Arsenal news

Wenger reveals Ozil
gamble
15 Sep 2013 08:32:06
Arsene Wenger revealed
he took a gamble in
handing a Premier League
debut to Mesut Ozil in
Arsenal's 3-1 win at
Sunderland.
The Arsenal manager's
high-risk strategy paid off
as the £43 million record
signing played a key role
in his English top flight
bow on Saturday.
Under-the-weather Ozil
almost missed out due to
a stomach bug, but he
was pressed into
immediate action far from
100 per cent fit, after his
high-profile move from
Real Madrid, due to
injuries to the depleted
Gunners' squad.
Ozil was taken off late on
after an impressive
introduction as two
second-half goals from
Wales midfielder Aaron
Ramsey helped seal
victory to make it three
wins from four games for
the Gunners.
After seeing his side
strengthen their place
among the early pace-
setters thanks to two
assists from his new
arrival, Wenger revealed:
"Mesut was like the team,
he had an outstanding
first-half and dropped
physically in the second.
"He was sick on Thursday
night and I only decided
this morning to play him
because he had a
stomach bug.
"His first-half performance
was outstanding but if
Santi Cazorla had been fit,
Ozil would have been on
the bench as he was sick
and I wouldn't have taken
a gamble otherwise."
Olivier Giroud, who
opened the scoring from
Ozil's pass, is a major
doubt for the midweek
Champions League trip to
Marseille with a knee
injury and Wenger
conceded he is likely to be
without Spanish
midfielder Cazorla until the
end of October.
The Frenchman added:
"Cazorla's ankle problem
means he will be out for a
few weeks. I don't think
he will play before the
next international break.
Giroud has a knee injury
and we are very thin
now."
Sunderland levelled
through substitute Craig
Gardner's penalty and
were denied a second
equaliser by a
controversial call from
referee Martin Atkinson to
rule-out a 'goal' for United
States international Jozy
Altidore.
The Black Cats are bottom
of the table after collecting
one point from the first
four games, head coach
Paolo Di Canio's
frustration compounded
as he was sent from his
technical area by Atkinson
at the death.
"The referee has the
power to wait and see
what happens with the
outcome of the incident
with Altidore. He made a
mistake. It's a key
moment and it's decided
the outcome of the
game," Di Canio said.
"I protested to him about
the amount of time he
was adding at the end of
the game. I was calm. I
said to him 'if you want to
complete a perfect day
today, then you only have
to send me off'."
Di Canio, who handed full
league debuts to Swansea
loan midfielder Ki Sung-
Yeung and Greece winger
Charis Mavrias, insisted
his 14 new summer
signings must be given
time to gel.
"We were too shy and
passive in the first half and
Arsenal were on top," he
added.
"But in the second half we
dominated for long spells
with determination, desire
and quality. If we can
continue to play like that
we can have a good
season.
"It's about playing like that
for sustained spells. We're
at the bottom after four
games but you can see
that we have quality in the
side."