Maresca puts Arsenal under the microscope and reveals the secret of the competition
Enzo Maresca, Manchester City's manager, has affirmed that the huge deals the club concluded during the summer transfer window were necessary to compete with Arsenal for the Premier League title this season.
City beat Coventry 1-0 on Saturday, handing debuts to Enzo Fernandez and Iliman Ndiaye after the pair arrived on the final day of the window. Their signings put the finishing touch to a squad rebuild that cost more than 450 million pounds sterling. Maresca was keen to justify the outlay afterwards, and he made clear he is watching Arsenal's start to the season closely.
Manchester City's manager said, according to ESPN: "If you look since the Community Shield match, you'll find that Arsenal have played two extra matches and their line-up has seen five changes in each match."
He added: "Their line-up includes two World Cup winners, Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi, and two players from the England national team, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke, and the fifth player I don't remember precisely but I think it's Piero Hincapie. In the end, if you want to compete for high titles, you need multiple options. Arsenal have the options, and we have them too, and there are other clubs that have them as well, so it's not limited to us alone. I am very happy with the options available to us, and this is crucial if you want to compete."
Fernandez, who moved to the Etihad on deadline day in a record deal worth 125 million pounds sterling, began on the bench. An injury to Nico O'Reilly in the warm-up forced him into action. Ndiaye started on the left flank, while Ayoub Bouaddi came on in the second half.
The new arrivals featured, but another summer signing stole the spotlight. Elliot Anderson took the man of the match award after completing more successful passes than the entire Coventry team combined.
Maresca commented on Anderson's performance, saying: "I am extremely impressed with his performance, and not just today. He put in excellent displays against Crystal Palace, and he was also superb against Bournemouth despite joining us just one week earlier and being substituted because of a muscle strain."
He concluded his remarks by speaking about the player's response, saying: "But the best thing about Elliot is his daily passion. He always asks how he can develop, and we hold individual video analysis sessions with him so he can see how to improve his performance, and this is the best impression any player can give."
