I wouldn't say I was excited about the prospect of Maresca replacing Pep, but I think he'll do alright here. And by "alright" that will be somewhere between the Mancini and Pellegrini eras, which means a lot of posters on this forum are going to have to put on their big boy pants and accept that we might be looking at "only" one league title in the three years of his contract, maybe a cup to add to that, and maybe an underwhelming performance in the Champions League in that time.
With Mancini we managed:
09/10: 5th, League Cup semi-final
10/11: 3rd, FA Cup winners
11/12: 1st, League Cup semi-final (out in the CL groups)
12/13: 2nd, FA Cup finalists (out in the CL groups)
With Pellegrini we managed:
13/14: 1st, League Cup winners (out in the CL last 16)
14/15: 2nd, nowhere near the cups (out in the CL last 16)
15/16, 4th, League Cup winners (out in the CL SFs)
So under Maresca something like:
26/27: 3rd, League Cup winners (out in the CL QFs)
27/28: 1st, FA Cup semi-finalists (out in the CL SFs)
28/29: 4th, FA Cup finalists (out in the CL QFs)
I'd consider something like that (just above) from Maresca to be a very good effort and a worthy example of, like Pellegrini did, how to keep the chair warm for the next guy. Maresca will come in knowing he's just part of a long-term succession plan, kind of how Pellegrini gradually accepted that was his role was to prepare us for Pep, and that him being City's manager should be viewed as a mutually beneficial arrangement - an economical transactional thing.
If Maresca wins a league title and a cup with City in three years that'll be enough to get him basically any job he wants after us, and we'll be getting someone considered a decent-but-not-brilliant manager who's not gonna be under as much pressure to follow on from Pep. If Kompany came in this summer, immediately following Pep, being seen as this symbolic, dramatic passing of the torch, that could be the undoing of him here. Whereas Maresca, decent as he is - he's just a suit with a good tactical brain. Not generational, not bad either.
I think that's what Liverpool are doing with Slot, to be honest. They know, and Slot knows, Klopp was an impossible guy to follow. Getting Xabi Alonso in straight away might have wrecked things if he didn't live up to Klopp straight away. Now Alonso is likely to replace Slot, which turns the appointment into an upgrade while removing the pressure of coming immediately after a beloved manager. Slot's another suit with a good tactical brain. Not generational, not bad either.
After Maresca, it should then be Vinny time.