'The manager doesn't sing' - inside Maresca's pre-season preparations

[Getty Images] Enzo Maresca said he has not done an initiation song in front of the squad as "the manager doesn't sing", but he described goalkeeping coach Michele de Bernardin's performance as "very good". Analyst Javi Molina's rendition of Frank Sinatra's 'My Way' was "the worst". In fact, "it was a disaster". The make-up of the backroom staff - with Argentine Willy Caballero, two Italians, three Spaniards and French-speaking Maresca - means they have plenty of languages covered. And then there is first-team coach Danny Walker, who was Maresca's assistant in Manchester City's elite development squad (EDS) and followed him to Leicester City and Chelsea . The manager beams when he discusses "the Englishman". He says: "We go for breakfast, it is beans on toast. We go for dinner, it is a beer. "When I joined the EDS, Danny was there. He was previously with the under-16s and they moved him to become my assistant. Since then, we are always together. "He is very good. He is good at adding on extra work at the end, making sure we keep asking the players to do something extra." Speaking of Englishmen, Maresca will choose City's next captain himself after Bernardo Silva's departure - and he wants a homegrown player in the committee. The leadership group currently consists of frontrunner Ruben Dias, Erling Haaland and Rodri, who has been the subject of a failed bid from Barcelona . So is the Norway star a leading candidate to take the armband? "He was one of the first to message me when I joined the club," said Maresca. "At Leicester and Chelsea, I had a rule that when we scored the captain had to come to the bench for instructions and not celebrate. But if they score, they can celebrate. "If Erling is captain, we have a problem. Can you imagine?" Read the full article here