Arsenal’s insipid display shows Gunners lack firepower, Van Gaal drops Vidal hint and Villa’s Hutton comes in from the cold • Gallery: the best pictures from the Premier League weekend

1) Arsenal still need a finisher if they are to challenge

Arsenal’s insipid display at Everton should offer succour to the chasing pack that the club could be squeezed out of a Champions League berth this term.

Being toothless on sight of the opposition penalty area continues to be the very old news that haunts Arsène Wenger’s team. All their passing goes sideways when the goal is approached, and in fielding a first-choice striker like Olivier Giroud who needs five attempts before netting – as at Goodison Park – means any edge is blunted.

The Gunners did fight back from a 2-0 deficit to take a point so intestinal fortitude is possessed. But for Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United the hope must be that Wenger fails to add a lethal finisher before the transfer window closes on 1 September. Jamie Jackson

2) Changing of the guard at Chelsea

There was a touching moment at Stamford Bridge when Petr Cech and Thibaut Courtois left the pitch to get ready for kick-off after their dual warm-up. Courtois sprinted off while behind him Cech walked, not sullenly but with a rather poignant glance up ahead at Chelsea’s new No1, energised with pre-match nerves for his home Premier League debut.

It has been one of the longest and most distinguished goalkeeping reigns of recent times but all things must pass and against Leicester City it was quite clear that Courtois is simply too talented not to play.

His head-to-head with David Nugent, producing two fine one-on-one saves in the space of two minutes on the half-hour mark, defined the texture of the last hour of this match, Courtois’s intervention allowing Chelsea to grow into the second half rather than having to chase the game.

This is not to undervalue Cech’s talents but Courtois is a genuinely regal presence in his prime and must be allowed to play out the season, even to have a wobble if he must at some point, just as David de Gea did in his first season at Manchester United.

As for Cech it is easy to forget that he was not a José Mourinho signing but arrived instead at the fag end of the Claudio Ranieri era, with no guarantee he would turn out to be the new manager’s cup of tea.

It has been a glorious 10 years: a dominant start, a wobble that coincided with that serious head injury, a period of late career retrenchment and three league titles, a Champions League, Europa League and four FA Cups along the way. Few if any have been better, or more enduring in the Premier League era. Barney Ronay

3) Pochettino urges caution despite Spurs super start

These are early days in Mauricio Pochettino’s transformation of Tottenham Hotspur but even now the signs are more than merely promising. Top of the league, at least until Monday night, with players clearly thriving under his approach, Spurs have started encouragingly.

Just as impressive, though, has been the manager’s refusal to be carried away with the immediate impact he has made.

A second successive London derby success on Sunday, albeit against a disjointed Queens Park Rangers team, prompted talk of competing for a Champions League place and emulating the achievements of Harry Redknapp, the man just thrashed and departing White Hart Lane rather chastened, but the Argentinian urged caution.

“For me we are in the beginning of my first season at Tottenham,” said Pochettino. “At the moment we want to put in place our philosophy and try always to convince we can play in the way Tottenham plays in their history. Step by step.

“Being top now is nothing because we’re two games in. The most important thing is to try and develop our style and our philosophy and, today, the team showed they can do the basics. For me it’s important the team shows they play like a team. We have an unbelievable squad. After, when we play like a team together, we can achieve something.”

Defeating West Ham United and QPR is hardly a guarantee of a prolonged challenge. In fact, winning derbies such as these is almost a prerequisite for a team who aspire to compete for the title or, at least, a return to Europe’s elite club competition. Yet Spurs’ squad have learned their basics pretty quickly and, on this evidence, are capable of playing the upbeat, stifling style Pochettino demands of his sides.

There is a greater depth of talent in this squad than he had at his disposal at Southampton and therefore the level of potential is raised. Daniel Levy, watching on from the directors’ box, must be quietly encouraged by all he has seen so far. Dominic Fifield

• Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 QPR

• Redknapp unrepentant over wave

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Harry Redknapp offers Paul Gascoigne a job at QPR.

4) Van Gaal drops Vidal hint as Di María wrangle goes on

There was something slightly mischievous about the way Louis van Gaal brought up Arturo Vidal’s name, unprompted, in his press conference. He had done the same a few minutes earlier on television, as well as name-dropping Lionel Messi as another player he would like at Manchester United. Messi’s mention made it feel like a joke. Or at least a half-joke as Vidal is not normally a name a manager would just pluck out of the air.

The difficult part is knowing what exactly he meant by it. United have persistently and strenuously denied the stories that they are interested in Vidal all summer. But then again, it is only a few weeks since Brendan Rodgers was saying “categorically” that he did not want Mario Balotelli and journalists were advised by Liverpool’s manager that, if they saw any link between the club and player, they should “kill it”.

