A key figure in Arsenal's drubbing of Aston Villa, Mesut Özil assures that for him, criticism is like water off a duck's back.

"I don't play to prove anything to anybody, I play for Arsenal", said the midfielder in an interview with the German news agency dpa, in London. Özil scored his team's first goal and assisted their second in Arsenal's 3-0 victory over Aston Villa.

Just 72 seconds passed by between his goal and the assist - making the German the talk of the town in the Premier League.

"This was Özil at his best, playing in his favoured No 10 position and producing a classy performance that underlined why Wenger has vigorously defended the £42 million signing during periods of underachievement" enthused the Daily Telegraph.

Özil didn't want to talk about the idea of him being "set free" as a player. "The English league is something special, it's a long season to which must be added three other competitions. Therefore, there will always be highs and lows, but I can handle it."

The player felt that recent criticism directed towards him was "strange". "I have the feeling that I am criticized more. That happened to me in the Bundesliga and also at Real Madrid", he mused.

"We've only just started the season, we have new players in key positions. The collective game, which is something I have a lot to do with, cannot then just work well from one day to the next", observed the German.