Enzo Maresca Hits Back: ‘What Do You Want Us to Do?’

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Enzo Maresca answered criticism of Manchester City’s celebrations at Anfield by asking, “What do you want us to do?”
City won 3-0 at Liverpool on Sunday, their first match after an independent commission found the club guilty of breaching Premier League financial regulations.
Maresca said the fallout has been “more tough for our fans than for the players or for me” and asked them for the same support against Paris Saint-Germain.

City Will Make Their Own Noise, Says Maresca

Enzo Maresca started his answer with a question. “Criticised for what?” the Manchester City manager asked, when pressed on the scenes at Anfield on Sunday. Then he asked another: “What do you want us to do?”

He was speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of City’s Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday. The questions were about the weekend, when City won 3-0 at Liverpool. Erling Haaland, Jérémy Doku and Rayan Cherki scored, and Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch was sent off in the 62nd minute.

What Set Off the Criticism

It was City’s first game after an independent commission found the club guilty of breaching Premier League financial regulations. City’s players celebrated with their travelling supporters at full time, and some of those fans sang chants mocking the “cheater” label now attached to the club. Many fans, pundits and journalists criticised the celebrations.

A banner among the City fans read “In Khaldoon We Trust” and added “We’ve Won It All.” Khaldoon Al-Mubarak is the club chairman and is leading the appeal against the verdict.

Maresca’s Answer

Maresca described the mood inside the squad in simple terms. “We were so, so happy from inside the pitch and the dressing room,” he said. He told reporters he was “completely calm and relaxed” about the noise around the club, and that he would rather spend his energy on what he controls. “I promise you that I stress a lot about game plan and how we train,” he said. “I don’t stress about things I don’t control.”

He added that the rest was “just things from outside which we need to deal [with].” His message to the players, he said, would stay the same: “I am here today, the players are here today, to win tomorrow.”

Maresca also spoke about the club’s supporters. “Probably it has been more tough for our fans than for the players or for me,” he said. He said that if he were an Arsenal or Manchester United fan, he could tell a City supporter “Hey my friend, you cheat” or something similar.

A Request for Wednesday Night

Maresca wants the same from the stands against PSG. “Hopefully they can do the same tomorrow night,” he said, and then added: “we need that.” He also pointed back to his own history at the club. “I was here for the Treble season and I know the Champions League nights,” he said.

“As I said, we know how serious the situation is,” Maresca said. “Where we can do something is inside the pitch.”

“The noise around the team is a big noise but we need to try to deal with that and try and make our noise, to win games,” he said.

The Case Hanging Over the Club

City are accused of using “sham” contracts and bogus deals to disguise more than £830m in secret funding and to inflate revenues between 2009-10 and 2017-18. The club denies the accusations and has lodged an appeal. If the appeal fails, penalties could range from fines and points deductions to possible expulsion from the Premier League.

On the pitch, City lead the Premier League with a perfect record from six games. After PSG, they host Ipswich at home on Saturday, and they are aiming for nine wins from nine games in all competitions under Maresca.

WRITTEN BY

Jarrod

Jarrod Partridge is the Founder of Futbol Chronicle and an accredited journalist with over 30 years of experience following international football. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, Jarrod has covered matches at stadiums around the world, bringing first-hand insight to every match report, player profile, and tactical analysis he writes.