There is no replacing Pep Guardiola.
City know that, Enzo Maresca knows it and, perhaps most importantly, the fans know it too. The trophies, the records and the style of football that defined Guardiola’s reign have left a mark on English football that extends well beyond the Etihad.
Whoever followed him was always going to inherit more than a squad capable of competing for every major honour. They would inherit expectations shaped by almost a decade of ongoing excellence.
That is why the more interesting question is not whether Maresca can replicate Guardiola. It is how he intends to evolve a team already built around controlling games through possession, territory and technical quality.
The broad principles are unlikely to change. The detail almost certainly will.
Those details often decide the big games.
The numbers at a glance
| Metric (2025/26) | Pep’s Man City | Maresca’s Chelsea | What it tells us |
|---|---|---|---|
| Possession | 60.6% | 57.7% | Both value control through the ball. |
| PPDA | 10.6 | 10.12 | Maresca’s side pressed marginally higher and more aggressively. |
| High turnovers | 347 | 265 | Both looked to regain possession high up the pitch. |
| Direct attacks | 54 | 32 | Neither relied heavily on transitional football. |
| Final-third entries | 1,228 | 627 | City’s territorial dominance remained unmatched. |
| Field tilt | 74.5% | 59.2% | Guardiola’s side spent significantly more time attacking. |
| xG per game | 1.87 | 1.58 | Both consistently created high-quality chances. |
Statistics from the 2025/26 Premier League season using Opta-derived data.
Control will still define Man City
The easiest assumption to make after Guardiola’s departure is that Manchester City will become a different team overnight.
Data suggests otherwise.
Chelsea averaged 57.7 per cent possession under Maresca last season, the third-highest figure in the Premier League. City remained the division’s benchmark at 60.6 per cent, but the gap is not as high as perception might suggest.
Possession remains central to Maresca’s football.
The distinction is what happens once control has been established.
Where Pep often treated possession as a means of exhausting opponents before opening up the game, Maresca has shown a greater willingness to progress attacks once spaces begin to appear. The objective is not to dominate the ball for domination’s sake, but to move opponents into uncomfortable positions before finding a way through them.
Supporters should still expect City to dictate matches.
The rhythm, however, may feel subtly different.
Structure before rotation
Pep’s greatest tactical gift was making complexity appear simple.
Watching City often meant seeing defenders become midfielders, midfielders become forwards, and wingers drift into central areas, all within the space of a single attacking move.
Those rotations created uncertainty for opponents but demanded extraordinary understanding from City’s own players.
Maresca’s positional play appears more structured.
Players still occupy similar spaces, but they tend to hold those positions for longer before rotating. It creates clearer passing angles and, perhaps more importantly, leaves fewer gaps to defend if possession is lost.
That could suit a squad entering a new managerial cycle.
Rather than asking players to relearn a new language, Maresca may simply ask them to speak in a familiar one but with a different accent.
Pressing could become more assertive
Without the ball is where one of the more intriguing differences may emerge.
City’s PPDA (passes per defensive action) of 10.6 reflected a side that remained highly effective at disrupting opposition build-up, but Chelsea’s figure of 10.12 suggests Maresca’s team engaged opponents even earlier.
The difference is marginal on paper.
But across a season, it becomes meaningful.
Winning possession five or 10 yards higher up the pitch shortens attacks, creates better shooting opportunities and reduces the amount of defensive organisation required to get back in shape.
Chelsea also forced 265 high turnovers during the campaign, underlining Maresca’s willingness to press aggressively when the moment demanded it.
City have long been excellent at suffocating opponents. Maresca may instead look to unsettle them.
Territory will remain the ultimate objective
Few statistics capture Pep’s City better than, for want of a better phrase, field position.
At 74.5 per cent, City spent vast periods of matches established inside the opposition half, circulating possession until openings eventually appeared.
Chelsea’s figure of 59.2 per cent remains impressive by Premier League standards, but illustrates the challenge awaiting Maresca.
Dominating territory is harder than dominating possession.
City completed almost twice as many entries into the final third during the 2025/26 campaign, a reflection of their ability to sustain attacks rather than simply build them.
That is perhaps the biggest tactical hurdle facing the new manager.
Maintaining Pep’s territorial dominance while introducing his own ideas will determine how quickly this team evolves.
Individual quality within collective structure
One misconception about Pep’s football is that it restricted creativity. The opposite was often true.
His structure existed to create moments where individuals could make the decisive contribution.
Maresca appears to arrive at the same destination by a slightly different route.
There is still structure. There is still discipline. Yet there also appears to be greater encouragement for players to recognise moments themselves rather than waiting for perfectly rehearsed patterns to develop.
That could benefit footballers capable of receiving possession between the lines. Phil Foden immediately comes to mind.
So too do Oscar Bobb and Claudio Echeverri, fringe players whose instincts often lead them towards spaces that cannot always be mapped out on a tactics board. This may afford them an opportunity.
For Erling Haaland, earlier deliveries into dangerous areas may prove every bit as valuable as the intricate combinations that have characterised much of City’s recent success.
A new chapter but not a new identity
Every managerial appointment invites comparison.
Few, however, arrive under the weight of expectation that accompanies succeeding Pep Guardiola.
The temptation will be to analyse every tactical tweak through the prism of what came before.
Some of those comparisons will be unavoidable. Others will miss the point.
City are unlikely to abandon the principles that have brought unprecedented success. They will still expect to dominate possession, control territory and dictate matches against almost every opponent they face.
The difference may lie in how they reach those outcomes.
If Guardiola’s City perfected control through patience, Enzo Maresca may seek to achieve it with greater urgency.
That is not a revolution. It is evolution.
And for a club beginning a new era, evolution may prove exactly what is required.
