Enzo Maresca defends Anfield celebrations after beating Liverpool in first game since guilty verdict

Sky Sports News

Enzo Maresca on Anfield celebrations, PSG and City's focus

Enzo Maresca speaks before Manchester City host PSG, defending his side's Anfield celebrations and stressing that City must focus on what they can control after the first game since the guilty verdict. A Sky Sports correspondent says he is a calm public face who avoids engaging with the 115 charges case.

► Subscribe to Sky Sports News: http://bit.ly/SkySportsNewsSub ► Watch Sky Sports with NOW: https://bit.ly/NOWSkySportsYT Manchester City boss Enzo Maresca has defended the post-match celebrations of his squad following their 3-0 win at Liverpool on Sunday. The trip to Merseyside was City's first game after an independent commission found them guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of Premier League financial rules. The club have since appealed the verdict and continue to deny any wrongdoing. SkySportsNews SkySports mancity ► For the latest developments on this story: https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/topstories ► For the latest transfer news: https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/TransferCentre More from Sky Sports on YouTube: ► Sky Sports: http://bit.ly/SkySportsSub ► Sky Sports Boxing: http://bit.ly/SSBoxingSub ► Sky Sports Cricket: http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyCricket ► Sky Sports Darts: https://bit.ly/SubSkySportsDarts ► Sky Sports Football: http://bit.ly/SSFootballSub ► Sky Sports F1: http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyF1 ► Sky Sports Golf: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsGolf ► Sky Sports Premier League: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsPL ► Sky Sports Retro: http://bit.ly/SkySportsRetroSub ► Sky Sports WSL: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsWSL ► TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@skysportsnews ► X: https://x.com/SkySportsNews ► Website: https://www.skysports.com ► To enquire about licensing Sky Sports content, you can find out more here: https://www.skysports.com/more-sports/news/31754/11434270/license-sky-sports-footage

