Gonzalez Supports Maresca's Approach as Community Shield Nears
The training pitches tell the story long before a ball is kicked in anger. New manager, new methods, same relentless demands. Gonzalez says the squad are already feeling the shift under Enzo Maresca – and embracing it.
The winger, speaking to the club’s official channels, made it clear this is a pre-season built on adaptation rather than instant perfection. The players are still learning, still absorbing, and that process will stretch well beyond opening day.
“We won’t know everything that we could learn during the year before the first week of the season,” he admitted. The message is blunt: this isn’t a plug-and-play system. It’s a season-long education. “But even when one year has passed, we will always keep learning. That’s football and that’s life.”
The calendar offers no sympathy. Some members of the squad are due back alarmingly late, with arrivals scheduled as close as the week of the Community Shield. That sort of timeline would unsettle most dressing rooms. Gonzalez acknowledges the difficulty but also the advantage for those who have already endured Maresca’s early sessions.
“It’s not easy because some players will come the same week as the Community Shield,” he said. “But for us that have been here since day one it’s going to be easier to be ready for that match.”
In other words, the groundwork is being laid now, under the summer sun, while others are still packing their bags.
What stands out is how quickly Gonzalez has warmed to Maresca’s approach. There is no sense of upheaval for upheaval’s sake. The foundations laid under Pep remain visible; the structure is being remodelled, not demolished.
“I’ve been enjoying our sessions with Enzo,” he said, drawing a clear line between the old regime and the new. “Obviously there are differences to last year with Pep but there are a lot of similarities in the way we are playing.”
The core principles are familiar: high pressing, rapid regains, possession with purpose. “It’s the same whole idea of high pressure and getting the ball as quick as possible and doing a lot of passes,” Gonzalez explained. That continuity matters. It means Maresca can refine rather than restart, sharpening a style that has already delivered success.
The challenge now is not just to maintain that level, but to stretch it. Standards have been set over recent seasons; anything less will be judged harshly inside and outside the dressing room.
“It’s important that we keep the same level as we’ve been playing the last years and with that ambition,” Gonzalez insisted. “I think those are the ideas of Enzo and I am loving it.”
The enthusiasm sounds genuine, not rehearsed. Players know when a philosophy fits them, when a coach’s demands align with their own instincts.
Yet beneath the optimism lies a clear warning: the season is a marathon, not a highlight reel. Systems evolve, roles shift, instructions change with each opponent and each phase of the campaign. Maresca’s voice will not stay static.
“The season is so long so we have keep being ready to adapt to new things that Enzo asks us,” Gonzalez said.
The message is simple enough. The real test comes when the Community Shield whistle blows and theory collides with reality.
