New Leicester City coach Enzo Maresca opened up about his career, what he’s learnt from Pep Guardiola and his plans with the Foxes.
The 43-year-old Italian coach will be the new head coach for Leicester following their recent relegation from the Premier League, tasked with kickstarting a new era at the club and hopefully guiding them back to the topflight quickly.
Maresca was a part of Guardiola’s coaching staff at Manchester City and helped the team secure the second ever Treble in English football history this season. His only head coaching experience came during a six-month spell with Parma back in 2021.
Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Maresca first discussed his decision to become Leicester City’s new head coach.
“At City they had known for a long time that I wanted to come back and coach on my own. There were several things on the table, the Leicester project seemed the most interesting and fascinating to me.
“And now one of the first things I’m going to do is to call Claudio (Ranieri, ed.), he is an institution at the club and the idea that I can somehow continue or pick up where he left off fills me with pride.”
He looked back at his initial arrival at Manchester City back in August 2020.
“In 2019 I was working with Manuel Pellegrini at West Ham. The experience ended at the end of the year and in the first days of 2020 I come to Manchester to see Guardiola’s training sessions. Pep welcomed me, I stayed four days and a good relationship was born.
“I’d never seen him before, but we hit it off straight away. We stayed in touch and in the summer they offered me to lead City’s Under-23 team.
“I accepted with enthusiasm and things went very well, the team won the league for the first time in their history. The relationship with Pep grew, it solidified. He often came to see our training sessions and he never misses home games.”
The 43-year-old was honest when discussing his brief six-month spell with Parma, whom he left after 13 games.
“Yes. I liked the idea of returning to Italy after so many years, I accepted with enthusiasm and at City they understood and supported me.
“Unfortunately, it didn’t go as I hoped, we signed 14 new players, it was a young team with an international environment, I was training in four languages, and it wasn’t so quick to get certain concepts across.
“The start was difficult and from the outside there was a tendency to always see the glass as half empty. It ended after 13 games and I was very sorry, I still think we were on the right track.”
Maresca then touched on how he went from unemployed after Parma to back at Manchester City.
“From City they kept following me. They saw Parma’s games, they appreciated the ideas I was trying to get across. And I spoke with Pep often. So, when Juanma Lillo – his second in command – left, he asked me to join the staff.”
He discussed the qualities of Guardiola and how he sees football.
“The best coach in the world, an inimitable conductor. In his orchestra every musician is fundamental, from the first violin to the one who holds the cymbals and makes them play once a concert. And that’s not a catchphrase, no.
“Pep cares that everyone feels at ease, that they feel part of the orchestra and play to the best of their ability, whether they are a footballer or the newest member of the warehouse.
“Harmony is an absolute concept that clothes the entire group, the sublimation, or the most visual part, is what is conveyed on the pitch, ideas of play and putting a footballing ideology into practice, but underneath there are very deep roots that lie on the human and emotional level.
“Guardiola involves everyone equally, including coaches.”
Finally, Maresca was asked about the suggestion ahead of the match that Inter had no chance against Manchester City in the Champions League final.
“Yes, I heard that too. Well, those who felt that way don’t know Inzaghi’s Inter. To us at City such a thing never crossed our minds. Never. We always thought and knew that it would be a complicated, balanced final, decided by one play.
“And not out of false modesty, but out of great respect. When Pep said that Italians at 0-0 think they have the advantage it was taken as a dig, but it’s not like that, there are those who are perfectly comfortable with 0-0 and those who are anxious to unlock the game.
“I say this as an Italian: it’s a question of mental habits. Inter then are a solid, compact team, who defend well without getting stressed. We had the ball of the game, but they were not in pain.”