Maresca says Manchester City are more united after financial rules verdict
Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca says the club, team and supporters have grown closer amid scrutiny of a Premier League financial rules verdict that City is appealing.
Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca said on Friday, 16 October, that the club’s supporters, staff and players had become more united after an independent commission found City guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules. Speaking ahead of Saturday’s home match against Ipswich Town, he said outside scrutiny had not added to his stress. City denies wrongdoing and has appealed the verdict.
Maresca described the change at a news conference as something he had seen personally: ‘Since the noise, from my personal point of view, I can see the fans, the club, the team more together, for sure,’ Reuters reported. AFP separately reported his description of the three groups as ‘more together’. The comments add the manager’s account of how City is responding as its challenge to the ruling continues.
How Maresca is handling the verdict
Maresca said he did not feel stress about the situation outside the club because he could not control it. He said his focus was on winning matches, describing victories as the way City could make its own ‘noise’. He also said club officials had explained the case to him and that he trusted the people running City.
He urged patience over the case. ‘The wise way to judge the situation is always to wait for the final words,’ Maresca said, according to AFP, while acknowledging that people wanted to discuss it now. Reuters reported that the commission found City guilty on 114 of the 115 charges brought by the Premier League; both reports said the club had appealed.
City’s results and the Ipswich fixture
City beat 10-man Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield in their first match after the verdict, then lost 4-2 at home to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The Liverpool win took Maresca’s side to six victories from six Premier League matches. City were top of the table before hosting Ipswich on Saturday.
A win over Ipswich would make Maresca the first Premier League manager to win his first seven games in charge, AFP reported. Maresca said he was focused on the chance to reach 21 points rather than on the personal record, which he said would matter more if the team achieved something at the end of the season.
The manager had addressed the ruling before the Liverpool match, when he spoke about keeping City’s players focused on football. His latest comments describe a closer bond among the team, club and supporters as City prepares for another league fixture with its appeal pending.
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Sources and context
- Man City more united after Premier League charges verdict, says boss MarescaChannel NewsAsia, reporting Reuters
- Maresca says Man City 'more together' after financial chargesYahoo Sports, reporting AFP (byline code jdg/jw/mw)
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.