Arsene Wenger admits that Arsenal needed to “dig deep” to see off energetic Stoke at the weekend.
The Gunners won the encounter 3-1 and now sit proudly at the top of the English Premier League table.
But it was the kind of game they might have disappeared in last season, with their sometimes infuriatingly timid starting XI.
Things seemed to have changed in the red and white corner of North London however, thanks to the transfer deadline day arrival of German international, Mesut Ozil.
The classy midfielder has hit the ground running for the Gunners, and was directly involved in all three of their goals against the Potters.
They may not be a one-man team, but Wenger does admit that Ozil’s signing has given the rest of his squad “a lift”, and they have responded with a series of increasingly confident performances.
"He gave a lift to everyone at the club. He will be the point of our team work, team play,” Wenger said of new Gunners hero Ozil.
"He will get better when he fully integrates into the pace of the game. It is not just him, the whole team. We look solid.
"My job here is to make everyone happy, hopefully they are happy at the moment.
"When you play against Stoke you don't expect to score from three set-pieces, it shows how important Ozil's delivery is.
"When you look at his numbers, the assists are not a coincidence, they are a reality of his game. He is a great player."
