That was the claim that Silva said he didn’t do if his team was defeated at Emirates Stadium, but he couldn’t help point out the important differences in preparation on both sides that he felt were “not right.”
Arsenal and City are familiar with the rigour of the European national calendar, with both clubs being regular names during the recent UEFA Champions League season.
Arsenal took two days off Sunday from Premier League City.
Silva did not necessarily question the disparity in rest days between the two teams, but argued that city turnarounds were not sufficient to maintain the standard.
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Guardiola says he doesn’t care about the outcome and identifies his “lost” traits last season
Video Credits: SNTV
“But in reality we can’t come to one of the most important games of the season with such a disadvantage in terms of rest. It’s not fair to play one of these games like this. That’s not right. That can’t happen.
“I didn’t feel perfect to play like this. People who aren’t playing at the highest level don’t know how it feels to play a game like this. You need to be at your best.
“We saw (Abdukodil) Kusanov getting injured.
“I felt a difference in the first half. I know that when I play at the highest level, I have two days (resting) to play against one of the best teams in the league and play alongside my trip. It takes at least a day to recover.
“It doesn’t matter if Arsenal had four, five or six days. Give me another day and then it’s a uniform game.”
City led in nine minutes as Ehling Haaland scored the sixth Premier League goal of the season, with a singular display, and Pep Guardiola’s team had little ball throughout the encounter.
They were stuck with one goal advantage up to three minutes of stop time when Gabriel Martinelli latched over the top to Ebebeki Eze’s ball and flipped the point over the advanced Genluigi Donnaruma.
Silva said modern players can stand up to busy schedules, but insisted that extra attention must be paid around key fixtures among fellow title hopes.
“We don’t care about playing every three to four days. We don’t care about playing 60 games (in a season). “But what we want is common sense, because this is one of the biggest games of the season.
“It’s not about us. I don’t think they’re trying to lose our game. It could happen to Arsenal or Liverpool in a few months. But when you’re playing Arsenal V City or City V Liverpool or Liverpool v Arsenal, you need to understand these situations.
“Even if we were in a better physical state, it was a very difficult game. You can lose every game in good or bad state, but you need respect and common sense to be on the same level to compete.”
Draw left ninth in the Premier League table and accumulated seven points from the opening five games. Meanwhile, Arsenal is second, five-point leader and champion Liverpool, who launched a domestic campaign and won five to five.
