After leading Manchester City to a 5-0 home victory over Norwich in the third round of the Carabao Cup, head coach Enzo Maresca attended a press conference.

Enzo, you've promoted Floyd Samba to the first team this season. How pleased are you to see him make his debut and score two goals?

Yes, I'm very pleased. Not just because of the two goals, but more importantly because of his overall performance throughout the match. He played very well. He hasn't played much as a number 9 before, and we tried him in that position over the last few days. As I said yesterday, he's also very good at finishing attacks. So I think it was a great match for him.

Despite making many changes, you still achieved a comfortable scoreline, which shows that when you make lots of rotations, you can fully trust the players coming off the bench...

Yes, of course. I've said it since day one—I'm quite pleased with how our overall system is working right now. This wasn't an easy match, because as we've often said, knockout matches like this are frequently the most complex. However, the players' attitude was very serious and very professional, so I'm very happy with everyone's performance.

Hello Enzo, what's your assessment of Alan's performance today?

Yes, I thought it was a very good performance. It wasn't easy for him either. It was his first time playing 90 minutes, and his first time playing such a long stretch at our home ground, so it's always complicated. But I think playing 90 minutes was very important for him, and it also allowed him to feel and adapt to the rhythm of English football, which is slightly different from South American football. Overall, he performed very well, scoring one goal and providing one assist, so I'm sure he himself is very happy too.

In your view, what role will he play in the team this season? How much playing time do you think he'll get across the various competitions?

Look, we have different competitions and many matches to play, and we're only at the beginning of the season. What's certain is that the players who played tonight will definitely get opportunities in the Premier League or Champions League during this long season, because the season is very demanding. We have him, Jeremy Doku will soon return as well, and Antoine Semenyo, Ilias Ndiaye, Ryan McAdoo, and others—we have various types of wingers, and we hope to utilize them all fully.

I know it's early to talk about this, but looking back at this stage before the international break, you've achieved six consecutive wins, the team keeps scoring goals, and you've recorded four consecutive clean sheets. I mean, as a new head coach at a club, this is almost a perfect start for you...

Yes, of course. I'm very pleased to have achieved five or six consecutive wins. But having said that, the main focus now is just on the next match. I won't dwell too much on the idea that "we've won six games in a row" because those matches are already finished. Of course, I'm happy if we win—yes, I clearly prefer winning to not winning. But that's the point: now we focus on the next match, and after that, we finally have the international break.

Behind this brilliant start, Enzo, did you ever imagine or predict such an extraordinary beginning in your coaching career here?

No, and the reason is that I've repeatedly emphasized that I never think more than a week ahead. Because I know that in our profession, many things can change in a week. So when the season started, I didn't predict or imagine where we'd be after six or seven matches. From day one, I was thinking about the Arsenal match, and after Arsenal, it was Bournemouth—taking one match at a time. Tonight we had plenty of reasons to be happy, and now we can start thinking and concentrate fully on Sunday's match.

Can I ask another question about Floyd Samba? Clearly, he's still very young, and you said he hasn't played much as a number 9 before, but he showed real maturity. He's always asking for the ball, has strong physical presence and good ball-retention skills. I mean, there's a lot to admire about his performance up front...

Yes. Over the last three or four days, when I decided to let him play as a number 9, I asked him if he'd ever played in that position before. He said he hadn't, but I thought he could handle it. Of course, he's certainly not a pure traditional number 9, but he performed very well. As I said yesterday, he's young, energetic, physically strong, capable of finishing attacks, and can also link up play and combine with teammates. In the first half, he also did excellent work in creating chances for his teammates and making good passing decisions, so I'm very pleased. That said, they're still very young, and we need to be patient with them, step by step.

Yes, because everyone has been speculating about what would happen if you had to rest your main striker or if he couldn't play for some reason. So is Floyd now a viable option?

Yes, I just said we also have Antoine in that position, and it largely depends on the specific game plan. We could also let Phil Foden or Rayan Cherki play as a false nine, depending on the specific situation. But what's certain is that he played tonight and performed very well, and I hope we can create more playing opportunities for him in the future.

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