English FA Premiership/Manchester United 1 Tottenham 1: For a club with the racy glamour of Manchester United, it is numbing to lead an ordinary life. After it was all over the faces of many fans were expressionless, as if anger could find no place to settle. These supporters had not had the relief of booing an indolent or foolish display. There had been diligence everywhere in a side that bustled its way through the first half, but it had not been enough.

Their line-up is humdrum and even on the return of a few injured players the announcement of the team will still not hiss a blood-curdling threat to all-comers. Spurs made themselves at home, coped phlegmatically with the loss of a silly goal, stood up to the unsophisticated pressure before the interval and entirely merited a second consecutive draw at this stadium.

The first was last January when officials failed to spot that Pedro Mendes's shot had crossed the line by a yard in a goalless match. Martin Jol reminded everyone on Saturday that only three of his players from that night survived in the line-up.

It is United who need a revolution; Spurs have already had theirs.

There are continuing imbalances in Jol's team, with the full-backs less impressive than the centre-halves and the three attackers yet to fuse.

"It's good that we are high up in the table but there will be some disappointments in the future," said the manager, who will be without the suspended Edgar Davids against Arsenal on Saturday.

Even if he is in the throes of constructing a side, Jol is closer to the topping-out ceremony than Alex Ferguson. United occasionally seem to be holding the blueprints upside down.

In essence, though, the club, with one Premiership win at home since April, simply do not have enough gifted individuals on their books any more. Too many hopes lie with Wayne Rooney, and not even this forward, who turns 20 today, can scintillate to order. He played a wonderful pass, from which Ruud van Nistelrooy looked set to establish a 2-0 lead until Michael Dawson's excellent block, but his influence was spasmodic.

There are claims that the Glazers will provide large sums to close the gap on Chelsea, but reports that the money had always been available from the new owners in any case are outlandish. Does anyone really suppose that Ferguson, having finished trophyless and third in the table, decided that it would be smart to have a frugal summer in the transfer market? He has wound up in charge of a respectable yet problematic team, as Jol suggested while running an eye over it.

"It is difficult enough for Park Ji-sung," said the Spurs manager. "He's a terrific player but still this is his first season. Darren Fletcher came in on the right side but he really didn't play on the flank. Phil Bardsley is a young player. So they have the same as we have. Young players have to gain some experience and improve."

United, on Saturday's showing, may not even have exactly "the same" as Spurs at the moment and Jol realised his men only had themselves to blame for an uncomfortable half-hour. "It was our fault," he said. "If you're making mistakes you make them look better than they probably are at the moment."

Tottenham fell behind in the seventh minute when Paul Robinson failed to grab Van Nistelrooy's downward header on the bounce and Mikael Silvestre knocked in the rebound. Spurs' deeper troubles lay in a three-man midfield which, with the trio of forwards unsuited to dropping back and assisting, was outnumbered as United poured men into that area.

Bardsley's bullish advances on the right provided much of the impetus, but Jol switched Aaron Lennon to that flank and, in the key phase at the opening of the second half, thereby pinned the full-back down. There was a Dutch flavour to a decision that used attacking means to block the opposition. Spurs are certainly bolder these days.

Jermaine Jenas equalised with a sumptuous free-kick into the top corner following Rio Ferdinand's foul on the substitute Robbie Keane in the 72nd minute. A later set-piece saw a splendid effort by Michael Carrick dip to hit the crossbar. Though Ronaldo flashed a free header wide in stoppage time, the might-have-beens were shared along with the points.