According to the Manchester Evening News, Manchester City correspondent Simon Bajkowski discussed the differences between Maresca's coaching staff and Guardiola's era, Floyd Samba's future prospects of breaking into the first team, and alternative options when Haaland is absent, in a recent fan Q&A session.

Vladimir: Hi Simon. I'd like to ask about Maresca's coaching staff. Are there people at the club discussing the differences between Guardiola's coaching staff, such as Pep Lijnders, Kolo Toure, etc., and Maresca's staff? Perhaps the atmosphere within the team has changed, or are there other differences?

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

For example, last season, Pep Guardiola liked to have Pep Lijnders lead many training sessions, and Lijnders specifically emphasized intensity when working with players; his demands were stronger than anyone on Maresca's coaching staff.

However, "high intensity" is also a term used to describe Maresca, as he works hard to convey his philosophy to the players. Compared to Guardiola, Maresca is more hands-on and directly involved, while his coaching staff members largely play a supporting role.

Maresca also ensures that multiple coaching staff members focus on young players to ensure their continuous development, with Danny Walker and Willy Caballero specifically paying attention to these young players.

Donnarumma also seems to really enjoy working with goalkeeper coach De Bernardin. This is not to diminish his predecessor, Mancisidor, who is widely regarded as one of the best in the field. However, Donnarumma now does specialized drills in training sessions to ensure his distribution meets requirements. Moreover, for Manchester City's number-one goalkeeper, having another Italian on the coaching staff to communicate with is very helpful. With so many new faces in the squad, the team atmosphere has naturally changed, but the team's standards remain unchanged.

Could Floyd Samba really become an important option in the first team next year? I mean, will his development path be similar to Foden's, training with the first team while starting in cup matches? Given that he's currently behind Enzo Fernandez and Eliot Anderson in the pecking order, does the club see him that way?

The way Floyd Samba has introduced himself is indeed very impressive. First, I want to say that he's still very young—he'll only turn 18 next January. Although he is one of the most exciting talents in his age group, Phil Foden's situation at that time was somewhat unique.

I think Samba will continue in the first-team squad this season. Following his performance against Norwich, he should get more playing time. The club will then decide the best arrangement for him next season. It's quite possible he'll continue with Maresca, but Manchester City might also think that loaning him out to get more consistent playing time would be the better option for his development.

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

Samba's advantage is that he's here now. If he continues to make the most of opportunities when they arise, he'll get more chances as he stays with the team and other players are not available.

After selling Marmoush, the club didn't recruit a backup striker. Is our attack still too thin without Haaland? Especially if Haaland gets injured, is the squad depth sufficient to compete across all four competitions? Where will our goals come from besides Haaland?

I feel that without Haaland, the team looks a bit thin. Part of the reason is Álvarez, who was expected to be his backup, now has similar playing time to Haaland.

I'm confident that if Foden hadn't been suspended, Maresca would have wanted Foden to play as a false nine in the Norwich match. As for Samba, he wouldn't be deployed directly in this position in more important matches right now. Foden, Rayan Cherki, and Ndiaye have all been mentioned as players who could fill the false nine role when Haaland is absent.

And some tactical setups against Norwich, such as Akanji playing deeper, also show that Maresca is experimenting with different players and also with formations and positions that these players can adopt.

This will be a recurring topic throughout the season. As it stands, Manchester City's squad does look a bit short. However, at the same time, many people didn't believe that Maresca's Manchester City could win those major competitions.

Every match changes people's perceptions. Manchester City can position themselves to use Haaland as much as they need; or they can find other sources of goals when the team needs them.

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