Manchester City's Antoine Semenyo: 'From day one, Enzo Maresca has got his ideas to us'

You cannot always glean much from pre-season friendlies but Manchester City's game against Inter in Hong Kong on Saturday might be a big hint at what is to come, particularly for Antoine Semenyo and his fellow wingers.

Enzo Maresca, speaking after his first match in charge of City, let fans know they can expect exciting wide play this season. "I always asked for that kind of winger. You need the players outside that can beat their man one-v-one."

One of the standout features of the match at the Kai Tak Stadium was the direct dribbling of Semenyo, Savinho and 18-year-old Ryan McAidoo -- and it came as no surprise to Semenyo.

"When we played Chelsea when Maresca was there, his wide men were always high and wide and quite free," he tells The Athletic.

"That was one of the things that excited me the most when he was appointed. I get to have one-v-one situations most of the game, and I'm looking forward to it."

Semenyo joined from Bournemouth for £62.5million ($84m) in the January transfer window and made a big impact in his half-season at City, scoring 11 goals, including the winner in the FA Cup final.

The Ghana international had interest from several top clubs but picked City, and says he was excited to improve under Pep Guardiola, rather than paying attention to the growing speculation about the former manager leaving at the end of the season.

"As a player," he says, "you're thinking about yourself selfishly, and that's not to be nasty or anything. I just wanted the next step to be the big one.

"Pep spoke to me beforehand. He said, 'Look, when you come, I'm going to make you a better player', and that's music to my ears. You want to get better, you want to improve every season, and he definitely helped me in the first five months.

"When I came in, I wanted to do everything at 100 miles per hour, and sometimes I was going too fast for the ball, too fast for my feet and he always said to me, 'We have the ball a lot, just relax, there'll be an opening, play the ball out wide, if it comes back again, just be ready to go one-v-one'. It was just making sure I'm in the right position to receive the ball and go one-v-one at the right time.

"I felt that I was trying to do it with two or three players around me, and he always said to me, 'Look, there's always going to be an opening with the way we move the ball, there's going to be an opportunity where you it's just you and the defender, and once you beat the defender, you've got a chance to score'. So we worked a lot on patience and it's definitely helped."

Within a couple of months, Semenyo was the subject of a fan chant that became the backdrop for the run-in, as supporters dreamed about overhauling Arsenal and winning the Premier League, alongside their more successful push for the two domestic cups.

Most players wait years for their own song, others never get one at all.

"I don't even know where it came from," Semenyo says. "I just heard it on Instagram a couple of times and then in the stadiums. I appreciate the fans for that. It gives me all the confidence in the world."

The Carabao Cup victory over Arsenal in March represented Semenyo's first trophy as a footballer, and hunting for silverware was another adaptation process.

"It was a new feeling because at Bournemouth it was, 'Some games you win, some games you lose'. We picked up a lot of form, we knew it was essentially crunch time and wanted to chase Arsenal, so every result was very, very important.

"It was amazing. Unfortunately (we fell) at the last hurdle, so we just have to go again this year and hopefully we can be successful."

City's title challenge came unstuck thanks largely to the 3-3 draw at Everton, and Arsenal's triumph was confirmed after Guardiola's side lost at Bournemouth in the final week. Days earlier, Semenyo's neat backheel had decided a tight FA Cup final against Chelsea.

"I've gone back to my striker days there. It was just instinctive," he says. "The ball was behind me and I tried to get the best contact I could.

"While I've been on holiday, I've had time to reflect on everything. It feels like so long ago, but it's a dream as well. I never, ever thought I would be playing in the FA Cup final and scoring the winner, that's another thing. It was a dream come true."

Semenyo is speaking at an event at a shopping centre in Hong Kong to promote Ahmad Tea, one of the brands he represents. Dozens of local media and influencers pack into a room that has been decked out to look more like a fancy wedding than a media opportunity.

English scones and jam provide the centrepiece on four round tables decked out with white tablecloths and tea menus at every seat. Semenyo stands at the top table and samples several different types of tea, while guests can try to bounce table tennis balls into tea cups -- basically a sophisticated beer pong.

The Maresca era is beginning to take shape in Asia, where City travel to South Korea next to face K-League All Stars and Atletico Madrid, before flying back to meet Arsenal in the Community Shield and begin their season proper against Bournemouth.

"I owe them everything," he says of his former club. "They helped my Premier League career flourish and obviously the management, the staff behind the scenes, they were all amazing."

If those early glimpses of life under Maresca are anything to go by, the sight of Semenyo in full flight will be a recurring theme over the coming months.

"From day one, he's got his ideas to us," Semenyo says of Maresca. "I've had individual meetings with him on how he wants to set up, how he wants to play, his wide men, just overall as a team. It's been good. His ideas are great, quite similar to Pep. If you watched the game (against Inter), you would have seen a couple of his ideas play out and it was good.

"In some games (Guardiola) wanted me wide, some games he wanted me inside a little bit more, depending on our opposition. Enzo is just about being out wide and when you get the ball, create opportunities. It's exciting."

Kaynak: The New York Times. Telif hakkı kaynak yayına aittir; buradaki metin özet/atıftır.

Orijinal haber: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7486349/2026/08/03/antoine-semenyo-manchester-city-maresca-guardiola-premier-league/