Enzo Maresca faces the daunting task of following Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. BBC Sport examines the new manager's style and tactics from pre‑season games so far.

Guardiola is often thought of as rigid, but he never stuck to a single system. His principles—keeping possession, playing far from his own goal and close to the opponent's—rooted in positional play. Torrent described it as positioning players to press after losing the ball. Good rest defence is another key idea: teammates behind the ball ready to defend counter‑attacks.

Perarnau recounts Guardiola’s use of wide wingers in 2016‑17. Guardiola told wingers to stay wide, be patient, then dribble past 1 man, not four. This logic underpins Maresca’s current system. Across pre‑season, Antoine Semenyo on the flank was the standout, receiving the ball, running past a full‑back, cutting back for a forward. The game simplifies to finding that repeatable situation.

In short, Maresca’s approach mirrors Guardiola’s flexible, possession‑based, positional play, adapted for this season’s squad.