Uninspired rivals avoid pain for now

Arsenal 1 Tottenham 1

This was meant to be the game where one or other blew away the cobwebs around their seasons to date and instead turned an average start to the campaign into a hugely promising one.

Instead they remain united in not quite yet being the sum of their parts, with two managers looking to mould newly-assembled sides into something tangible.

The problem is that few would bet against there being rather obvious bumps in the road first.

Arsenal, who are now shorn of the injured Aaron Ramsey, Mikel Arteta and — possibly — Jack Wilshere, face Galatasaray and then a daunting trip to runaway leaders Chelsea (and Cesc Fabregas) on Sunday.

Tottenham host Besiktas in the Europa League before Southampton arrive at White Hart Lane looking to get one over on former boss Mauricio Pochettino.

And the main point that struck home after this game is that both of these sides remain vulnerable, and both remain works in progress.

For Tottenham and Pochettino — who understandably points out that he has been in his post barely three months — that is hardly surprising, but Wenger has work to do to shape all his talents into a cogent attacking force.

His selection issues will ease after the trio of injuries, and if you are of an Arsenal persuasion it would have been worrying to hear Wenger sound utterly perplexed at how they are again accumulating knocks after partially overhauling their medical staff in the summer.

“I don’t know if we have to look at it because there is no logic there,” he said. “We had quite a light week for them [Arteta and Ramsey] and we have to analyse what happened to them. I don’t understand.”

Then there is the lack of a high-calibre defensive midfielder to step in for Arteta, with Mathieu Flamini badly at fault for Nacer Chadli’s goal here and some way short of his best overall although he is, as Wenger says, “the only option I see at the moment”.

The Frenchman must also worry at the familiar defensive lapses which come largely from his full-backs pushing on too far, as well as getting Mesut Ozil (who was excellent), Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck on the same wavelength. He must also deal with the psychological trauma from the last visit to Chelsea, the 6-0 defeat that rendered the celebration of his 1,000th game utterly meaningless, but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who scored the equaliser here, believes they can do so.

“Maybe we have got a point to prove there,” he said. “We know this year we have got to step up in the big games and get some results in them. We’re looking forward to that game. I have belief in my team-mates and we do in ourselves that we will be able to go to a place like Chelsea and set them tempo and hopefully take control of the game.”

They had 69% of possession against their local rivals but didn’t do an awful lot with it. That was in part due to a resolute display from Hugo Lloris, Younes Kaboul and Jan Vertonghen in the Spurs rearguard, but there was also a fine display from Ryan Mason, a 23-year-old midfielder making his first league start for the club after five separate loan spells.

Unsurprisingly, Mason thanked Pochettino for his chance after failing to make a breakthrough under Tim Sherwood, Andre Villas-Boas or Harry Redknapp.

He said. “If previous managers were still in charge maybe I wouldn’t be here.”

But Pochettino is in charge and must now face Southampton. He grinned broadly when asked about the prospect.

“I love Southampton, I love the people in Southampton,” he said. “I am happy for them. For me it was a fantastic period in my life, it gave me the possibility to stay here, in Tottenham, in the Premier League and in England.”

Southampton may be a good bet next weekend, though. Tottenham looked dangerous but weren’t clinical on the break until Christian Eriksen robbed Flamini and Erik Lamela played in Chadli to open the scoring.

Oxlade-Chamberlain equalised when he lashed home a loose ball after Ozil drilled across goal but neither side looked like getting — or really deserved — a winner. They saved face, but may both feel a lot worse in a week’s time.

ARSENAL: Szczesny 7, Chambers 8, Mertesacker 7, Koscielny 7, Gibbs 7, Arteta 6 (Flamini, 28; 5), Ramsey 5 (Cazorla, 46; 6), Wilshere 7 (Sanchez, 63; 6), Oxlade-Chamberlain 7, Ozil 8, Welbeck 7.

TOTTENHAM: Lloris 8, Naughton 7, Vertonghen 8, Kaboul 8, Rose 7 (Dier, 83; 6), Mason 6, Capoue 6, Eriksen 6 (Lennon, 62; 6), Lamela 7, Chadli 7 (Bentaleb, 80; 6), Adebayor 6.

Referee: Michael Oliver.