Erling Haaland and Manchester City are on a mission to prove a point about Pep Guardiola, according to Andy Dunn, Chief Sports Writer. The world's best manager departed at the end of last season after ten successful years, but Enzo Maresca has his side refreshed and ready.
Haaland could not stop smiling after City's win at Old Trafford, a result that saw them maintain a perfect start to the Premier League season. Maresca has won four out of four league matches, complementing those victories with a 2-0 Champions League win in Porto.
Perfect Start Under Maresca
Arne Slot's Liverpool, with five wins from five early in the 2025-26 season, serve as a warning to any Premier League manager. Slot already has a title in the bank, so reservations about reading significance into a small sample of games in August and September are obvious.
But watching City on and off the pitch at Old Trafford, it was hard not to wonder if this is a squad re-energised by the managerial change. Guardiola did bow out by winning two trophies in his final season, with his team finishing as Premier League runners-up.
Different Styles, Same Results
All four Premier League wins have come in different styles, but the players have quickly bought into Maresca. The reaction of the backroom staff was as involved and euphoric as City supporters have probably seen for quite some time, understandable when you win by a single goal at Old Trafford having had a player very harshly dismissed early on.
If some players and staff have been refreshed by a change of voice and approach, it would not be the biggest surprise. Guardiola was a very demanding manager - brilliant but demanding, a perfectionist.
Proving a Point
Maresca could turn out to be similarly demanding, but he is still getting to know the different characters at the club. The jury will be out for some time on his chances of following a decade of Guardiola's brilliance, and he will be measured in trophies.
Tactically, Maresca got it spot-on at Old Trafford, his deployment of Iliman Ndiaye a mini masterstroke. Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernandez were arch-disruptors against United, and you can expect Maresca's City to be perhaps a little more feisty than under Guardiola.
Guardiola is and was a genius, but Haaland and the players he has left at the Etihad will be out to prove a point. It might only be subconsciously, but they will be out to prove that City's success over the past ten years was not just down to one man. Perhaps that is why the celebrations at the end of the derby win were even more euphoric.
