Gary Neville believes Pep Guardiola got his Manchester City team selection wrong against Arsenal - admitting it contributed to their second-half collapse in the humbling 5-1 defeat.

City were level in the game just after half-time as Erling Haaland cancelled out Martin Odegaard's early opener - but goals from Thomas Partey, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Kai Havertz and Ethan Nwaneri saw City concede four or more goals for the fourth time this season - the most ever in a Guardiola campaign.

City were without several key players - with Rodri, Ederson and Ruben Dias out injured and Kevin De Bruyne on the bench - but Neville believes Guardiola should have reacted to these type of blows better.

"I think the minute you play against Manchester City now and you raise the level of intensity, they really struggle," he told the Gary Neville Podcast. "They really, really struggle. They haven't got the energy anymore as a team, in transition they're poor.

"I have to say I think I thought Pep Guardiola would have dealt a lot better and handled a lot better the loss of Rodri, I really did.

"If this was another manager would be sat there saying: are you sure Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic will work against Arsenal, who've got Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and Thomas Partey? They're energetic and got real quality and power.

"I think to actually give them a chance, maybe you pack that midfield with three or four players in there and maybe it's numbers - and then to add to that.

"But he played Phil Foden out on the wide right, Savinho on the left, who I thought blocked Josko Gvardiol going forward the whole game, and Omar Marmoush, who actually I thought done really well playing from off the left side last week against Chelsea, making those runs in a position off Erling Haaland where there was no space.

"So I just thought maybe today Pep Guardiola got his team selection wrong."

City were unrecognisable from the first minute, according to Neville, with Manuel Akanji's mistake while playing out from the back gifting Odegaard the opener after just two minutes.

Guardiola's side were lucky not to be 2-0 down at half-time as Havertz missed a golden chance to double the lead after Mateo Kovacic gave the ball away to Declan Rice in similar circumstances.

Such poor performances mean City need a summer rebuild, according to Neville, but they have a "fearsome" February to contend with first.

"Today, one of the biggest problems was been their biggest strength, Guardiola has almost has rewritten the rules of football with playing out from the back," Neville added. "Yet today it was their downfall in the sense that they just got caught with so many straight passes into midfield and Arsenal being on top of them.

"They were the architects of their own downfall for much of that game, and it told us where City are currently at, that they need that rebuild, they need that reconstruction that Guardiola obviously knows about, and I'm sure they're thinking about a big summer transfer window.

"But they've got a hell of a month ahead: they've got to play Real Madrid twice, they've got to play Liverpool, Newcastle, Spurs.

"They do get a week off now, and then a FA Cup tie at Leyton Orient, but beyond that, February is fearsome for them."

Neville was hugely impressed by Arsenal's performance and encouraged Mikel Arteta's side to "go for it" as they try to hunt down Liverpool at the top of the table.

"What a performance from Arsenal. I have backed them to win the league at the start of the season and I've not changed my prediction," he said.

"Liverpool are in an incredible position and you have to say they're massive favourites and they should go on to win it, but when you're chasing, you have to make statement wins, you have to let the other team know that you're not going away and you have to be there if they slip.

"The crime is not being there if they slip, so that is all Arsenal can do. This game was a big challenge for Arsenal, having to win the game but also with Liverpool having won yesterday.

"Liverpool are doing really well and they look like they've got all the sort of weapons and tools that you need to win a league, so they've got some battles going on.

"It feels like they're climbing a mountain every week, Arsenal, just to stay in there and almost get to a point whereby there is a title race, but I do believe there is."

He added: "They can frustrate me, Arsenal, and they frustrated me for large parts of that match actually.

"Sometimes you can get one-nil up and think you're okay in a game and you can let the game drift and you can sleepwalk a little bit, that's what they were doing. But they did react.

"What Arsenal demonstrated after conceding the Haaland goal is what they're capable of, and it does take me back into our dressing room when you've demonstrated what you're capable of.

"Don't drop below that standard.

"Why does it need a Haaland goal for us to get to a level that we can get to, where players are running forward with real intent, passing into pockets with real crisp passes like Declan Rice did for Lewis-Skelly? Why wait?

"Don't wait, you've got 14 games to go, there's a Premier League title there, do not wait, go for it."

Neville was unimpressed, however, by Gabriel celebrating in Haaland's face after Odegaard's early goal. Later, Myles Lewis-Skelly could be seen mimicking the Norwegian's celebration.

"It happened to me here actually, at Highbury many, many years ago, where a player came up and screamed in my face," said Neville. "We actually won the game 4-2 that day.

"I actually don't like it, I think it's a bit disrespectful. I get the fact that Haaland's the sort of the pantomime villain here today, but there's something about it that I didn't like.

"I was many things, but I never did that, I never went and screamed in a player's face. I just didn't.

"There's something about that I thought made me feel a little bit uneasy. It was a little bit disrespectful."