Transcript

Manchester City [music] taking on PSG at home tomorrow night. Enzo Moresca has just sat down. Let's listen in live now. >> For tomorrow night uh is quite easy in terms of we need the perfect game because they are the best team in Europe in this moment. They won the last two champion league. So that show how good they are. So we need the perfect game but at the same time uh doing our best. I think we can we can you know we can we can beat them and be happy at the end. >> Obviously your relationship the players relationship and that bond with the Manchester City fans is clearly something you're you're going to lean on a lot I would imagine over the next few weeks. What's your message to the city fans who'll be traveling to the Etihad to support this? As I said after first of all Anfield was unbelievable uh because even if the environment was the environment that we know but uh since the beginning of the game our fans they were there they brought as I said their passion their voice and hopefully they can do the same tomorrow night because we need that and not only tomorrow night we have also sat through the switch at home that is again Premier League that we need to continue our our puff. So yeah, excited for for tomorrow night because again I was here the treble season and I know the Champion League night they were special and hopefully tomorrow night can be can be special too. >> Hi Enzo. Um where do you see in terms of the favorites to win the Champions League this season? Are PSG a level above you in your mind or or do you feel that your team is is right there with them? >> No, I think uh we are we are for sure a good team. No doubt about that. Now where we are in this moment compared to PSG I don't know. I don't know to be honest. I don't know. Uh again I know how good they are. Uh because in the last two years they won the last two champion leagues. So that show how good they are. But at the same time again I don't know if we are close far where we are but for sure uh we are a good team. Joe >> Enzo, I'm I'm sure you've seen quite a lot of criticism of the well of yourself and the and the players after after Anfield with the sort of celebrations and things like that. How does that how does that make you feel reading that sort of thing? >> Criticize forward >> people people are saying that you that the celebrations were were too wild at the end of the game. I just wondered how you sort of viewed that. >> We want 03 Anfield. What do you want us to do? And even if it was 01 was exactly the same. We are today and the players they are here today to win tomorrow game and we work every day to win games. It's the only thing again that uh we can think, we can be focused. The rest is just uh things from outside that we need to deal. But uh we were so so so happy inside the pitch and you cannot imagine inside the changing room. >> Hi Enzo. Um, just on on Pep's visit, while he's here, will you be inviting him down to training or into the dressing room before? >> Again, I spoke with him after United game, so I don't know his plan. Uh, I don't know if he's if he's coming straight to the stadium, if he's coming to the training ground. I don't know. I don't have an idea. Uh, again, he's excited for for everyone, for the fans, and but I don't know. I don't know plan at the moment. >> Hi, Enzo. Um, since the Community Shield, you've won every game and there's been lots of different types of wins in there. How how do you rate the start to the season? What what are you what are you seeing like you're liking from the team and where do you feel we need to improve in these in in these games? >> We need to improve many things for sure. Uh the way we try to attack, the way we try to defend, no doubt that we need to improve things. And then in terms of uh journey since since we start as you said we won seven eight games in a row for me they have been all different for different situation for instance the last one at Anfield has been different to the rest for all the situation happened during the international break games where we were losing 01 Bournemouth and then we won. I mean all the Man United game with 10 players. So all different games but uh for sure winning games in our job is the most important thing but for me it's more the the day by day the things that I can see from the players uh that uh I feel very very happy. H >> has it been a challenge to kind of know where you need to improve because of the difference of of the of the results and the performances? >> No. Uh we used the international break to analyze all our seven games, the previous seven games and from there we can uh we can see things that we need absolutely to improve. But uh again this is a evolution from Liverpool game. Uh I was not happy with the first half in the way we were playing on the ball. Off the ball we were quite good. So every game is a is a way or a moment that we can learn things and improve. Thank you. Uh, >> hi Enzo. It's 16 consecutive seasons in the Champions League for City now, nearly all of them in the knockout stages. Can you sort of sum up the importance of the the competition to what the club has become? And also, you know, if everything doesn't go your way, obviously it could be the last for um for a while. So, so what what would that mean as well? I'm just more uh focus on tomorrow for sure. Champion League for this uh organization is so so important. No doubt. We're going to try to improve uh compared to you said the last two three years >> where the club struggle a little bit, the team struggle a little bit. So we're going to try to do our best to improve that again. Then where uh we can be in March, April or if this is the last Champion League for a while, I don't know. Paul Henzo, fair or not, there's going to be a lot of scrutiny on your team, your players, you probably every game. You've dealt with it really well at Anfield. You played unbelievably well. What's your sort of main message to your players and to the club? Is it just stay calm and just focus on the football? because you know you turned up at Anfield and you know you were very good. >> I said many times I'm uh completely calm, relax uh I promise you that I stress a lot about game plan and how we can train every day but uh I don't stress about things that uh I don't control. So the message with the players will be exactly the same. As I said uh we know the how seriousness is the situation but at the same time it's not something that we can you know we can do something where we can do things is inside the pitch. So that's why I [snorts] like to focus there and the message for the players is uh is exactly the same. I said after Liverpool game that the noise around the team it's a big noise but we need to try to deal with that and try to make our noise that is to win to win games. Hi Enzo, we've got Ruben Diaz coming in shortly. Just wanted to ask h how much he sort of stood up in the last few days as as captain. How how important has his role been? >> Yeah. No, last uh few days uh to be honest uh since I joined the club since the summer. Uh I was in touch with Reuben also because he was the captain. So I needed to speak with him for different reason. uh but since day one he has been he has been a real leader [snorts] and uh he is doing very well in all the aspect you spoke um a little bit ago about the um atmosphere in the dressing room after the game Anfield can you describe what that was like and do you get the sense that what's happened over the last few days has kind of brought that that squad closer together >> no after uh we were very very happy inside the pitch sharing time with our fans uh probably has been more uh tough for our fans than for the players or for me because uh you know the it's more probably it's more complicated because if I am uh I don't know Arsenal fan or United fan and New York City fan I can tell you hey my friend you cheat or these kind of things so probably has been more tough for them but uh again we were happy at the end of the game inside the change the changing room we were very happy uh celebrating the three points because we know how difficult is filled away so that's why we were very happy we'll take some questions from French media in the room no French >> no you just wait for the microphone please all right thank you >> [snorts] >> Ryan the man [laughter] Ryan tonch. do it. Uh >> yeah, very impressive. Enzo Moresca speaking French. We weren't quite expecting that. Giving his answers in French to the French journalists. We are going to just listen out, see if we can get an English translation of this. If not, we will come back to Enzo Moresca very soon. Indeed. Cavi Sol our chief correspondent is actually alongside me now. Can you Gabby? >> Yeah, I've got French A level. Uh, he was asked a question by French journalist about Ryan Churkey whether he was going to start tomorrow and Enzo Moresca joked that he wasn't going to play at all tomorrow. But then he said, "No, no, no. I'm joking. I don't know if he's going to start tomorrow. We'll have to wait and see. He's a great player, but I'm not going to tell you what my starting 11 is going to be today." >> There we go. Cavy, you never fail to impress me uh with everything that that you've got in the locker there. Um, brilliant stuff. And we are going to talk a little bit more about this press conference now, Cavy, because what the end of last week, we were standing here talking after Moresco's first news conference since those guilty uh charges, the guilty verdict. What did you make of that one? Did it feel a little bit more like it was business as usual? >> Yeah, I think it was more of the same from Enzo Moresca. I think City are really lucky to have him as their public face and public voice uh because he does a really good job for them uh when it comes to not giving too much away and giving the impression uh that everyone at the club is really relaxed and it's business as usual. I thought it was interesting that he did uh say that the situation City are in at the moment is a very very serious situation. I think his words were this is a serious situation. Uh but he said look as players we can't do anything about it. All we can do is perform on the pitch. And he said what I thought was really interesting is that City fans according to him are having a harder time uh than Enzo Moresca or his players. He says because we just get on with our jobs whereas City fans are the ones who have to put up with all the stick they're getting from I think he said Arsenal fans and Man United fans. So you get the sense that Enzo Moresco is just telling his players, look, let's just focus on what we can control, which is our own performances on the pitch. He is not going to engage in any serious conversations or discussions uh about the 115 charges case.