{"id":283778,"date":"2026-09-11T13:54:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T13:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/283778\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T13:54:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T13:54:11","slug":"kings-of-manchester-city-boss-enzo-maresca-defends-elliot-andersons-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/283778\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Kings of Manchester\u2019 \u2013 City boss Enzo Maresca defends Elliot Anderson\u2019s claim"},"content":{"rendered":"

The England midfielder made the claim after completing his \u00a3116million move to City from Nottingham Forest in the summer.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old\u2019s comments could mean he gets a hostile reception in his first Manchester derby on Sunday as City face arch rivals United at Old Trafford in the Premier League.<\/p>\n

Maresca recognises that, historically, United have been the bigger club but, given recent successes, he can see why those of a younger generation such as Anderson might regard City as the dominant force.<\/p>\n

\"SOCCERPA Graphics<\/p>\n

The City manager said: \u201cProbably the reason why Elliot said that is because he grew up in the last 15 years. I think Manchester City were unbelievable in what they achieved.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it was normal when Elliot said that. If you go back it\u2019s a different picture, but for me the reason Elliot said that is because when he grew up Manchester City was dominant.\u201d<\/p>\n

City are boosted by the return of England left-back Nico O\u2019Reilly after a back issue.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Reilly has missed the last two games after pulling up in the warm-up prior to last weekend\u2019s victory over Coventry.<\/p>\n

\u201cNico is 100 per cent available,\u201d said Maresca, who added that winger Jeremy Doku remains on the sidelines with a calf problem.<\/p>\n

\"NicoNico O\u2019Reilly pulled up with an injury before the Premier League match against Coventry last weekend (Martin Rickett\/PA)<\/p>\n

It is Maresca\u2019s first derby since succeeding Pep Guardiola as manager but he has previous experience of the fixture having worked on the City backroom staff. He has also been involved in numerous other derbies throughout his career and it is an encounter he is relishing.<\/p>\n

The Italian said: \u201cWe know how important a derby is, especially here, for the club, for the fans, for everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a special game and the most important thing we can do is to try to be ourselves, in the way we have been until today. Then we will see the final result.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been involved in different ones. I promise you the worst is Olympiakos-Panathinaikos. I have been in Italy with Juventus-Torino, Sevilla-Betis, as a manager with Chelsea \u2013 different ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know Old Trafford is quite different but the main focus for the players has to be the game plan, how we can win, how we can press, how we can be better. I want these kind of games, I like them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ManchesterManchester City manager Enzo Maresca (John Walton\/PA)<\/p>\n

City go into the game after winning their opening three Premier League matches, while United\u2019s start has been mixed, with Michael Carrick\u2019s side having collected four points so far.<\/p>\n

City have had an extra two days of rest following their Champions League game at Porto on Tuesday, as United were in action against Sabah on Thursday, but Maresca does not think that will be significant.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it happens in football,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t have any doubt that Man United are going to be ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just matters to adapt. It happened last year with us, this season with them. Next season it will happen with a different team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The England midfielder made the claim after completing his \u00a3116million move to City from Nottingham Forest in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[128,130,129],"class_list":["post-283778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}