How Maresca's Man City are shaping up compared with Guardiola

Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca has no easy task following Pep Guardiola's impressive 10-year act.

For many, his appointment suggests a continuation in tactical approach.

But Maresca, despite clearly being inspired by his former mentor, has his own style and one which we have started to see emerge across City's pre-season.

To understand Maresca's City we need to provide some context about Guardiola's.

Guardiola, by some, is mistakenly thought to be strictly married to a singular approach. While Guardiola had principles he stuck to throughout his career, he did not stick to one system.

These principles included keeping as much of the ball as possible, as far away from his team's goal and as close to the opponent's goal. His game was also founded on the basis of positional play.

Domenec Torrent, a long-time assistant of Guardiola's, offered a nice definition of positional play, describing it as "how you place yourself in relation to others on the field when you have the ball, and where you should be so that you can continue pressing when you lose it".

The coach implements tactics based on the positions of players in the hope of giving their team an advantage.