PRINCIPALITY STADIUM — If Diet Pep is to replace Pep without the feeling that this is a kind of knock-off Manchester City, the issues are currently too glaring. City have been puzzling, disappointing, unconvincing before – rarely the incoherent mess swept aside by Arsenal in the Community Shield.
A 3-0 defeat in Cardiff was damning not because of the result, which never has much bearing on the season proper. It is unwelcome for Enzo Maresca because it leaves him with questions to answer before the title race has begun. All it took were 23 seconds to fall behind, 46 minutes for the first sacking chants to echo towards the touchline.
A rigid back line applied no real pressure for Riccardo Calafiori’s first-minute opener, were found out by a simple ball across the box for Christos Tzolis to set up Kai Havertz, and who seemed to have put down the controller altogether by the time Martin Odegaard waltzed in a third. Predictions based on the annual curtain-raiser usually fall somewhere between the premature and the irrelevant but City cannot afford to defend like this in any context.
The style of build-up Maresca demands would have suited James Trafford, who has been sold, but not Ruben Diasc, who played all 90 minutes. Antoine Semenyo found himself on the wrong flank.
Phil Foden was the prime example of a side ill at ease with itself. At the World Cup, he somehow became a byword for England’s lack of creativity, by virtue of the fact he had been left at home. That overlooks the simple fact that nobody is any the wiser as to his best position. Through the middle here, Myles Lewis-Skelly evaded him as he threaded the ball through to Calafiori to open proceedings.
Bruno Guimaraes kept him at bay with one fingertip. It is two years since he was named Player of the Year, weeks since he signed a new deal; it remains impossible to see how he can start ahead of Rayan Cherki, who replaced him after an hour.
It said everything that Mikel Arteta had prioritised nullifying the wingers, with Foden left in space and still unable to impact the game in any meaningful way. When Maresca turned to Jack Grealish, this felt like a City in search of an ideal, no longer working off the evidence.
Foden’s plight was not helped by the absence of Rodri. Barcelona’s expected third bid has the potential to blow up the midfield, even after Elliot Anderson’s addition. In Bernardo Silva and John Stones, leaders other than Pep have been lost.
City were even caused problems down Arsenal’s left, where the league champions have not done enough to consolidate. After moves for Vinicius Jr and Morgan Rogers failed to materialise, they cannot afford to leave Gabriel Martinelli as their most senior left winger, particularly with his future uncertain. A new centre-back is essential to mitigate William Saliba’s injury, however imperious Ben White and Gabriel proved.
Yet the jump required of Arsenal is from the best team in the country to a verified super-club. The gulf for City is greater. The onus was on Maresca to prove it was his side who had bridged the gap and they failed spectacularly. He is one of nine new managers in the Premier League this season. Few will begin under so much scrutiny.
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