Özil had been criticised for two poor performances in succession but inspired Arsenal towards a comfortable victory at Villa Park, with a goal and an assist for Danny Welbeck.
However, Arsenal’s manager insisted taking Özil out the team could have severely damaged his confidence and his decision was vindicated with an inspired display.
“Özil was at the point where you have to show him the confidence was there and he showed he can respond well under scrutiny,” he said.
“You never know how people will respond. Did I ever consider dropping him? Not really, no.
“His best position is playing in the middle [as he did at Villa] but I can find you ten more players in the squad who want to play in that position.
“This was the response we needed after Tuesday night. We scored three goals in three minutes and in the second half it was a possession game because Villa didn’t come on to us much.”
Welbeck’s goal was his first since a £16m move from Manchester United and the England international also impressed.
Wenger added: “Knowing the media, it was good for him to score early! He scored a similar goal to the one in Switzerland [for England] and the timing of his runs and ball retention was very good.
“It was a good all-round game for a central striker.”
Arsenal’s other goal came from Villa defender Aly Cissokho to condemn Paul Lambert to his first Premier League defeat of the season.
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