City have now lost all three games in Rodrigo’s absence, underlining just how integral he is to everything Guardiola’s side do.
At times against Arsenal, Mateo Kovacic, Rico Lewis, and Bernardo all dropped into the midfield pivot, without any issues.
But Rodrigo’s influence in so many areas was again felt in the 1-0 loss to the Gunners.
“Rodri is a really important player,” said Guardiola.
“In the last years he has played a lot of games.
“The Carabao Cup (defeat) is different, but today and Wolves [missing Rodrigo] was important. We know it.
“At that moment he was not there, so as a manager I have to find a way to do it.
“It didn’t work against Wolves with Mateo alone there, so we wanted more players in those positions with other options.
“That was the plan, but we didn’t win.”
Watch the manager’s press conference in the video player above.
