The message from Arsène Wenger on the delicate subject of his elusive playmaker, Mesut Özil, was intriguing: Don't read this particular book by its cover. Don't believe the impression that this languid, sometimes low-key, style reflects the man. Body language, according to the Arsenal manager, is highly deceptive in this case. "In fact," explains Wenger, his voice sharpening as if he felt a sudden urgency to enlighten everybody, "that is the contradiction in him. He's not a guy who doesn't care. His style can sometimes look like that but he's really the opposite character."

Such is Wenger's obvious sense of fascination about how Özil's subtle mechanism ticks, one thing one can count on is that the Arsenal manager is driven, almost like a mad scientist, to figure out the solution to make it run beautifully.

Özil's recent performances, which have a post-honeymoon lull about them, have intensified the microscope on a player who was not long ago credited by just about all his team-mates for lifting Arsenal spirits. His arrival inspired an upsurge that made them Premier League pace-setters. It almost had its own snappy label: The Özil effect.

A painful performance in that 5-1 mauling at Anfield on Saturday invited critics to dissect the more complicated elements in his game which rose to the surface on a particularly bad day. It represented, in some way, the inverse Özil effect. Arsenal's pivotal player was lacklustre, error-prone, generally down in the dumps and seemed to distil all the negatives that afflicted his team as they stumbled inside a red tornado as if in the midst of a terrifying dream.

A broad selection of Özil related questions have become the topics for debate before a critically important week of home fixtures for Arsenal: Is he lazy? Is it a physical weakness to deal with the intensity of the Premier League? Is it par for the course with a player adapting to a new environment? Does he lack the personality to impose himself on the toughest assignments? Is he not so effective when Arsenal are missing pacy runners to seek out with his precision passing?

Wenger knows there are some glitches at the moment but betrays no sign of serious concern. While there are rumblings externally about whether Arsenal's record signing should be dropped, the manager shows no sign of losing faith. Wenger sees a talent that needs to be handled with care, musing: "He needs understanding. Because he always wants to do well. He cares. He cares about the game, he needs more support.

"He feels the pressure of course. Because he knows a lot is expected when you are a big transfer like that. There is a big expectation level but he should not worry about that, just play in the team and enjoy it, give his best. That's the best way to deal with it."

There are certain reasons why Özil's effectiveness has tailed off. Strategically the injuries to Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott have rendered him less effective as there are fewer runs to pick out. Physically, fatigue seems to have set in. Not only is the German not used to the intensity of the regular Premier League slog, he is also adapting to playing a full 90 minutes far more often. At Real Madrid he generally finished less than half the games he started. At Arsenal that statistic has swung and he is used for the duration more frequently, averaging 86 minutes per game compared with the 63.3 minutes in La Liga last term. "He thinks it's more physical here for sure and he works on his body strength in the gym to deal with it," says Wenger.

This particular adaptation, to take a skilful luxury player and make him more competitive, is reminiscent of what Wenger did with Robert Pires. Here was another technical attacker with a reputation for shying away from combat. He needed several months to come to terms with a more robust footballing environment and learn how to use his qualities to maximum effect. But there is a big difference. Pires came into a team full of powerful team-mates who had the experience of winning titles. He had Patrick Vieira next to him, Dennis Bergkamp in front of him, Ashley Cole covering behind him. He also was not expected to be the main man. It was easier for Pires to evolve at his own pace, without the shuddering pressure that bears down on Özil.

His stature as a player who was bought to hold the keys to the team, with a price tag that guarantees attention, brings a larger load on to his shoulders.

When it comes to Özil, Wenger remains positive and patient. Whether this is the right time to be carefully indulging a perhaps misunderstood, elegant orchestrator whose light is currently off beam remains to be seen. A series of critical matches, with Manchester United, Liverpool and Bayern Munich on the horizon, demands the highest standards.

Wenger is determined to coax more out of Özil. His statistics are reasonable – five goals and eight assists this season – but Wenger wants him to be more assertive and intends to turn him into a hungrier goalscorer. "You want the guy who plays behind the striker to score some goals and sometimes he is too obsessed with making the perfect pass when he could take a shot at goal," he observes.

Özil has struggled to repeat the kind of conviction he displayed in a masterful performance against Napoli in the Champions League – both his goal and his assist were delivered with total confidence. Wenger has tweaked some high-profile forward players in the past to add a more clinical edge to their game, with both Thierry Henry's transformation from a winger and Robin van Persie's from a No10 remarkable examples.

So how does one turn someone comfortable supplying into someone who can switch his attention to finishing? "By practising on it and convincing him by showing him situations where he can shoot more," says Wenger. "He will do that. The problem at the moment is that we are not practising much at the moment because we are playing every three days. Once we used to be able to prepare with everybody together but the problem today is that you cannot practise any more."

Time is certainly pressed right now. Özil needs to deliver. But it is pertinent that his team-mates project the feeling that it is the whole team, not just their £42m extravagance, who needs to rev up. "Everyone saw him as the Messiah," says Olivier Giroud, "but he would not change the team all by himself. He is important for the team. He carries his load. But at Arsenal a lot of players can make the difference."

Like it or not, though, some players are expected to make more of a difference. Tony Adams remembers getting hold of Bergkamp in 1998 and giving him the kind of gee up he felt was needed to inflict the full force of his ability on English football: "I felt at one point he was on cruise control, just going a little bit through the motions. Super, super player. But come on Dennis, it's about time you won the league, player of the year … How much do you want it?" Soon afterwards Bergkamp was player of the year and Arsenal won the double.

Perhaps it is the moment for a similar question to be put to Özil.