'Wonder' Ozil's dazzling debut unable to mask Gunners' defensive flaws

Sunderland 1 Arsenal 3

Luke Edwards – 16 September 2013

THERE was so much to get excited about in Arsenal's bold victory over Sunderland – and not just Mesut  Ozil's debut – but there is also enough cause for concern to worry about their weaknesses.

Even after a victory that took Arsene Wenger's side to the top of the table, and a performance from Ozil that re-enforced the view they have landed one of the world's best players, it is impossible to tell whether Arsenal should be considered serious title contenders again or whether they remain a team which is fundamentally flawed.

Arsenal showed off their strengths at the Stadium of Light, but also revealed their vulnerability. Brilliant going forward, but unsecure at the back whenever they were put under pressure, their ambition remains a prisoner to an all too familiar failing.

Indeed, for all of the optimism generated by Ozil's arrival, and as impressive as he was in his first appearance, the £42.5m spent to take him to London has merely turned a good attacking team into an excellent one.

The German international will certainly improve Arsenal as he adds another dimension to their play in and around the area, but they risk falling short of silverware again because a backline that has been found wanting too many times in both domestic and European competition has not been altered.

Attack will remain Arsenal's best form of defence, but in tight games, against the best sides at home and abroad, they will have to soak up pressure a lot better than they did against a Sunderland outfit which is still looking for its first league win of the season.

The last English team that sacrificed a tight defence in order to play in such a swashbuckling style was 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 Ozil's class.

Where some foreign players take months to adjust to the fire and brimstone of the Premier League, Ozil (right) appears to be too adept at finding space in a crowd and too aware of what is going on around him to need a settling-in period.

  http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/wonder-ozils-dazzling-debut-unable-to-mask-gunners-defensive-flaws-29582217.html