Manchester City winger Antoine Semenyo says Enzo Maresca’s attacking approach is “music to my ears” after getting an early taste of the new head coach’s tactics during the club’s pre-season opener.
City were beaten on penalties by Inter Milan in Hong Kong in Maresca’s first game in charge, but the Italian’s emphasis on attacking wing play was evident throughout the contest.
Semenyo started the match and caused constant problems for Inter full-back Andy Diouf with his pace and direct running, helping create Divin Mubama’s goal before being replaced at half-time.
Teenage winger Ryan McAidoo also impressed off the bench, with Maresca later describing both players as the type of wingers he wants in his system.
“When he got appointed, that was the first thing I thought about because when you’ve played Chelsea previously when he was there, his wide men were always high and quite free,” Semenyo said.
“So that was one of the things that excited me the most when he got appointed and it’s exciting for me as a winger. I get to have one-v-one situations most of the game and I am looking forward to it.
“I have had individual meetings with him on how he wants to set up, how he wants to play his wide men and just overall as a team.
“I think his ideas are great, quite similar to Pep, but if you watched the Inter game, you would have seen a couple of his ideas play out and it was good.
“Enzo is just [telling me to] stay out wide and when you get the ball, just create opportunities. So it is music to my ears.”
Semenyo joined City as ‘next step’
Semenyo joined City from Bournemouth in a £65 million deal during the January transfer window after attracting interest from Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea.
The Ghana international said Manchester City was the obvious choice for the next step in his career.
“I owe Bournemouth everything to be honest,” he said. “They helped my Premier League career flourish and the management, the staff behind the scenes, they were all amazing and made everything so smooth.
“I just wanted the next step to be the big one and Manchester City was the option.
“Pep spoke to me beforehand and he said, ‘Look, when you come, I am going to make you a better player’.
“You want to get better, you want to improve every season and he definitely helped me with that in the first five months, but obviously it’s sad for him to leave.”
Semenyo scored 21 goals for club and country last season, including the winner in City’s FA Cup final victory over Chelsea, while also helping the club lift the Carabao Cup.
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