TERRACE TALK: Arsenal - International interlude can’t come soon enough

Rarely can I recall being more relieved at the prospect of break from the relentless run of fixtures and hopefully a fortnight of international games which might afford some of our players much-needed recuperation.

Admittedly Spurs were likely to have been no less fatigued in advance of their short trip to the right end of the Seven Sisters Road, after having played Monday and Thursday. But they weren’t coming to our place on the back of the sort of psychological midweek battering that we endured in Munich.

Moreover, in the likes of Delle Alli and Dier and so many of the relatively new faces in Pochettino’s line-up, Spurs benefit from the fact they don’t carry the same baggage of some of their old stagers, who’ve grown more accustomed to playing second fiddle to the Arsenal. By contrast, judging by our comparative lack of intensity in the first half, doubtless some of the Gunners were guilty of taking our long-standing superiority for granted.

Obviously, with Man City dropping an unlikely two points at Villa Park immediately prior, you could sense the mood of expectation amongst the throng of Gooners heading to the game anticipating the win that would leave us going into the break sitting pretty atop the table. Sadly, the bookies favourites for the title won’t be deprived of the influential likes of Silva and Aguero forever and one can’t help but feel that we’ve missed a trick, by us failing to capitalise on what might well prove a rare opportunity to gain some ground on our rivals.

Nevertheless, truth be told, in the opinions of many, a draw seemed to be the most likely outcome of yesterday’s game. Considering the Gunners appeared so leg-weary in last weekend’s decidedly flattering victory against Swansea and in view of our struggle to escape the Allianz Arena on Wednesday with any dignity intact, after 45 minutes of a dominant Spurs performance, the vast majority of us were desperate merely to salvage a face-saving point.

In fact, if I was (heaven forfend) a Spurs fan, I would’ve been left feeling particularly disappointed at having failed to make the most of such a prime opportunity to stick the boot in, while the Gunners were down. There was a moment during the first half that was a metaphor for the majority of this encounter, as Delle Alli bypassed Coquelin, not the least bit distracted by Franny pretty much ripping off Alli’s shorts, in his vain attempt to thwart the impressive Spurs midfielder.

Still, unlike the majority of his team-mates who appeared to be more spectators than participants in this contest, at least Coquelin offered some resistance.

Despite Flamini’s two-goal heroics in our League Cup triumph at the Lane some weeks back, Matty was hardly the most likely candidate to turn this game around. Seeing Stevie Bould towering over him with his clipboard at half-time, didn’t exactly inspire us. These frantic and seemingly pointless pitch-side efforts to pass on last-minute detailed instructions always make me laugh, when all Bouldie really needed was the French equivalent for “get stuck in”!

As had been the case against Bayern, Spurs goal was largely due to the fact that we were guilty of gifting Danny Rose all the time he required to lift his head up, unopposed and pick out a through ball to Harry Kane. Although I can appreciate the logic in not wanting to waste too much energy, chasing the ball on the halfway line, it’s asking for trouble inviting them to do their worst.

It’s certainly not the blood and thunder, relentless pressure fans demand from all of our players in this bi-annual derby battle. With Cazorla looking like “the little boy lost”, as if one of the mascots had inadvertently wandered onto the pitch, at least his replacement by Flamini enabled us to batten down the hatches in the middle of the park.

However with chances at a premium against Spurs’ miserly defence, we really couldn’t afford for Giroud to be squandering them. The obvious limitations of Arsène’s squad were highlighted by the fact that full-back Kieran Gibbs was left as the only card our manager was comfortable in playing, to try and rescue this match. Having grumbled that Gibbs was hardly likely to have an impact, I must admit that I was left eating my words a few moments later.

Ultimately it felt significant that we managed to get out of the game unbeaten. Yet with a full treatment room and so many of the rest looking on their last legs, the question is whether we’ve already hit “the wall”, or will this fortnight prove sufficient to recover the fortitude required for the Gunners to go again?