Maresca took charge of City during a European summer of major change and has had to introduce his tactical approach while also dealing with player arrivals, departures and the disruption caused by the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

City opened their league campaign with a 2-1 comeback victory over Bournemouth last week, with Marc Guehi and Josko Gvardiol scoring after Marcus Tavernier had put the visitors behind.

Despite conceding first, Maresca was encouraged by the way his players followed his instructions, particularly when pressing.

"I think we are quite close," Maresca said at his pre-match press conference.

"Against Bournemouth, in terms of pressing, we recovered 76 per cent of the ball. That is a fantastic result.

"It happens that once or twice you don't recover the ball and they create two chances. It's normal - it's football.

"I think the players are understanding the way we want to defend and press."

Maresca accepts that his team will not control every moment of a match, but believes their pressing numbers show they are making progress.

"It's football, in the end you can't control everything," he said.

"But it's much better if you can recover 76 per cent of the ball rather than 50 per cent.

"It means you give less chances to the opposition. But again, you cannot control everything. It can happen at set pieces or at any moment."

The Italian has also had to be flexible with his plans because of the unusual European summer schedule and the impact of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Several players arrived late, while transfer activity has continued to shape his squad. Guehi was even used in midfield against Bournemouth as Maresca looked for a solution.

"It's complicated because you want to start new things and new concepts with a new manager, even if there are similarities with the previous one," he said.

"At the end, all managers and all players are different. It has been a little bit complicated because some players arrive late and now with transfers.

"That's why Marc Guehi in midfield was a solution and tomorrow there might be another solution.

"It's my duty and my job to find a solution and try to help the players to win games. In the end, they are the ones on the pitch to try to win the game."

Maresca also outlined his preference for having two players competing for every position, while keeping a pathway open for academy players.

"I think probably the right idea is to have two players in each position. They need to compete between them," he said.

"The standard is higher when they can compete for every game. So for me the ideal situation is to have two players in each position.

"At the moment we have 21 or 22 players and that can be the right number.

"But we have three or four academy players in this number, and thinking we are playing 60, maybe 65 games this season, we probably need more numbers."

City now face their first away test of the Premier League campaign when they travel to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace on Friday night.

Thulani Hlatshwayo credits Gavin Hunt and SuperSport United for career revival