A draw from the first game of the season is never a disaster, especially away from home and particularly given the pre-season that Arsenal have endured.

Thomas Vermaelen returned to give an immaculate display and led a defence to what was a surprisingly assured clean sheet. The whole back four were well positioned and made measured decisions, leaving Newcastle without a clear opportunity for the entire 90 minutes.

Laurent Koscielny cleared the majority of set pieces and whatever defensive training has been going on over the summer, would appear to have made a difference, not that Newcastle will be the most potent attacking force we will face this season.

Further forward, Alex Song, Thomas Rosicky and Aaron Ramsey were all busy but could not make the difference further forward. They looked a little tired at times which is worrying given the upcoming schedule and the impending transfers of two of their colleagues. The match started off with some slick triangles instigated by the trio but as Newcastle began to pack the centre of the pitch we struggled to regain that rhythm. Hopefully the return of Wilshere will give us enough quality in this area or, as the fans implored him to do yesterday, Wenger will spend some ****ing money and replace his two best midfielders.

Gervinho made the best of the fairly limited service from midfield, ghosting past the opposition with incredible ease. He made his way to the by-line on countless occasions but a combination of poor support from his teammates and bad decision making meant he could not provide the breakthrough. His display actually reminded this writer of Thierry Henry's first couple of months in an Arsenal shirt. Great pace and a refreshingly direct approach but no end product. Unfortunately he has encountered England's finest wind-up merchant already and will now have an enforced break from the league but if he can find an end product and build a rapport with Robin van Persie and his fellow attackers, he could provide the pace and guile that has been missing since Henry's departure.

Our new captain looked a forlorn figure at times. He didn't make the runs that Gervinho needed and you can't help thinking that Vermaelen would be a much more natural leader. Andrey Arshavin worked hard but wasn't able to drive attacks forward and Theo Walcott looked a long way short of match fitness when he came on.

August is not the time to judge a team, especially in the current situation but money still needs to be spent in a number of positions if we are to challenge for the title.

Photo: Action Images

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