Manchester City winger Antoine Semenyo has praised new head coach Enzo Maresca's attacking approach, saying it's 'music to my ears'. Semenyo started in City's pre-season opener against Inter Milan, causing problems for the Italian side's full-back Andy Diouf with his pace and direct running, helping create Divin Mubama's goal before being replaced at half-time.
What happened?
Manchester City were beaten on penalties by Inter Milan in Hong Kong in Maresca's first game in charge. Semenyo started the match and caused constant problems for Inter full-back Andy Diouf with his pace and direct running, helping create Divin Mubama's goal before being replaced at half-time.
Why it matters for Manchester City
Maresca's emphasis on attacking wing play was evident throughout the contest. Semenyo said that when Maresca got appointed, he thought about the Italian's wide men being high and free, which excited him as a winger. He gets to have one-v-one situations most of the game and is looking forward to it.
What comes next?
Teenage winger Ryan McAidoo also impressed off the bench, with Maresca later describing both players as the type of wingers he wants in his system. Semenyo has had individual meetings with Maresca on how he wants to set up, how he wants to play his wide men and just overall as a team. He thinks Maresca's ideas are great, quite similar to Pep, but if you watched the Inter game, you would have seen a couple of his ideas play out and it was good.
Manchester City is currently 2nd in the Premier League, 78 points from 38 games, with a recent form of LDWWD. They are 7 points behind leaders Arsenal. The team has scored 77 goals and conceded 35 this season, with a +42 goal difference. Rodri is currently sidelined. The next fixture is vs Ipswich at home on 2026-10-17.
