According to the Manchester Evening News, Manchester City beat reporter Simon Bajkowski discussed the differences between Maresca's coaching staff and Guardiola's era, Fyrd Samba's future chances of breaking into the first team, and alternative solutions for the team in Erling Haaland's absence, in his latest fan Q&A session.

Vladimir: Hello, Simon. I'd like to ask about Maresca's coaching staff. Have any club insiders discussed the differences between Guardiola's coaching staff, such as Pep Lijnders and Kolo Touré, and Maresca's staff? Perhaps the team's atmosphere has changed, or there have been other changes?

Simon Bajkowski: Thank you for your question. The internal workings of a coaching staff are indeed very interesting, and each staff is different.

For example, last season, Pep Guardiola was happy to let Pep Lijnders take real charge of many training sessions, and Lijnders particularly emphasized intensity when dealing with players. His demands were more intense than anyone on Maresca's coaching staff.

However, "high intensity" is also a phrase used to describe Maresca, as he is working hard to impart his philosophy to the players. Compared to Guardiola, Maresca is more hands-on, while his coaching staff members mostly play a supporting role.

Maresca also ensures that more than one member of the coaching staff focuses on youth players to ensure their continued development, with Danny Walker and Willy Caballero paying particular attention to these young players.

Gigio Donnarumma also seems to be enjoying working with goalkeeper coach De Bernardin. This is not to disparage his predecessor, Mancisidor, who is widely considered one of the best coaches in this field. However, Donnarumma now incorporates targeted drills in training to ensure his footwork and distribution meet the requirements. Additionally, for Manchester City's number one goalkeeper, having other Italians on the coaching staff to communicate ideas with is inherently helpful. With so many new faces in the team, the internal atmosphere has naturally changed, but the team's standards remain the same.

Is there a real possibility that Fyrd Samba could become a significant first-team option by next year? I mean, will his development path be similar to Foden's at the time, training with the first team while starting in cup games? Given that he is currently behind Enzo Fernandez and Elliot Anderson in the pecking order, does the club view him this way?

Fyrd Samba has indeed made a very impressive introduction. First, I want to say that he is still very young, as he won't turn 18 until next January. Although he is one of the most exciting talents in his age group, Phil Foden's situation at the time was quite unique.

I believe Samba will continue to be part of the first-team squad this season. After his performance against Norwich, he should get more playing time. Then the club will decide what arrangement is best for him next season. It's entirely possible he'll stay with Maresca, but Manchester City might also believe that a loan spell, allowing him to play more consistently, would be a better option for him.

Divin Mukasa is currently on loan at West Ham United, and he would be considered ahead of Samba in the team's assessment of these young players. Additionally, there's Echeverri, who is currently at Benfica. It can no longer be assumed that a player's chances of breaking into the first team are over just because they've been loaned out from Manchester City.

Samba's advantage is that he is here now. If he continues to seize opportunities when they arise, he will get more and more chances while he remains with the team and other players are not available.

After selling Marmoush and not signing a backup striker, is our depth behind Haaland still too thin? Especially if Haaland suffers an injury, is the team's squad depth sufficient to go far in all four competitions? Besides Haaland, where will our goals come from?

I do feel that without Haaland, this team would look a bit thin. Part of the reason is that Semenyo, who was expected to be his backup, now has as much playing time as Haaland.

I believe that if Foden hadn't been suspended, Maresca would have wanted to play Foden as a false nine against Norwich. As for Samba, he won't be directly deployed in that position in more important matches for now. Foden, Rayan Cherki, and Ndiaye have all been mentioned as players who can deputize as a false nine in Haaland's absence.

And some tactical arrangements against Norwich, such as Ayub Bouhaddi dropping deeper, show that Maresca is experimenting with different players and also trying to figure out what formations and positions these players can occupy.

This will be a recurring topic throughout the season. As it stands, Manchester City's squad does seem a bit short-handed. However, currently, many people also don't believe that Maresca's Manchester City can win those major competitions.

Every game changes perceptions. Manchester City could position themselves to use Haaland as much as needed; or they could find other sources of goals when the team needs them.

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