The rebuild has a hard start
Nine points, five goals scored, top of the table. Three Premier League games down and City have not dropped a point. But the first real examination arrives on Tuesday, and it is not a friendly one. Porto away to open the Champions League campaign, then the Manchester derby at Old Trafford five days later (1). That is the week that tells us how solid this new Maresca side actually is.
The Haaland problem nobody is talking about
Haaland scored the only goal in Saturday's 1–0 win over Coventry, and that is the problem hiding in plain sight. One goal from open play at home to a newly promoted side still searching for a first point is fine, but Maresca himself called it an ugly win, the sort his team will occasionally need (7). The honest read: this side is not yet producing the way a title favourite should, and nobody says it louder than Haaland.
"Arsenal have played together for a long time and have built this up over a longer period," he said this week. "We're still in a kind of rebuilding phase" (10). That is a striker publicly lowering the bar, and he is right. The team at the Etihad on Saturday is not a finished product.
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The new faces, one at a time
Enzo Fernandez arrived for £125m on deadline day and made his debut against Coventry, and Iliman Ndiaye, £65m, did the same (8) (9). Haaland says he likes what he sees from Ndiaye. But the midfielder quietly earning his place is Elliot Anderson, outstanding again and becoming hard to drop (9). That is the real story beneath the transfer fees: someone who cost nothing near the headlines is staking a claim while the marquee signings settle.
Ryan McAidoo, the young winger, stays at City after a loan move to SC Cambuur collapsed (2). Fine. He will get his chance later.
What to watch
Porto on Tuesday is the test, and it comes with two gifts: Porto are missing Oskar Pietuszewski and Jan Bednarek (11). City's away form under Maresca is good, the 4–1 at Crystal Palace showed that, but the Champions League is a different animal (4). Win in Porto and the derby at Old Trafford on Sunday carries a very different energy. Draw or lose, and Haaland's rebuilding phase starts to look like an excuse.
