Enzo Maresca says Man City are still a work in progress after Bournemouth victory

Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca has insisted that his side remains a “work in progress” despite launching the post-Pep Guardiola era with a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory over Bournemouth in their opening Premier League match of the season.

The defending champions were made to work hard for all three points at the Etihad Stadium, with late goals from Marc Guehi and Josko Gvardiol rescuing victory after Bournemouth looked set to spring an opening-day surprise.

While the result provided Maresca with a winning start to his Premier League reign, the Italian manager admitted that performances remain more important than results at this early stage of the campaign.

Reflecting on the performance, Maresca said he saw little difference between City’s display against Bournemouth and their performance in the Community Shield against Arsenal.

He said, “To be honest, I feel in the same position we were after Arsenal. It’s normal that you judge because of results, but I don’t see a big difference from one week ago to today.”

One of the most interesting aspects of City’s performance was Maresca’s willingness to experiment tactically.

The Italian revealed that he is already exploring alternative roles for players as he continues shaping the team around his philosophy.

“This is a work in progress, that’s why I am looking for new solutions like Marc Guehi as a midfielder, different things. Now we need solutions, we need to prepare the team,” he explained.

Maresca also pointed to City’s disrupted pre-season as one of the biggest reasons why the team is yet to reach its optimum level.

According to the manager, several important players only recently returned to the squad and are still catching up physically.

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“Unfortunately, we still have four or five players in the starting eleven that are in pre-season – Haaland, Guehi, Anderson, O’Reilly. They arrived ten days ago,” he said.