Enzo Maresca has introduced a new phrase to his messaging this week: this is a marathon. As Manchester City slow after a flying start to the season, preparations are already underway for the long campaign ahead.
Maresca is, to an extent, a victim of his early success in much the same way as Pep Guardiola was in his first year in English football. City won their first ten games in all competitions in the 2016/17 campaign, but Guardiola was already worried about his team and would be proven right as they fell well short in every competition.
Early Success and Recent Slump
At least in public, Maresca is confident that this team can get significantly better. They won 10 of their first 11 games in all competitions, with their sole defeat coming against reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain. However, they have since tailed off, with a 3-2 win at RB Leipzig on Wednesday their first victory in four matches.
More than results, performances have shown concerning trends. City have conceded 14 goals in their last seven games, Gianluigi Donnarumma is one of a number of players who have made glaring and costly errors, and Enzo Fernandez is under scrutiny in a midfield that has stopped working effectively.
Defensive Instability and Rotation
The mood among many fans, certainly online, does not reflect a team whose standing is as high as City's, because the worry is that the problems seen in recent weeks will continue to impact results. If City continue to be as bad in both boxes, they could be on for a repeat of Guardiola's first year.
Many of the same issues were present in the early weeks of the season but were masked by results. One change from that time that hasn't been widely considered is the number of team changes made since the September international break. Many players are not showing the form they previously did, but they have not had the same game time together.
Ruben Dias and Marc Guehi started six Premier League and Champions League matches together up to and including Liverpool away, keeping four clean sheets as they conceded just four goals. Neither excelled in the next game against PSG, and Dias was hooked at half-time. The Ipswich game that followed is the last time both completed a game together; Guehi was rested for Athens and the league game with Brighton, Dias for the Carabao Cup game and RB Leipzig, and Guehi didn't make it past half-time at Aston Villa.
For the Ipswich game that they both played in, Maresca swapped out his entire midfield to rest Elliot Anderson, Fernandez and Rayan Cherki. That isn't to say that any of those key players are in excellent form, but if the team and the backline are being so heavily chopped and changed, it should not be a surprise that the side have not looked as fluent.
Planning for a 65-Game Season
Maresca has been particularly aggressive with resting players, even going so far as giving five stars a holiday after the Aston Villa defeat and permission not to play against Brighton in the League Cup. Having said previously that Guehi and the like need a break because of their long campaigns last year, the Italian is also looking ahead to plan for a 65-game season for the Blues. With a League Cup quarter-final at home to Bradford City to come and the Blues currently in the top eight of the Champions League table, that is entirely possible.
How long Maresca continues to make so many changes to his line-up every game is unclear, but it is being done to ensure that his stars are as fresh and sharp as they can be for the business end of the season. They have to get the results to get to February and March with everything to play for, but if they can do that, the level should go up again when it really matters.
That isn't to say that improvement isn't needed now, and time is required for Maresca to get his ideas across to the players and for them to work together on plans. However, as much as it feels like form has deserted some City stars, the change in consistency to lineups in the last few weeks should be factored into any analysis of recent performances and results.
If Maresca is trying to ensure his team are not still fatigued from their last race, the City coach wants to ensure they have plenty left in the tank for when they most need to kick on. He just needs to ensure that saving legs does not see others race past them and out of sight.
