Pep Guardiola complained: the players were crushed by the schedule, and the loss of two people was too much to regret

Pep Guardiola usually sums up games briefly but forcefully, and on Sunday night in the Manchester City dressing room, he told them not to worry about the consequences of the 0-0 draw with Arsenal: take a break and get ready for Aston Villa's game three days later. With all competitions on the horizon, Pep Guardiola has been unhappy with the fixtures, complaining that the FA and broadcasters are not providing enough help, and he knows this is a good partner for City to keep going strong.

City have been in this situation before, disrupted by petty injuries at critical moments, and there is no doubt that it will happen again, with Pep Guardiola's achievements almost unattainable for the next manager if he leaves. But at the moment, he is not frustrated with his players, even after a goalless exchange with Arsenal on Sunday, when he lectured on the pitch to Jack Grealish.

Guardiola said that "the team's performance is reasonable", it is a team that follows the plan, Manchester City are not bad, but it is difficult not to be compared. Last year, teams, including Arsenal, were beaten at the Etihad Stadium, a hostile, hostile home stadium for an already very good team that smells of history. Despite Manchester City's pretty good run of 23 games unbeaten in all competitions since the start of December, fans are still hoping for more.

There's a feeling there's more to City deep down and if that comes to the fore, there's still a big chance City can pull off some special miracles again. They are still waiting for absolute chances, waiting for a goal from Erling Haaland or a magical pass from Kevin De Bruyne. Fans expect Manchester City to kill the game at some point, and the last seven years have provided proof. Perhaps at other clubs, a long-term unbeaten record would represent their best performance, but in this club, the pinnacle is much higher than any other.

There will be frustration in the Manchester City dressing room, and there will be people who will question: why half of the chances were not taken, why the onslaught is not so frequent, the gap between Manchester City and Liverpool is three points, and there are still nine games to play. The Champions League quarter-finals will be against Real Madrid, and the FA Cup semi-finals will be against Chelsea. Pep Guardiola said: "We have won five titles in six years and you think we have to be 10 points ahead to win the title, but it can't be because the other teams are very strong.

Gundogan and Mahrez are not easy to replace, and the loss of two is too much for Guardiola to regret, but they are not the reason why Manchester City failed to beat Arsenal, but the loss of Manchester City will undoubtedly add an extra burden to the others, which is a bigger issue around Manchester City, but they are still one of the strongest teams in Europe and still have a chance to win multiple titles.