Antoine Semenyo excited by Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City blueprint: ‘It’s music to my ears’

Ghana international Antoine Semenyo has expressed his excitement over Manchester City’s new tactical direction under manager Enzo Maresca, revealing that the Italian coach’s demands of his wingers perfectly match his strengths as an attacker.

Maresca began life as Pep Guardiola’s successor with a pre-season friendly against Inter Milan in Hong Kong, where City suffered defeat on penalties after a promising display that offered an early glimpse into the attacking philosophy the former Chelsea manager plans to introduce.

Semenyo was handed a starting role in Maresca’s first match in charge and impressed during his 45-minute appearance, repeatedly using his explosive pace and direct approach to put pressure on Inter full-back Andy Diouf.

The Ghanaian forward also played a key role in City’s opening goal, setting up youngster Divine Mukasa as the Premier League champions showcased some of the attacking patterns expected under their new boss.

Another player who caught the attention of Maresca was substitute Ryan McAidoo, with the manager praising both him and Semenyo as examples of the type of wide players he wants to build his team around.

Maresca is keen for his wingers to operate aggressively, attack defenders in one-on-one situations and create chances from wide areas — an approach that has thrilled Semenyo.

Speaking after the match, the 26-year-old admitted that Maresca’s tactical ideas were among the first things that excited him following the coach’s appointment.

“When he got appointed, that was the first thing I thought about because when you’ve played Chelsea previously when he was there, his wide men were always high and quite free,” Semenyo said.

“So that was one of the things that excited me the most when he got appointed and it’s exciting for me as a winger. I get to have one-v-one situations most of the game and I am looking forward to it.”

The Ghana star also revealed that he has already held individual discussions with Maresca to understand his role and expectations within the new system.

“I have had individual meetings with him on how he wants to set up, how he wants to play his wide men and just overall as a team,” he added.

Semenyo believes Maresca’s ideas retain elements of Guardiola’s football but also bring fresh attacking freedom that could allow City’s wingers to have a greater impact.

“I think his ideas are great, quite similar to Pep, but if you watched the [Inter] game, you would have seen a couple of his ideas play out and it was good,” he explained.

“Enzo is just [stay] out wide and when you get the ball, just create opportunities. So it is music to my ears.”

With Maresca looking to implement a more direct attacking style, Semenyo appears set to become one of the key beneficiaries of the new system. His pace, power and ability to beat defenders could make him a central figure in Manchester City’s next chapter as they begin life after Guardiola.