Maresca tells Man City squad to 'forget the noise' before febrile Anfield test

Enzo Maresca has issued a pointed message to his Manchester City squad as they prepare to face Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, telling his players: “Forget the noise, we’re here to win a league. Let’s go and win the league.”

The 15-word rallying call, reported by the Daily Mail, comes at one of the most turbulent moments in City’s recent history. An independent panel last week found the club guilty of breaching 114 Premier League rules — a verdict City deny and are appealing. Potential sanctions, should the appeal fail, include a points deduction, expulsion from the top flight, and the stripping of titles.

With Liverpool having finished as runners-up to City in several of those title races over the past 15 years, the atmosphere at Anfield is expected to be particularly charged. Maresca’s response has been to shut out the external noise entirely. According to the Daily Mail, the Italian manager “stalks the dressing room when he talks, repeating mantras over and over, louder and louder” — an approach that has left his players said to be “ready to go to war” for him.

Maresca reinforced that message at his pre-match press conference. “For me and the players, we can control just the pitch, the football side,” he said. “We are focused on that. This is what we can control. We cannot control something different. Viewing the environment in the last two days, I am not worried at all. The environment of the players is nice.”

City head into the game top of the Premier League, a position Maresca pointed to as grounds for confidence. “In this moment we are top of the league, so the players have all the reasons to be happy and excited. It will be a tough game for sure, a tough test, but we need to be ready.”

On the ongoing legal proceedings, Maresca was measured but firm in his backing of the club’s position. “I trust the club because I know the people, but I promise you my focus is just about football. I am not thinking about different things, first of all because I don’t understand much about different things. I just focus on the things I can control and that is the football side.”

Former City manager Pep Guardiola, who stepped down last summer after a decade at the Etihad, has also publicly backed the club, declaring his support for “my club” and insisting “we will get through this together.” Guardiola is set to return to the Etihad for the Champions League fixture against Paris Saint-Germain in midweek.

“I spoke with Pep the last time after the Man Utd game. I know he is coming on Wednesday. It is always a pleasure,” Maresca said. “After 10 years here he can come any time he wants — not just for a game but for a training session, at any moment. It will be nice for him and the fans.”