It’s never easy to replace your club’s greatest-ever manager; just ask Manchester United. Having won 13 Premier League titles during Sir Alex Ferguson’s 27-year tenure, United have now gone 13 years without a championship. Today, they find themselves in the relegation zone after their worst start in four decades.
Their crosstown rivals are also learning this lesson the hard way. After a trophy-laden decade in charge, Pep Guardiola stepped down as Manchester City manager after last season. His former assistant Enzo Maresca took the reins.
Stumbles, spurts and stalls
Maresca’s tenure began with a 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield, but City bounced back in electrifying fashion in their league opener, overturning an early deficit with two late goals against Bournemouth. They won their next seven matches before losing 4-2 to reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain, only to respond with victories against Ipswich Town and AEK Athens.
Since then, however, the wheels have started to come off. City lost at Aston Villa before narrowly overcoming Brighton on penalties in the EFL Cup, but the Seagulls had the last laugh, prevailing 1-0 at the Etihad in league play. A late Erling Haaland winner spared City’s blushes in a 3-2 victory against RB Leipzig, but their domestic struggles continued with a 3-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest, handing the hosts their first home victory in seven months.
The November international break could scarcely have come at a better time for Maresca. City will return to action with home fixtures against two struggling sides, Fulham and Napoli, before traveling to the Emirates Stadium for a pivotal title showdown with Arsenal. But what exactly has gone wrong at the Etihad? And how much of the blame should fall on Maresca’s shoulders?
Not all Maresca’s fault…
In fairness to Maresca, he inherited a decline that had been several years in the making. Having won six Premier League titles in his first eight seasons and guided City to their maiden Champions League triumph, Guardiola struggled to maintain those extraordinary standards during his final two campaigns.
The Cityzens finished third in 2024/25, failing to win a trophy apart from the Community Shield, before claiming the EFL Cup and FA Cup in 2025/26. However, they still finished seven points behind Arsenal in the Premier League, extending their title drought to two seasons for the first time since the pre-Guardiola era.
City responded by splashing a reported $616 million in the summer, breaking the record for spending in a single transfer window. Yet financial investment alone was never going to guarantee a seamless transition, particularly after the departures of midfield stalwarts Bernardo Silva and Rodri.
Indeed, City spent nearly $440 million on three midfielders this summer, but all that investment has yet to produce a cohesive unit. Part of the issue comes down to individual shortcomings, but Maresca’s tactical decisions haven’t exactly helped.
…but his tactics aren’t helping
The Italian has frequently deployed a 3-1-6 shape in possession, pushing six players into advanced positions and leaving Elliot Anderson as the lone midfielder shielding the defense. But when City lose the ball, their attacking structure can quickly become their Achilles’ heel.
One misplaced pass or errant touch is all it takes for opponents to catch City off guard, turning a seemingly harmless loss of possession into a tidal wave of attacking danger. Suddenly, City’s six attackers are scrambling to recover, Anderson is swimming against the current, and their retreating backline is left desperately trying to stay afloat as wave after wave of attackers threatens to sweep them away.
From his ball-winning ability and relentless pressing to his willingness to cover every blade of grass, it’s easy to see why Anderson has become one of the first names on Maresca’s team sheet. However, he is not a natural holding midfielder, at least not yet. His instinct is to chase the ball and disrupt opponents rather than sit deep, screen passing lanes and dictate the tempo from the base of midfield.
The Rodri-shaped hole
Despite spending nearly half a billion dollars on three midfielders, City still have a Rodri-shaped void in the center of the pitch. They lack a natural anchor capable of linking the first and second phases of possession while simultaneously guarding against counterattacks.
So far, Maresca has been reticent to start Ayyoub Bouaddi, instead favoring fellow nine-digit midfield arrivals Anderson and Enzo Fernández. Much like Manchester United’s difficulties accommodating Youri Tielemans alongside Bruno Fernandes, City are discovering that signing talented midfielders and building a balanced midfield are two very different things.
Fernández and Rayan Cherki offer tremendous technical skill, but neither is particularly adept at tracking runners or maintaining defensive compactness. Bernardo Silva may have been smaller than both, but his tireless pressing, positional intelligence and tenacity in the tackle made him a giant out of possession.
Neither Cherki nor Fernández has been able to replicate the Portuguese’s industriousness, which has left the midfield looking lightweight and porous. Anderson, meanwhile, has been saddled with the thankless task of covering enormous swaths of the pitch, plugging gaps and extinguishing counterattacks by himself.
No defensive control
As opposed to the prime years of Guardiola’s tenure, where City were able to impose themselves thanks to their coordinated counter-pressing, they simply don’t have any defensive control at the moment. When opponents do break through midfield, City’s defenders have hardly covered themselves in glory.
At Villa Park, City shot themselves in the foot after attempting to play out from the back. Marc Guéhi’s oafish touch allowed John McGinn to pounce and tee up Nicolas Jackson, who smashed home the opener after just six minutes.
