Enzo Maresca has explained why he keeps changing his Manchester City side, and after the 3-2 win at RB Leipzig he had a clear message about the three midfielders who carried his team on the night.
City left Germany with three points despite two sloppy goals conceded, and much of the credit went to the middle of the pitch. Elliot Anderson, Enzo Fernandez and Rayan Cherki all caught the eye, and Maresca made sure nobody was left out when he was asked about them.
He also used his post-match duties to answer a question that has followed him for most of his first few months at the Etihad: why the line-up changes so often.
What did Maresca say about Cherki, Anderson and Fernandez?
Speaking to TNT Sports, the Italian spread the praise around, but one name got a little extra. “Elliot was good, Enzo was good, Rayan Cherki was very, very good, also! So I’m very happy with their performance,” Maresca said.
Anderson, the £116m summer signing from Nottingham Forest, set up Erling Haaland’s winner with a sharp piece of attacking play, and Maresca sees his flexibility as a big asset. “I think he can be a No.6, he can be a No.8, so I’m very happy with his performance,” he told ManCity.com.
That fits what we saw in Leipzig. Anderson started at the base of the midfield, with Fernandez and Cherki ahead of him, and he has already become one of the summer signings setting Maresca’s standard.
Will Enzo Fernandez score more?
Maresca has no doubt. Fernandez briefly put City back in front after Ridle Baku’s equaliser, getting into the box to head home Iliman Ndiaye’s in-swinging cross. The club-record signing, who joined from Chelsea for £125m in September, reached double figures for league goals in his final season in west London.
“No doubt that he is going to score more goals,” Maresca said at his post-match press conference at the Red Bull Arena.
That matters more than it sounds. Before the game, Maresca had said City cannot rely on Haaland alone, and a midfielder who arrives in the box is exactly what he was asking for.
Why does Maresca keep rotating?
Some City fans have been critical of him for not using Ayyoub Bouaddi more often, and the chopping and changing has been a feature of his time in charge. Maresca’s answer was that the squad is simply too good to stick with the same names.
“We have so many good players that to go always with the same one I don’t think is correct. It’s good to give chances to all, but I think it’s the same with the defence; sometimes Khusa was out, sometimes Marc Guehi, tonight Ruben was out,” he said.
He then admitted he is still learning about his players. “It’s just four months, I need also to understand more things about the players, I need to understand them better. That’s why I’m so confident because I’m sure that we are going to be better and better.”
He was true to his word in the win at Leipzig. Ruben Dias only came on in the 80th minute, and Bouaddi got the last few minutes in place of Anderson.
Is Maresca right to keep changing Man City?
Up to a point. Rotation is fine when the players coming in keep the standard up, and in midfield they mostly have. Anderson, Fernandez and Cherki give him three very different options, and being able to move Anderson between the No.6 and No.8 roles makes the rest of the selection easier.
The harder sell is the back line and the results. City came into the Leipzig game off back-to-back league defeats, Arsenal are the side they are chasing, and the defensive questions have not gone away. “Four months” is a fair point about a new manager, but it will only buy him so much time if the points keep dropping.
For now, the midfield is the part of the team that is working. If Maresca has to keep changing things, that is the area he should touch the least.
