The beauty has passed from Arsenal's play, but so has a virtue that goes back further, to the days of the iron Gunner spirit. This is a side clawing for points where once it laid on a parade. There will be no quick return to the old verve and vigour but the chance is there.

It will start with a psychological shift, much needed. This team behaves as if coping with adversity is now its primary function. A third league win in 15 games eased some of the pain from the 2-0 defeat at home to Liverpool and the 8-2 battering at Manchester United. Yet still we observe a club trying to escape despondency and reconnect with all the optimism and fluency of Arsène Wenger's best years.

The summer's transfer scramble was "very unlike Arsenal", Wenger said. The same is true of the current starting XI. Once they swept upfield like a top ice hockey team. Now their movements are jerky and uncertain. The over-arching vision of symphonic one-touch football has been squashed by circumstance. To beat a Swansea side coached in the best possible taste they relied on a bizarre goalkeeping error from Michael Vorm and a glaring miss in added time by Danny Graham.

The blunt forward line of promoted Premier League debutantes was ideal opposition for Arsenal's defence, which featured Per Mertesacker – bought from Werder Bremen for £8m – for the first time. Calm, tall and technocratic, Mertesacker is no quick mover, and lost at least one aerial contest with Graham, despite his height (6ft 6in). On the credit side he will bring organisational know-how to Arsenal's defending and take pressure off Wenger's nimbler and faster centre-backs.

Three of the five players signed by Wenger during his last day trolley dash (he rejects that characterisation) introduced themselves to a crowd that was officially at full capacity but was peppered with vacant seats.

Mikel Arteta, who seized the chance to escape Everton's financial turmoil, was excellent, delivering two defence-splitting passes in the first 10 minutes and then settling into a pattern of constructive and economical passing.

In one game Arteta established himself as a compromise blend of Cesc Fábregas and Samir Nasri: the summer's two big escapees. From a narrow left-sided midfield position, Arteta hunted alongside Emmanuel Frimpong, restored after suspension, and picked out the runs of Aaron Ramsey, Andrey Arshavin and Robin van Persie in an encouraging first half.

The air of renewal turned out to be deceptive. After the interval the desperation returned to Arsenal's efforts. Theo Walcott's runs petered out, Van Persie was off-target with his shooting and Arshavin gave way to Yossi Benayoun, the third newcomer, after missing a tackle and taking a lecture from the 19-year-old Frimpong.

Arshavin's first-half goal had been a gift. On the edge of his penalty area Vorm rolled the ball inexplicably against the legs of Angel Rangel and then saw it drop to Arsenal's Russian forward, who swept it in. Graham's miss in front of the posts in added time was not quite in the Robert Earnshaw category but it hardly augured well for Swansea's goalscoring hopes. After four league games their duck remains intact.

Angst has afflicted Arsenal since the Carling Cup final defeat to Birmingham. The effect becomes apparent when there is a setback on the field or opponents refuse to fold.

"Confidence goes quickly and comes back slowly," Wenger said, locating the heart of it. Passing back to the goalkeeper from the halfway line was, the manager added, further evidence of anxiety. This mental fog does lift. But it requires a bit more positivity and a lot less introspection than you see round here. Arsenal's coaching staff have been noticeably quiet of late, slumping into their touchline seats with resigned and disaffected expressions. This time Pat Rice spent most of the second half on the touchline clapping and encouraging. There is nothing to be gained from moroseness.

This is a group of players who have forgotten who Arsenal are, what they stand for and how much talent underpins the whole enterprise. For a spell they came out of the brace position but then went back in as the score stayed stuck at 1-0.

On Tuesday they start another Champions League campaign, at Borussia Dortmund. Now would be a good time to forget a tough summer and display a bit more joie de vivre. "The longer it lasts, the deeper the problem becomes," Wenger said. The job of sweeping away the gloom falls to him.

To talk of all the players who may return to save the day is not the answer. It offers a hiding place for those who are fit and available. Yet the outlook really will be brighter when Wenger is able to call on Jack Wilshere, Thomas Vermaelen, Gervinho and Alex Song – as well as the other new boys, Andre Santos and Park Chu-young.

The template of lustrous Arsenal play is broken. Wenger's aims now must be more modest: assimilation, hard work in the physio room and more culling, plus an improvement in discipline. Three red cards in successive league games pointed to a lack of personal responsibility and managerial control.

Above all, you wish this team could restore its sense of fun, of identity, and stop looking so beleaguered.