Manchester City Manager Enzo Maresca has praised his players for overcoming a hostile atmosphere at Anfield and suggested the club’s current problems off the pitch could help strengthen the relationship between the team and its supporters.
The city secured an important Premier League win about Liverpool Despite the difficulty during the first half, Maresca acknowledged that his team initially struggled to cope with the intensity of the occasion.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Maresca was asked if City’s current problems off the pitch could bring the players and supporters closer together.
“Probably yes, probably not. I don’t know,” the city boss said.
“It can create a bond with the fans. I said during the week bring the passion, bring the noise and hopefully we can celebrate a win. That’s the only thing we can focus on.
“After 10-15 years where the organization is winning titles, doing the right things in terms of winning titles and then this happens, it’s not a good feeling for them.
“There is an ongoing process, this is not the time.
“I can’t control things outside of football, so why stress?” he said
“I insist on the game plan, the training sessions day by day, but the rest is not in my hands.”
Maresca tells City players to embrace hostile atmospheres
Maresca admitted that Manchester City had struggled to dominate in the first half against Liverpool, particularly when out of possession.
“Very difficult circumstances, difficult environment,” he said.
“We fought in the first half, we were on the ball but not so much off the ball.
“In the second half we made some adjustments and we were much better. In the preparation we didn’t do things well, in the second half we were better.”
The City manager also highlighted the challenge of playing at Anfield, where the Liverpool fans created an intimidating atmosphere.
However, he believes his players need to get used to these occasions.
“We have to learn to manage the noise because the noise will accompany us to all our games away from home, there will be noise,” explained Maresca.
“We have to deal with that and make our noise. Our noise is winning games.
“The feeling at the end of the game with our fans and our noise, it’s a nice feeling and a different noise.”
“It was nice to play this kind of game because of the noise, because of the environment. We have to make our noise and deal with their noise.”
