Mesut Ozil: Arsenal Midfielder Has Fans Daring To Dream Again..........!

Arsene Wenger has often been accused of allowing his team to go in search of the near-perfect goal at the expense of the game's practicalities. The manager's punch of the night air and beaming smile, the years seeming to fall away, suggested this was a thing of beauty that would keep him warm when he eventually walks away.

The Frenchman likes the finer things in football. Ozil and the goal he scored fall into that category.

Arsenal's fans rose with Wenger to acclaim the German midfield man whose arrivalhas elevated the spirits of a club that was in danger of crisis to the point where they can start daring to dream.

Not about winning the Champions League, even though this 2-0 win over Napoli puts them in command of their group. Not about winning the Premier League, even though they head the table.

It is too early for that - but what a different club Arsenal is and what a different place the Emirates is from the seething mass of frustration it has become in eight trophyless years.

And so much of this sense of wellbeing can be apportioned, on so many levels, to the slender figure of Ozil.

As another under-achieving season drew to a close, Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis took arms against those who questioned the club's ambition, who claimed they were happier with money in the bank rather than on the pitch in the form of world-class players.

He has lifted every aspect of Arsenal Football Club. He has made them and their supporters feel like they really belong in elevated company once more.

Arsenal's decision to pay a club-record £42m to Real Madrid for Ozil was the game-changer with fans who questioned their desire to pay serious money. The spin-offs do not simply come from sales of the personalised Ozil shirts that poured out of Holloway Road station on Tuesday.

His presence has lifted the confidence of his team-mates, revelling in having him among them. They are glad to be around him. He even appears to have given Wenger a more youthful appearance.

The opening goal was elegance and power combined to perfection. Seven minutes later it was subtlety as once again Napoli's left side was exposed, a deft flick of Ozil's left foot setting up Giroud.