Manchester City head coach Enzo Maresca says staying true to his side’s own game plan, rather than trying to match Manchester United blow for blow, will be the key to victory in his first Manchester derby.
City travel to Old Trafford on Sunday for the 199th meeting between the two rivals. It is a fixture with extra significance for Maresca, who took charge of City in the summer following Pep Guardiola’s departure after a decade at the helm.
‘A test to be ourselves’ – Maresca says
Speaking to reporters ahead of kick-off, Maresca was clear that City’s approach would not change simply because of the occasion or the venue.
Asked how his side could get the better of United, he pointed to discipline in possession and, crucially, out of it.
“Be ourselves. It’s important also because it’s a test to be ourselves,” Maresca said per City Xtra
“In terms of them, I think it’s quite clear: very dangerous, don’t need many passes, quite direct, recovering the ball. They’re probably in this moment in the Premier League [the team] with more balls in behind.
“So it’s quite clear they recover and try contact in-behind. We need to be careful in transitions, and cover space in behind.”
Transition moments have proven costly for City at Old Trafford in derbies past, and Maresca’s emphasis on “covering space in behind” indicates his back line and holding midfielders will be drilled specifically to deny United the room to spring forward on the counter.
From West Brom to Old Trafford: a manager who has seen it all
This will be Maresca’s first Manchester derby as a head coach, though not his first taste of English football’s local rivalries.
The Italian, who began his playing career in England with West Bromwich Albion, was asked to reflect on his earliest experience of a derby in this country and how it compared with fixtures he encountered elsewhere in his career.
“Phwoar, fantastic. ’98,” he said, recalling a West Brom versus Wolves derby from his playing days.
“That derby was a bit… Now we go [back] in that direction! That derby was set-pieces, throw-ins in the box, duels, battles. It’s different. Now there are some games quite similar.”
Maresca made plain that he relishes fixtures of this intensity, regardless of how different they can be from country to country and era to era.
“They are all nice games. That’s why I said I like these kind of games. I want these, because they are intense, they are war games, but all different,” he added.
City have made a strong start to the season under their new head coach. A result at Old Trafford would go a long way to underlining that the transition from one of the most successful managers in the club’s history has been a smooth one.
United, by contrast, will see the derby as a chance to close the gap on their neighbours and provide a timely boost of confidence in front of their own supporters.
With City widely regarded as one of the division’s most dangerous teams in behind opposition defences themselves, Sunday’s game at Old Trafford promises goalmouth incident at both ends.
It could precisely be the kind of “war game” Maresca says he has always been drawn to, wherever in the world he has found himself patrolling the touchline.
