Pep Guardiola said Tuesday that Manchester City had "recovered many things" after last season's trophyless campaign, pledging there was more to come from his team.
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The City boss has rebuilt his squad over the past two transfer windows, with a clutch of long-serving players exiting the club, including Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Ederson.
Guardiola adopted a defensive approach against Arsenal on Sunday, conceding a late goal to draw 1-1, losing further ground on runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool.
He was asked about the reaction to his tactics against the Gunners at a press conference ahead of his team's League Cup third-round clash against third-tier Huddersfield on Wednesday.
"I'm really proud of this fight," he said. "We recovered many, many things that last season we missed. We have an incredible spirit.
"Of course we cannot sustain for all the season to play in the way we played, and we don't want it. But I give incredible power and credit to the opponents, Arsenal."
Guardiola said it was important to celebrate a point against a team of the quality of Mikel Arteta's Gunners, widely expected to be Premier League contenders.
"Especially since (Manchester) United (a 3-0 win), we start to recover many things that define our teams for many, many years," said the Spaniard, who finished last season without a major trophy for the first time in eight years.
"We can do better, yeah, we do it," he added. "We could do a few things, many decisions, yeah, we do it.
"And we have to play a little bit more with the opponent, yes, we will do it. But first comes the spirit that we have shown this week.
"And we have to take care, this kind of thing, like a father, a mother takes care of their son."
City are ninth in the Premier League after five matches, already eight points behind champions Liverpool.
The club have won the League Cup four times under Guardiola.