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Following a dramatic 2-1 comeback win over AFC Bournemouth, Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca has admitted that his squad is a work in progress.
Late goals from Marc Guéhi and Joško Gvardiol sealed the three points, but Maresca stressed the need for tactical experimentation, such as deploying center-back Guéhi in midfield, while managing a transitional squad with limited pre-season preparation.
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He also noted that a handful of key players, including Erling Haaland and Marc Guéhi, only returned to training roughly ten days prior to the fixture.
“To be honest, I feel in the same position we were after Arsenal (in the Community Shield),” Maresca told the club’s website.
“It’s normal that you judge because of results but I don’t see a big difference from one week ago to today.
“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.”
Maresca also chose to highlight the lack of preparation his side have had compared to the opposition.
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“Unfortunately we still have four or five players (in the starting 11) that are in pre-season – Haaland, Guehi, Anderson, O’Reilly,” he added.
“They arrived ten days ago. I think all of Bournemouth’s players started at the beginning of pre-season, so it’s a huge difference in terms of physicality but we are going to be better and better.”
