Music was blaring across the grass on Monday as Enzo Maresca’s players warmed up, a scene the training ground never saw during Pep Guardiola’s era. The new manager brought speakers with him when he arrived, and told reporters the idea travelled with him from his previous jobs.
“It’s something I had in Leicester, Chelsea, I introduced here,” Maresca said, speaking to reporters at the training ground. “I think there are days where the players with music, they are more happy and can work better.”
The players choose the playlist themselves. Defender Matheus Nunes signed off on the change with a shrug when asked about it: “I like it. Why not?”
A break from the Guardiola script
Music at training was never part of Guardiola’s routine at the Etihad, where sessions were run in near-silence. Maresca, who worked as Guardiola’s assistant before moving to Leicester and then Chelsea, was appointed to succeed him on 29 June 2026.
Nine points from the first nine available suggest the change of atmosphere has not slowed anything down. City sit top of the Premier League after edging Coventry City 1-0 at the Etihad on Friday, a scrappy afternoon in which Erling Haaland’s 26th-minute header from an Antoine Semenyo cross was enough.
It was Haaland’s third goal in three league games under the new manager. Enzo Fernández, a deadline-day arrival from Chelsea, was thrust into the starting line-up after Nico O’Reilly was hurt in the warm-up.
Haaland the family man
Maresca was asked how Haaland has changed since the two worked together in his previous City stint.
“He’s a man now, a dad. Life completely changes. The priority becomes his son.”
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“He was already top as a player, as a boy. Now you can see he is complete now.”
Rayan Cherki is the other player the new manager has begun leaning on. Maresca has been asked repeatedly about how he uses him, and described the role as split between phases of play.
“There is always a game plan,” Maresca said. “When we are in our side, Rayan also drops a little bit to manage the game, the tempo and the game. When the ball is in the opposite side we need Rayan in a position to be dangerous.”
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