Is Özil Arsenal's saviour?

Ever since the £42 million deadline day capture of Mesut Özil, there seems to be a new sense of positivity surrounding Arsenal Football Club. It would seem that finally Arsène Wenger has caved to fans pressure and spent big to make them competitors for silverware, is Özil the missing piece to the Gunner's silverware jigsaw?

As I have been reminded by my many Arsenal fan friends, they currently lead the way in the Premier League having won their last 5 league games after a disappointing opening fixture defeat to Aston Villa. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the Gunners recent form is the way they've started considering the players they have unavailable through injury. Lukas Podolski, Santi Cazorla and Mikel Arteta would all be right in the mix of the first team without pre-season injuries.

However, if you look at the last 5 games, they have beaten Swansea, West Brom, Stoke, Fulham and Spurs. Tottenham aside, those are sides that Arsenal should be beating. Compare that to the start of Man Utd who have already visited Anfield, the Etihad and hosted Chelsea, my warning to Arsenal fans is to not get too complacent just yet. I would go as far to say that Özil is Arsenal's only world-class player but look through their squad and you find a lot of talent. Jack Wilshere is rated as probably the best young

Ramsey: Who saw this coming

Englishman since Wayne Rooney, Aaron Ramsey recent transformation has Arsenal fans purring with delight and Olivier Giroud's goalscoring start to the season has been just what the doctor ordered. I still think Arsenal possess some weak links. Wojciech Szczęsny always has a mistake in him, and I if was an opposing manager I would always be targeting the left-back area. Kieran Gibbs is a liability in defence, and Per Mertesacker has the turning circle of a medium sized ocean liner.

Despite their good start with several players missing, I still think Arsenal lack the strength and depth in their squad to win the Premier League. All it takes is for 1 tackle for Wilshere to be out for another long period. I also think that an injury to Olivier Giroud would knock all the wind out of Arsenal's sails. Lukas Podolski is not a player I would want to have as my leading striker in a team, which is what they're left with without Giroud. In the games he has played in an Arsenal shirt, Mesut Özil has a lot of space to influence the game. Against the top teams, I will be interested to see if he has the same effect or whether he is starved of the ball and the game passes him by.

For the last 3 or 4 years, Arsenal have had to fight to get into the top 4, but I think they can finally start at least challenging for the top 2 now. I don't think Arsenal win finish this season with any trophies, but that prediction has the potential to come back and bite me come May. I am more sure that Arsenal are still a long way away from being competitors with ambition to win the Champions League. Perhaps with the addition of someone like a Robin van Persie...

Note: His name is pronounced 'eurgh-zil', NOT 'oh-zil' or 'oh-zeel' <- Someone tell the commentators