Football clubs will always be economical with the truth if it suits them and the best policy with Vidal is probably to keep an open mind when, behind the scenes, there has been a slight shift in tone from Old Trafford about the Juventus player.

All that can be said for certain is that the performance at Sunderland reiterated how desperate United are for some better players. They were poor for the second consecutive weekend and should probably just be grateful that Gus Poyet’s team seemed strangely reticent to explore those weaknesses.

United were there for the taking after Jack Rodwell’s goal but Sunderland did not have the wit or gumption to take advantage.

Ángel Di María’s proposed arrival from Real Madrid should at least brighten up United’s attack. Madrid want £75m, which is an awful lot higher than United had bargained for. The money involved smacks of a panic signing but that’s the thing: United are panicked.

“One point; that is not good enough for Manchester United,” Van Gaal reflected of his first two matches in charge. More than anything, they need a top-quality centre-half. Two games into the season, Jonny Evans and Chris Smalling have both reminded us of their penchant for picking up injuries. Di María may solve some of their problems but not all of them. Daniel Taylor

• Sunderland 1-1 Manchester United

• Van Gaal: one point not good enough

• Di María close to £60m move

5) Kouyaté and Zárate ensure Nolan is not missed

West Ham United have Sergio Agüero to thank for their impressive win over Crystal Palace. “Yes, I speak with Agüero,” Mauro Zárate said. “Not every day but sometimes we have dinner together.

“Always I told him that I wanted to come back to England. He said: ‘Come, come.’ He said West Ham was a good move for me.”

Zárate, making his West Ham debut, excelled in the first half against Crystal Palace, buzzing around, demanding the ball, eluding markers and scoring a cracking volley to put his new side on the way to victory.

“He likes to come off and start up the top and play coming off and find spaces,” Sam Allardyce said. “He’s a different kind of player to what we’ve had before. It’s very important in terms of wanting to play against a certain team and what strengths he would give you by playing against that certain team.

“He has some strengths which other players at the club don’t have and I thought he showed that today. Crystal Palace have very good defensive qualities and have done ever since Tony Pulis took over and breaking down those defensive qualities is difficult but I think he has those qualities to break that kind of defensive unit down.”

Yet it is unlikely that Zárate would have started if Kevin Nolan had not suffered a shoulder injury in training that will keep him out for six weeks. Nolan has been the target of much criticism from West Ham’s fans who believe that he offers little if he is not scoring and that the captain is only in the side because he is an Allardyce favourite.

Nolan has been an important player for West Ham in the past three years and is hardly finished yet but they undoubtedly moved the ball more crisply in his absence and suggested that the manager is capable of introducing a more varied style of football at Upton Park.

Whether Zárate continues performing at this level remains to be seen. The Argentinian is clearly talented but managerless Palace were limited opponents and there will be sterner examinations of his ability to cope with the pace and intensity of the Premier League. He will be the player most at threat once Nolan returns.

West Ham’s performance was not solely down to Zárate, though. Stewart Downing is also becoming more incisive and decisive after flattering to deceive for much of last season and scored an excellent goal.

“Downing’s one of the best players I’ve ever signed for West Ham,” Allardyce said. “His all-round game, there’s not a better player in our team who handles the ball, manipulates the ball, switches play, provides crosses and then gets back to protect the full-back. I think he’s an outstanding player from those angles and, if he can get a few more goals, then he will be even better.”

And then there was the way that Cheikhou Kouyaté , the £7m summer signing from Anderlecht, dominated midfield alongside Mark Noble. Kouyaté, a Senegalese international, has inevitably been likened to Dakar native Patrick Vieira. Kouyaté has a way to go yet before comparisons with the France World Cup winner are justified but he has been very impressive in his first two matches.

It helped that Palace were so poor and one game proves nothing but it has been a while since West Ham were this convincing. Jacob Steinberg

6) Villa fans warm to Hutton after two years in deep freeze

For the past two years Alan Hutton has been fit, playing for his country and contracted to Aston Villa, yet Saturday was the first time that the Scotland international has had a run-out at Villa Park since May 2012.

Hutton played well – he was the man of the match in some people’s eyes – and all the signs are that he has the right-back berth nailed down for the season provided he stays fit and retains his current level of form. All of which makes it more bizarre that Paul Lambert treated Hutton the way he did in the previous two years, when the former Tottenham Hotspur defender was a member of the notorious “bomb squad” and sent out on loan.