City eventually equalized, but their defensive resolve lasted just eight minutes. Villa went from their own penalty area to City’s box in three passes, with Jackson completing his brace to secure the victory.
It was a goal that encapsulated City’s vulnerability in transition. Their attackers failed to close down the ball, their defenders afforded Villa far too much time and space to deliver the cross, and five outfield players were caught ball-watching as Jackson received in acres of space before coolly slotting home.
The same problems resurfaced against Brighton on Halloween. Matheus Nunes failed to deal with a routine cross, allowing Maxim De Cuyper to divert the ball into Yasin Ayari’s path for a straightforward finish in the 11th minute to secure Brighton’s first-ever win at the Etihad.
These have hardly been isolated incidents. Over the past three months, City have conceded 2+ goals against Sunderland, Ipswich Town, Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion, Nottingham Forest, Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig.
Even their victories have exposed worrying defensive frailties. After taking a first-half lead in Germany, City allowed Leipzig to equalize when Ridle Baku beat Gianluigi Donnarumma at his near post.
It was another concerning moment for the Italian goalkeeper, who has struggled not only with the ball at his feet but also with aspects of the shot-stopping that once made him one of Europe’s most feared goalkeepers in Milan and Paris.
The Forest fiasco
Against Forest, City once again conceded inside six minutes. Jair Cunha nicked the ball off Joško Gvardiol before hurtling toward goal. Rather than intervene, Rúben Dias and Guéhi backed off, seemingly unwilling to believe that a fellow center back would have the audacity to drive forward and shoot. Cunha duly punished their hesitation with a clinical finish.
Forest quickly realized that they didn’t need sustained spells of possession to hurt City. All they needed was one mistake. When summer signings Iliman Ndiaye and Anderson failed to communicate over who should clear the ball, Xaver Schlager pounced and knocked it toward Liam Delap.
Suddenly, Delap had acres of space ahead of him and just two defenders to beat. He surged from one end of the pitch to the other before finishing to double Forest’s advantage against his boyhood club.
Maresca responded by making two defensive substitutions at halftime, introducing Nunes and Nico O’Reilly for Guéhi and Gvardiol. It marked the third time in a month that he had changed his defense at the interval, another indication that he is still searching for the right balance in his rearguard.
Even when City pulled a goal back and began pressing for an equalizer, they couldn’t make their pressure count. Forest weathered the storm, defended resolutely around their penalty area and waited for another opportunity to counter.
When it finally arrived, Delap and Morgan Gibbs-White combined to devastating effect. In just two passes, Forest went from defending with their backs against the wall to putting the ball in Donnarumma’s net for a third time. It was enough to see Forest prevail with their first league win in two months, going from 19th to 16th in the table.
Attacking edge dulled
While City have conceded more goals than top-four rivals Arsenal, Brighton and Liverpool, their flaws aren’t confined to their own penalty area. After averaging nearly three goals per game across their first seven Premier League matches, City have managed just one goal in their last two against Brighton and Forest, despite taking more shots and creating more chances.
The attacking talent is undoubtedly there. Haaland remains one of the most lethal finishers in football, while Cherki, Fernández and City’s array of wide attackers possess the firepower to unlock almost any defense. But their collective understanding has yet to catch up with their individual brilliance.
City can dominate possession and create opportunities, but they are increasingly failing to turn that territorial superiority into the same steadfast dominance that marked the Guardiola era. Their attacking structure leaves them exposed when moves break down, while their defensive vulnerabilities force them to chase games and take even greater risks going forward. It is a vicious cycle that Maresca has yet to break.
A seismic transformation
Nevertheless, the Italian cannot shoulder all the blame. City have undergone a seismic transformation in a matter of months, losing the manager who defined their identity for a decade alongside several of the players who made his system so successful. Replacing their quality is one challenge; replacing their understanding, leadership and positional discipline is another altogether.
There is also the precariousness surrounding City’s future status in the Premier League. The club has faced 115 Premier League charges relating to alleged breaches of financial regulations between 2009 and 2018, with the possibility of severe sanctions casting a shadow over the Etihad.
Ultimately, Maresca cannot control the outcome of those proceedings, nor can he undo the departures of Guardiola, Rodri or Silva. What he can do is restore balance to his midfield, improve his team’s defensive organization and ensure that City’s extraordinary collection of attacking talent begins functioning as a cohesive unit.
Despite their recent slump, City remain alive in both domestic cup competitions, sit seventh in the Champions League standings and third in the Premier League, one point behind Brighton and six behind Arsenal.
At 46 years old, Maresca has already steered Leicester City to the Championship title and Chelsea to glory in the UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup. Now, however, he faces the biggest test of his managerial career: weathering the storm at the Etihad and steering a ship that has lost its bearings back toward calmer waters.
