Freddie Ljungberg flashed a smile as he took his seat in the dugout and, on vacating it, might have been excused a roll of the eyes. Arsenal responded to their interim coach’s presence up to a point, showing a greater appetite to play on the front foot than in the latter days of Unai Emery’s tenure, but there is no one on earth who could correct their fundamental problems in a matter of days.

They were battered in the last half-hour by Norwich, who came to dominate after a tentative start, and would have been sent packing without a brilliant goalkeeping display by Bernd Leno. Yet again one wondered where exactly they would be without Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who equalised twice, and the overriding sense is that half a team of new players would probably make more difference than whoever the next manager might be.

Freddie Ljungberg must change lack of commitment in Arsenal’s DNA | Jonathan Liew Read more

Given Ljungberg has no idea whether he will be in charge of the squad for six days, six weeks or six months, there is little he can currently do about its composition. But he will have to find a way to extract a measure of consistency because, in common with a huge chunk of this season’s outings under Emery, Arsenal produced a match of dizzyingly different microclimates. This one broadly brought a sunny first 30 minutes, a tepid second and a tempestuous third; somehow they need to get an extended hold of games and it was no surprise when Ljungberg referred afterwards to their glaring achilles heel when possession is lost.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Freddie Ljungberg calls the shots during Arsenal’s 2-2 draw at Norwich City. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images

Norwich frequently enjoyed themselves when that occurred and both of their goals, through Teemu Pukki and the outstanding Todd Cantwell, came when Arsenal were largely caught up the pitch. While the visitors’ failings would fill a tome it is important to reflect the quality of Daniel Farke’s home side, who might be over the hump of the injury crisis that blighted their autumn and should be equipped to give survival at least a go. They were furious at the circumstances of Aubameyang’s first goal, for which he was given a second opportunity from the penalty spot after encroachment by Max Aarons, but gathered themselves impressively and by the end they came close to running Arsenal into the ground.

Early on it was Ljungberg’s charges who performed with that kind of verve. They were smartly out the blocks and could have scored twice within the first 10 minutes, Tim Krul just about stopping Alexandre Lacazette’s shot bobbling in and then thanking Onel Hernández for a goalline clearance after Shkodran Mustafi had reached a corner first. The introduction of Mustafi, who was ushered towards the exit door by Emery but played his first Premier League game of the season here, was one of a few tweaks from Ljungberg. There were also places in midfield for Joe Willock and Granit Xhaka, the latter’s reintroduction to the fold over the past four days having caused barely a ripple due to the furore over Emery, but that hardly amounted to open-heart surgery on the team.

Play Video 1:06 Freddie Ljungberg promises Arsenal fans attacking football as interim coach – video

Norwich’s opener suggested that is exactly what Arsenal need. They had hardly entered the visitors’ half when Pukki found an innocuous-looking pocket of space and saw Mustafi and David Luiz back off him to the extent that it made sense to have a crack. The ball ricocheted off Mustafi and past a helpless Leno, but the centre-back would have had no poor luck to lament had he put pressure on Pukki in the first place.

Soon enough Ljungberg would get the slice of fortune every budding manager needs. The referee, Paul Tierney, was right to award Arsenal a spot-kick for handball by Christoph Zimmermann, even if it took VAR some time to confirm the decision. Krul, diving to his right, saved a poor effort from Aubameyang and a boisterous Carrow Road neared fever pitch.

Matt Doherty rescues Wolves after Lys Mousset has Sheffield United off to flyer Read more

But those cheers became howls of derision when a new check revealed that Aarons, who had cleared Norwich’s lines after the save and wasthus deemed active, had encroached before the kick was taken. Aubameyang made no mistake the second time. The whole sequence had dragged on more than five minutes and, though it had all been played by the book, Norwich and Farke were rightly frustrated that the interpretation of football’s rules currently seems to change by the week.

They dusted themselves down and led at the interval when Cantwell, teed up by a marauding Hernández, took advantage of a lukewarm pursuit by Xhaka to finish beautifully. Ljungberg’s team-talking gifts would be tested at the first stroke but Arsenal re-emerged with purpose and Aubameyang finished emphatically after Mustafi’s volley had been blocked.

A top team would probably have pushed on from there. Instead Norwich, their mentality seemingly bulletproof, went again and Kenny McLean will still be wondering how Leno tipped his shot wide after the pair went face to face. Cantwell missed by a whisker and Leno pulled off more crucial saves from Pukki, a McLean free-kick and a last-gasp effort from Sam Byram. In a rare Arsenal sortie Ibrahim Amadou blocked from Lucas Torreira; it was simply relief from a storm of Norwich attacks at that stage, though, and Ljungberg knows now that there will be no easy path into calmer waters.