Key events
Tim gets in touch on email:
As a Liverpool fan, I don’t think the Man City players cheated or weren’t a great team. But the point is that they cheated to have such a great team. There were times during our title battles where we had a better team (just) but their squad was ridiculous. Regarding injuries, tiredness, fatigue etc they had a huge – unfair – advantage.
And on this idea of a Premier League glass ceiling that they so nobly broke, Liverpool went nearly 25 years without winning it, often finishing mid table. See also Arsenal and Man Utd. Being a big club with lots of fans is obviously an advantage, but one built over the course of a century, rather than being bestowed on the whims of a foreign state.
Anyway, whatever their punishment, City fans will think it’s too harsh and everyone else too lenient. May as well just get it all over and done with.
Another little tidbit from Maresca was his quip about possibly having to coach City in lower leagues. Guardiola had previously said (joked?) he would stay with City if they were relegated to League One.
“I won the Championship with Leicester, so in case we’re in League One, we’ll see,” Maresca said with a smile. “But we are thinking about something we don’t know.”
One of the more interesting things Maresca admitted was that the topic of City’s 115 charges (114 of which they are now guilty of) did not come up in conversation during his talks about succeeding Guardiola in the summer.
Well, that was a grilling. Maresca fielded questions for about 20 minutes from some of the British sports media’s top journalists. He acknowledged that perhaps he was not giving the answers they were hoping for as he repeated the club’s official lines on sticking together and the confidence they will win an appeal. I think City will be relatively pleased with his performance.
Maresca: I trust Manchester City completely, there is nowhere I would rather be
Jamie Jackson
at Etihad Campus
Enzo Maresca has stated he “trusts completely” Manchester City and repeatedly said “when we win the appeal” in the manager’s first media conference since the club were found guilty on virtually all counts of breaching Premier League financial rules.
“I trust the club because I trust the people and this is also the reason why I joined the club,” said the Italian. “There is not another club in the world where I would like to be. I’m very happy to be [here] I’m very proud.”
Maresca was also asked if City’s honours won since the Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008 have been tainted. “Absolutely not,” he insisted. “The last time I was here was in the treble season [2022-23, as assistant manager] and I know the effort from the players, the club, the manager. I know the effort that the club put to achieve that kind of target so I don’t have any doubt about that.”
City strenuously deny any wrongdoing and have lodged an appeal against the verdict of an independent commission. One sanction the club could face should thee appeal fail is expulsion from the Premier League.
City travel to Anfield on Sunday to face Liverpool.
And with that, Maresca takes his leave. Just the one slip-up against a barrage of probing questions from the media – saying he trusts the club “at the moment”, which he later clarified to say he trusts them “always”.
Another thing to note: Maresca said he spoke to Pep Guardiola after the derby win over Manchester United last month but seemingly not since the guilty verdict.
“Finally,” Maresca smiles when a Norwegian journalist asks him about Erling Haaland’s fitness. “He’s ready for Anfield,” he adds.
Maresca is asked whether he would have accepted the City job had he known about the charges.
“100%,” he replies. “I know the organisation from years ago. I know how serious they are. They do the right things. I would like to speak about this when we win the appeal.
“To be honest. We didn’t speak about that,” he says of whether he spoke to City about the charges before taking the job. “That wasn’t a problem for the club at the time because they are speaking in an honest way. They are convinced in the end that they are going to win the appeal.”
“I understand that probably you want to hear different words from me,” Maresca admits. “But the real words is that, the players … yes, the noise is there … they are 20-25 years old. They come, they enjoy their training sessions. They go home happy. They are top of the league.
“So the players are relaxed. They are just thinking of how we can beat Liverpool.”
“They can face the pressure, absolutely,” Maresca says of the test facing his players at Anfield on Sunday. “They already experience a similar a situation. I don’t know … Enzo Fernandez is playing in Argentina. In Argentina, it’s almost every game to go to Anfield.”
Maresca is asked about what might happen if City lose the appeal against the guilty verdict.
“What happens if we win the appeal? We are predicting the future,” he replies.
Asked again about whether he would stay if City are relegated, he reminds the media that he won the Championship with Leicester.
Maresca is quizzed about his comments just now about trusting the club completely “at the moment” and whether that trust could change.
“Sorry that was the wrong answer,” he replies. “I completely trust the club in this moment, in the future, always.
“Thank you, I can modify the answer,” he laughs.
Maresca says City achievements ‘absolutely not’ tainted
Maresca is asked whether his achievements as Pep Guardiola’s assistant feel tainted by the guilty verdict. His response? “Absolutely not.”
He slightly dodges a question about whether, as Guardiola had said previously, he would stay on as head coach if City are relegated. “There is not another club in the world where I want to be,” Maresca says.
Enzo Maresca faces the media
Maresca bats away the first question from the BBC about the guilty verdict.
“I understand the reason why most of you are here,” he says to the journalists present, “but the only thing I can say is that something I already said: there is a process ongoing and in this moment I completely trust the club. This is what I can say about that.”
The seats are filling up in the media theatre at Manchester City’s training ground. We shall see how much Enzo Maresca is willing or able to talk about the club’s guilty verdict. As usual, it is the head coach who must front up to the press about club issues instead of those higher up.
Maresca has arrived …
European FAs pushing for three-week international break to be abandoned
Nick Ames
Europe’s football associations have raised serious concerns about the impact of the extended international break and will ask Uefa to push for a reversion to the previous scheduling.
The new three-week break left European countries tasked with four Nations League games, which typically took place within 11 days. It has brought deep misgivings about player workload, injuries and financial viability, with one FA president telling the Guardian it was “a disaster” and numerous others saying the schedule is unworkable.
