Arsenal's Draw with Spurs Deepens Concerns over Their Title Credentials

Although Arsenal will be understandably elated to have avoided defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in their 1-1 draw, they will still look back on this game as two points dropped. Given the respective strengths of the two squads, Arsenal should certainly have won this derby.

The reasons they didn't are the same reasons they are unlikely to win this season's Premier League title: uncertainty over their best XI, the fundamental imbalance of their squad and a perennial tendency to make crucial defensive errors.

It's becoming clear that Arsene Wenger doesn't know what his best team is—or if he does, he is patently struggling to find a way to deploy all the components on the pitch simultaneously.

Against Spurs, Wenger opted to leave Alexis Sanchez on the bench. It's difficult to understand the thinking there: Alexis is Arsenal's top goalscorer and the second-biggest signing in the club's history. He starred against Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium not long ago and deserved the chance to start the derby. Wenger may have concerns about his ball retention, but his individual ability to turn a game on its head is surely suitable recompense.

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Another potential reason for Alexis' exclusion is that it allowed Wenger to squeeze in another of his fleet of defensive midfielders. Now we come to the inherent imbalance of the Arsenal squad: They are overloaded with attacking talent, yet short of the reserve centre-back and powerful holding midfielder that they need to be true contenders. 

The absence of a dominant defensive midfielder was felt all the more keenly when Mikel Arteta departed with injury. His replacement, Mathieu Flamini, was full of running but failed to control the tempo of the game as Wenger might have hoped.

Flamini was also guilty of a major error, which led directly to the concession of the opening goal. Tottenham had attempted to use manager Mauricio Pochettino’s patented high-press all through the game, and it paid off when Christian Eriksen dispossessed Flamini and played Nacer Chadli to give Spurs the lead. Flamini could not claim he was caught by surprise; it was merely a momentary lapse of concentration. Until Arsenal cuts out such moments, they will struggle to contest the game’s biggest prizes.

Flamini made an individual error. However, the wider problems at Arsenal seem to leave the finger pointed at the man in charge: Arsene Wenger. On the evidence of the first portion of the season, it is difficult to argue that his side have progressed since last season. 

Arsenal may be unbeaten in the Premier League, but that is not an accurate reflection of their performances in 2014/15. Of their six league fixtures, they have won just two. That’s not good enough for a side who began the campaign with aspirations of lifting the league title. 

Next weekend, Arsenal go to Stamford Bridge to face league leaders Chelsea. Jose Mourinho’s side have won five of their six opening games and appear to be an unstoppable juggernaut bound for success. Should Arsenal lose that match, they will look even less like potential title challengers, and a grimly familiar battle for fourth place would beckon.