City Watch: Community Shield awaits

After a pretty quiet start to pre-season, Manchester City have now finished the final two games of the summer with victories over the K-League All Stars and Atletico Madrid, giving Enzo Maresca a perfect winning record heading into his first competitive game in charge.

Of course, I’m not going to get carried away after two pre-season wins, nobody is winning the Premier League because they beat the K-League All Stars in July, and there’s a reason why these games are about fitness, experimenting and getting players up to speed rather than results. However, when you’re starting a new era at a club like City, winning football matches certainly doesn’t hurt.

The Atletico game in particular was a really encouraging way to finish pre-season. City found themselves behind but turned the game around, with Omar Marmoush scoring twice to secure the victory. It was great to see him back amongst the goals and looking sharp again after his introduction to English football last season.

Erling Haaland is obviously going to remain City’s first-choice striker, but having genuine competition for that position can only be a good thing. Marmoush has shown that he can score goals and cause problems at this level, and if he can maintain the form he showed against Atletico, Maresca will have a very useful alternative at his disposal.

The important thing now is to take the positives without reading too much into them as pre-season can make teams look better than they are, and competitive football is a completely different test. Thankfully, we don’t have to wait much longer to find out.

The Community Shield is now upon us, with a trip to Cardiff on Sunday for what will officially kick off the new season. It’s one of those trophies that if you win, everyone tells you it doesn’t really matter, but if you lose, you spend the following week being reminded that Arsenal have won a trophy before the season has even started. 

Personally, I’d quite like to win it. It would be a great way for Maresca to begin his competitive reign, particularly against a side like Arsenal who are likely to be one of our biggest rivals this season.

What I don’t agree with, however, is the decision to hold the game in Cardiff. I understand that the Community Shield is being taken away from Wembley while it is unavailable, but why south Wales? You’ve got two teams from Manchester and London travelling there, which means more expense and more hassle for supporters who have already spent a fortune following their clubs.

If it can’t be played at Wembley, surely the sensible solution is to pick somewhere roughly halfway between the two clubs. Villa Park or the King Power Stadium would make far more sense to me and we saw it in 2022 when City played Liverpool at Leicester’s ground, and while it obviously isn’t perfect for everyone, at least it makes more sense geographically.

Away from the pitch, the transfer market is still ticking along as there is growing speculation around Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, and if City can get that deal over the line, he would provide another young option in an increasingly strong midfield. Competition for places is exactly what we need in a squad going through a transition, and something Pep Guardiola championed during his reign.

There has also been movement in goal, with City bringing in Gerónimo Rulli following James Trafford’s move to Leeds. Trafford’s return to City was short-lived, but with Rulli coming in, Maresca now has another experienced option between the posts.

And then, inevitably, we have to mention Rodri again even though I promised myself I wouldn’t make every column about him, but the rumours just won’t go away. The latest speculation is now linking him with Barcelona rather than Real Madrid. After everything I’ve said about keeping him for this season, my position hasn’t changed; if there’s a chance of getting another year of Rodri in a City shirt, I’d take it.

For now, though, the summer is over and the real football is finally here with the Community Shield just days away, and after a World Cup summer that feels like it only finished yesterday, the new Manchester City era is officially about to begin.