from Guardiola and also Arteta.

Indeed, Arteta, another of Pep’s disciples, praised Maresca’s Chelsea as “the best attacking team in the league”. He said that his own eyes and the stats showed them to be the best “by a mile”. That he achieved that with a young squad, in transition, speaks volumes about his tactical understanding and innovative coaching.

City fans will be hopeful that their new boss can bring that same approach to the Etihad. With Arsenal facing the pressure of being champions and their rivals also having new managers, there is every chance Maresca can return the Cityzens to the summit of the Premier League.