Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has stated that the Gunners' improved performances this season has been down to their increased level of maturity.

Arsenal have started off their domestic campaign in a very positive fashion and for the first time in a while, many feel that the Gunners are genuine contenders to win the Premier League title this season.

Leading the charge for Arsenal has been Ozil with some fantastic performances and the German midfielder believes that the North London outfit have performed much better this season due to the fact that they have become a more mature team.

"I think as a team you can see that we've become more mature," Ozil told Arsenal Player. "We've learnt from our mistakes and you can see on the pitch that we're more steady.

"We've had some setbacks this season but we've learnt from them and it shows on the pitch that my team-mates are looking for me even more and I'm able to control the game better.

"You can see that we function well as a team. It doesn't matter who plays from the start, we're always there. You need a big squad if you are to be successful and that's why things are working well.

"When you look at the past seasons, we've always been a technically-strong team but when we played against big teams, we dropped points. In the second half of last season and in this year so far, we've proved ourselves against the biggest teams.

"You learn from your mistakes and we can measure ourselves with the best. That distinguishes us as a team."