Only six months ago Lambert said that Hutton was unlikely to play for Villa again. “Alan understands the situation here,” the manager said at the time. “I’ve had good conversations with him. It will be unlikely that he will ever play here. He knows that. We need to get the [wage] structure down to a level. We have to look at the books and Alan understands that. Is it all to do with the money? More or less, yes.”

Quite what Villa and Lambert have gained by freezing Hutton out over the past two years is unclear – they never found a buyer and loan spells, at Nottingham Forest, Real Mallorca and Bolton, will only have covered a small part of his £2m-a-year salary. Now, with less than 12 months remaining on his contract, Hutton is back in favour, the first-choice in his position and playing well. It is all rather odd.

Among Hutton’s team-mates, there is plenty of admiration for the way he has responded since being recalled. “I think what he has done says everything about his professionalism and his character,” Brad Guzan, the Villa goalkeeper, said.

“He went through some tough times and never once turned his back on the team. He always puts a shift in. To get back in the team but, not only that, be as good as he has been in the last two games, says it all really.

“It speaks volumes about his ability. I think the crowd appreciate it. He’s gone out for 90 minutes and he has bled for the club and sweated for the club. They appreciate that. It’s fantastic what he has done.” Stuart James

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Six months ago Paul Lambert said Alan Hutton was unlikely to play for Aston Villa again but the full-back has won his manager round. Photograph: Matthew Bunn/BPI/Rex

7) Money helps but it may not be Burnley’s only answer

Poor Burnley are reliant on pauper’s funds to keep them afloat in the Premier League, but is money alone sufficient to compete?

Cardiff City fans would tell you not. Promoted a year ago as champions, they spent £50m (the owner’s figure) on reinforcements and were still relegated after finishing bottom.

Money helps but judicious use of it is just as important. Joe Lovejoy

8) West Brom’s trip down memory lane is to be commended

West Bromwich Albion fans soundtracked the ninth minute of their match at St Mary’s with applause to maintain awareness of the Justice For Jeff campaign being fought by the family of the club legend Jeff Astle, in their bid to raise awareness of head injuries in football.

With Christoph Kramer having no recollection of his contribution to Germany’s victory in the World Cup final after suffering concussion in a collision with Argentina’s Ezequiel Garay, it is an issue that is as pertinent today as it was when Astle was heading heavy leather footballs in his pomp, an activity that contributed to his death from a degenerative brain disease in 2002.

Astle’s widow, Laraine, and the couple’s daughters, Dawn and Claire, have often been frustrated in their dealings with the Football Association but West Brom fans have banged the drum relentlessly on their behalf and now the club has promised to dedicate a match at The Hawthorns to the one-time terrace idol in a bid to publicise the cause.

It may not be as YouTube-friendly as celebrities getting drenched with buckets of iced water but it seems heartwarmingly community-spirited and commendable nonetheless. Barry Glendenning

9) Hull home in on Dawson but Bruce wants more

Michael Dawson is expected to become a Hull City player this week and his £3m fee will take Steve Bruce’s summer spending through the £20m barrier. Jake Livermore, Tom Ince, Andy Robertson, Harry Maguire and Robert Snodgrass have all arrived at the KC Stadium but, still, the Tigers need to strengthen.

Snodgrass, a £7m capture from Norwich, is out for six months with a knee injury and Shane Long has been sold to Southampton for £12m.

Bruce says he wants “two or three” new faces before 1 September and, with possible commitments in the Europa League, it will be hard for the bean-counters to ignore his pleas. James McMath

10) Palace should replace Pulis with … Pulis

The Crystal Palace caretaker manager, Keith Millen, declared that the club’s co-chairman, Steve Parish, is in “no rush” to appoint a new permanent manager. They should be – their performance against West Ham, albeit without the injured trio of Joe Ledley, Scott Dann and Jason Puncheon, stank of the kind of the early-season displays Palace fans endured last campaign in Ian Holloway’s final days in charge.

Tony Pulis arrived to steer the south London club miraculously to 11th last year and despite leaving the club earlier this month, the odds on him returning have recently been slashed from around 140-1 to around 7-1. He is now third favourite behind Neil Lennon and Steve Clarke.

Parish has said that it is “highly unlikely” that Pulis will return but tellingly he has not ruled him out. Pulis rescued this side before and can do it again. These are his players who already believe in his philosophy. The smart decision would be for Parish and Pulis to bury the hatchet and get on with the job at hand. But regardless of who it is, whatever Millen says, it must be done quickly – Saturday’s trip to Newcastle and the close of the transfer window at 11pm next Monday dictate that. Michael Butler