The last English team to sacrifice a tight defence in order to play in such a swashbuckling style were the Newcastle United of Kevin Keegan. That side thrilled crowds and won plenty of admiration, but fell agonisingly short of actually lifting a trophy, most memorably when a ruthlessly efficient Manchester United pipped them to the Premier League title in 1996 because of their greater ability to grind out results during the run-in.
Arsenal should be wary of the comparison, although Newcastle's story may well have had a very different ending if Keegan had been able to call on a player of Özil's class. Where some foreign players take months to adjust to the fire and brimstone of the Premier League, Özil appears to be too adept at finding space in a crowd and too aware of what is going on around him to waste possession to need a settling in period.
"He looked very comfortable, especially his first touch," said Wenger. "He had not practised with the team at all, but he looked as though he was used to working with us.
"In the transition from defence to attack, he does that very well. His passing and his retention of the ball gives everyone time to move. His movement creates time for others to get on the ball. He gives us a kind of technical security."
Özil took just over 10 minutes to create his first Arsenal goal, a perfectly weighted cross which Olivier Giroud was able to hit first time, and he should have had a hat-trick of assists before half-time only for Theo Walcott's finishing to let him down.
Even when he tired in the second half and the hosts threatened to punish Arsenal's wasteful finishing, Özil attracted the attention of three Sunderland defenders whenever he got the ball. That created time and space for others to exploit, which Aaron Ramsey did superbly to score twice after Craig Gardner's penalty, given because of a stupid tackle by Laurent Koscielny on Adam Johnson as he ran away from goal, had given Di Canio's side hope and momentum.
"You saw what Mesut is all about with those lovely, telling through balls to set people up one on one with the keeper," said Ramsey. "That's why he is top of the assist chart around the whole of Europe.
"He is an unbelievable talent and hopefully that is just the start of many things to come from him.
"The timing of the pass is everything. He has a wonder of a left foot and the way he strokes the ball means that the passes he delivers always seem to be perfectly weighted right into players' strides. It's going to be great playing alongside him."
Unlike, Arsenal's new boy, Sunderland's legion of new signings are still trying to make sense of English football, as well as the unorthodox style of their manager.
Di Canio insists he is not worried by his team's winless start to the season, but he has won just two out of 11 league games since he replaced Martin O'Neill back in April and needs points on the board to back up his boasts.
How he could have done with some better refereeing at the weekend from Martin Atkinson, who inexplicably ruled out a Jozy Altidore 'goal', that would have brought the scores level at 2-2, because he had already blown for a foul on the striker by Bacary Sagna in the build-up.
Meanwhile, Arsenal are confident that the knee injury which forced Giroud off in stoppage time is nothing serious and that he will be available to play Marseille on Wednesday in the Champions League.
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