Football Weekly: You can watch/listen to the pod squad discuss Sunday’s clash between Liverpool and Manchester City, plus much more, in the latest episode.
A reminder that Enzo Maresca will face the media in 20 minutes’ time at the Etihad Campus in Manchester. You can follow the press conference live here.
Big interview: Oliver Glasner has told Ben Fisher he has “two hearts” beating inside his chest as he prepares to take his Nottingham Forest team to face former club Crystal Palace on Sunday.
When Glasner left Palace at the end of last season, he raised a few eyebrows by turning up at Forest. Relations between the two clubs have been tense since Forest took Palace’s place in the Europa League last season after they complained to Uefa about a breach of its multi-ownership rules.
It was not a decision against Crystal Palace, because I decided last October, one year ago, not to sign a new contract. It was then, in the summer, a decision for Nottingham Forest, due to different reasons. Sometimes unexpected things happen in life … there was no plan for me to be Forest manager.
What do Man City fans actually think? The Guardian has spoken to a handful on either side of the Atlantic.
Whatever happens, nobody can take the last 15 years away from us. We lived every moment: Agüero in 2012, the centurions, the treble, Istanbul. Those memories are ours and no verdict changes that. Right now I just feel confused – Ben, season ticket holder
I can’t give those memories back. But I do know that the richest people in the world thinking that the rules don’t apply to them, that they can cheat and then arrogantly chuck endless money at the situation, has nothing to do with what I love about football, nothing to do with what I love about Manchester, nothing to do with what I love about my club … I’m really sad – James, fan for more than 40 years
The severity and duration of City’s offences warrant significant punishment, but the verdict that it took this much sustained rule-breaking and money to prevent United, Arsenal and Liverpool adding to their own trophy cabinets is an indictment on the Premier League – Jon, fan in Washington DC
“I have titles but I don’t have them hanging on my wall. I have them in my head,” said Coventry manager Frank Lampard, who spent one season at Manchester City in 2014-15, during his press conference yesterday.
“Most players that have played and competed against the best players have worked very hard to win. I think it would be very hard to take someone’s title away as a player individually as I think they should be in your head as opposed to in this beautiful glass cabinet or whatever.
“I’m not inside the story, I’m outside it completely – I played for Man City a long time ago, for one year – so we’ll wait and see what the result of the appeal is.”
Lampard’s Coventry, who picked up their first win of the season against Nottingham Forest three weeks ago, host Newcastle on Monday night.
Kompany ‘proud of everything we achieved on pitch’ at City
Former Manchester City captain and now Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany has been speaking to the media in Germany this morning.
I played 11 years for the club, I loved all the years I played for the club and all we achieved and did on the pitch, that is something I am really proud of.
Everything else, as a player, you are not a part of that. As a coach of Bayern Munich, I am not actually too much occupied with that topic as much as preparing for the game we have to win tomorrow.
“Khaldoon says he would rather spend £30m on the 50 best lawyers in the world and sue Uefa for the next ten years than agree a financial penalty.”
Rob Draper looks at the words of Manchester City’s lawyer Simon Cliff as he profiles the club’s chair, Khaldoon al-Mubarak – the man who has dictated the aggressive, confrontational stance City have taken with football authorities.
Before facing the national media for the first time since Manchester City’s guilty verdict this morning, Enzo Maresca has given an in-house interview with the club’s media. There are plenty of references to “the noise” following City at the moment but Maresca was keen to insist his players will not be distracted by it.
“The feeling is fantastic, to be honest,” said Maresca. “The players are excited for the next two games. But especially they are excited because in this moment we are top of the league. The players are just focused on that. They know what we can control is the football side – they are not worried at all about different things.
“They know their profession and they know that the noise is there but they don’t care too much about the noise. They are just focused in this moment on how we can beat Liverpool and how, together with the fans, we can try to win in Anfield.”
Everton owner exploring sale of club after two years
First, the breaking news coming out of Merseyside this morning is that The Friedkin Group are exploring the sale of their controlling interest in Everton. The group completed its takeover from Farhad Moshiri in December 2024 and have overseen the men’s team’s move from Goodison Park to Hill Dickinson Stadium.
“The time is right to consider the next chapter for Everton,” said a club statement. “We will only entertain interest from parties who we strongly believe will be the right stewards to take the club forward and build on the momentum that has been established.”
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the weekend football countdown as the Premier League returns after an international break overshadowed by the guilty verdict handed to Manchester City on over 100 financial rules breaches. City, who are appealing the verdict, have sought to put on a united front, with Erling Haaland saying yesterday that the club “have to stick together” as they return to action on Sunday at Anfield. All eyes will be on Enzo Maresca at 10.30am (BST) as he faces the media for the first time since news of the verdict.
Other press conferences to look out for today are Andoni Iraola, whose Liverpool side host City this weekend, and Mikel Arteta, the former City assistant coach who has signed a new contract as manager of champions Arsenal this week. We’ll also build up to the weekend’s other Premier League games, including Manchester United’s clash with winless Tottenham at Old Trafford, and an EFL fixture list that includes Sunday’s south-coast derby between Southampton and Portsmouth. Tonda Eckert has this week been handed a six-week suspended ban for his part in the Spygate scandal.
England Women are in action at 5.30pm today as the European playoffs for next summer’s World Cup get under way. The Lionesses must progress past Greece and Slovakia/Ukraine to secure their place at the finals in Brazil. Ella Toone has returned to the squad as a late call-up for today’s first leg in Greece. Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are also in the hunt.
Don’t forget you can get in touch throughout the day with your thoughts via email.