CITY FOOTBALL ACADEMY — When Manchester City started the first in-house Enzo Maresca interview since the guilty verdict with, “what have you been up to in the international break?”, not much was expected from the Italian’s first press conference on the subject.

In the face of the biggest cheating scandal in British footballing history, City have remained masters at the art of deflection. In their moribund questioning of Maresca, they keep referring to the “noise” around the club. 

Maresca himself toed the party line as he faced the media on Friday, a press auditorium three times as busy as any other City pre-match press conference in recent memory. The rest of what he said was, however, rather more illuminating than expected. With one or two exceptions…

City’s success remains untainted

Maresca was unequivocal in assessing whether City’s success now comes with an asterisk. Or could even be taken away.

“Absolutely not,” he began with an insistence on the former glories. “The last time I was here, from the treble season, I know the effort from the players, the club, the manager. I know the effort that the club put into achieve that target so I don’t have any doubt about that.”

No regrets about taking the job

Whether we believe him or not on this matter is up for debate. Maresca, however, feels he made the right call in the summer to rejoin City, even given the uncertain future they face now.

His confidence in the final clause echoed through the state-of-the-art halls at City Football Academy.

“I trust the club, because I trust the people and this is also the reason why I joined the club,” he said. “There is not another club in the world where I would like to be. I’m very happy to be, I’m very proud. 

“I understand why most of you are here but the only thing I can say is the reason why I joined the club is that I completely trust the club, all the organisation. I don’t have any doubts about that. I spoke with the club… and probably the right moment to speak about that is when we win the appeal.”

Business as usual for the players

With no relegation clauses in their contracts, it is understood that there is at least some uncertainty among the playing staff over their futures.

Some who picked City over other elite Premier League clubs must be questioning their sanity? Not according to Maresca, who used experience from being a player during the Calciopoli scandal in Italy to explain how young footballers go about dealing with such seismic events.

“The players are 20, 25 years old. They are just thinking how they can train, how they can get better and thinking about the games,” he said.

“We completely understand the seriousness of the situation. We understand, the players understand, but it’s our duty and our job to try to control the noise. The manager and the players are focused to win games, not about something different.”

He did not address the charges before taking the job

Probably something of an oversight, Enzo. It just never came up.

“No,” Maresca said when asked if the topic was discussed when penning a multi-million-pound contract. “It wasn’t a problem for the club in that time and they are thinking in an honest way. I think they are convinced that at the end we’re going to win the appeal.”

Pep will be in attendance next week

The troops are rallying. Pep Guardiola knows his legacy is at stake, so is doubling down, and will attend the Paris Saint-Germain match at the Etihad next week, Maresca confirmed.

Probably sat next to his chairman, who he also insists has done no wrong.

“The last time was after the Man United game when I spoke to Pep but I know that he’s coming on Tuesday,” Maresca said. “It’s always a pleasure. After 10 years here, he can come any time he wants – not just for a game or training session. It will be nice for him and for the fans.”

What remains unanswered – whether he will stick around

There was an element of gallows humour in Maresca’s response to questions over whether he would stay if City are relegated, or worse.

It is almost impossible to hypothesise, given the wide range of punishments City face. Maresca nonetheless passed up the opportunity to nail his colours to the mast.

“I won the Championship with Leicester,” Maresca added. “So in case we are in League One we will see. But we are thinking about something we don’t know. 

“I would like to speak about this situation when we win the appeal. Now it makes no sense to speak about anything because I don’t have any information.”

More on Man City

English football owes Arsene Wenger an apology

Yes, Man City broke the rules. But the rules are also a nonsense

Does he really understand it all?

It appears Maresca has some pre-bedtime reading to do over the next few weeks.

Not many of us completely comprehend the complexity of the case. The manager of Manchester City, however, seems rather worryingly short of any idea.

“I trust the club because I know the people, but I promise you that my focus is just about football,” he said. “I’m not thinking about different things. I don’t understand many things, about different things, so I just focus on what I can control – the football side.”