Manchester City forward Antoine Semenyo says he is relishing life under new head coach Enzo Maresca, describing the Italian’s attacking approach as “music to my ears” after an encouraging first outing in the club’s pre-season campaign. Although City were beaten on penalties by Inter Milan in Maresca’s first match in charge in Hong Kong, the performance offered an early glimpse of the tactical changes the former Chelsea manager is looking to implement following the departure of Pep Guardiola. Semenyo, who started the match and played the opening 45 minutes, was one of City’s standout performers. The Ghana international repeatedly troubled Inter full-back Andy Diouf with his pace, direct dribbling, and willingness to take on defenders, before helping create Divin Mubama’s goal.
Young winger Ryan McAidoo also impressed after coming off the bench, earning praise from Maresca, who said he prefers “aggressive” wide players capable of winning one-on-one duels and creating chances in attacking areas. Speaking after the match, Semenyo revealed he was excited by Maresca’s appointment because of the freedom the coach gives his wingers. “When he got appointed, that was the first thing I thought about because whenever you played against his Chelsea side, the wide players stayed high and had plenty of freedom,” Semenyo said. “As a winger, that’s exciting because it means you get into one-v-one situations throughout the game. We’ve had individual meetings where he explained how he wants us to play, both as wingers and as a team.”
The Ghanaian added that Maresca’s philosophy shares similarities with Guardiola’s possession-based style but places greater emphasis on allowing wingers to remain wide, attack defenders directly, and create scoring opportunities. “I think his ideas are great and quite similar to Pep’s, but you could already see some of them in the Inter game. His message to me is simple; stay wide, get on the ball and create chances. That’s music to my ears,” Semenyo said. Manchester City will continue their pre-season preparations as Maresca works to imprint his tactical identity ahead of the new campaign, with Semenyo expected to play a key role in the Italian’s attacking system.
