Kai Havertz has been a divisive figure since his big-money arrival from Chelsea last summer and his start to life at Arsenal left a lot to be desired. Early on in the season, I weighed in the pros and cons...
Kai Havertz has been a divisive figure since his big-money arrival from Chelsea last summer and his start to life at Arsenal left a lot to be desired. Early on in the season, I weighed in the pros and cons of signing Havertz, highlighting his versatility, replacement for Granit Xhaka, age profile, good injury record and Premier League experience as the pros, with his form and underwhelming performances at Chelsea as the cons.
Many fans, including me, weren’t fully convinced of what to expect from him, especially with Mikel Arteta earmarking him as the replacement for Xhaka, but we needed to watch him consistently to give a profound assessment of his performances.
Havertz made his Premier League debut in the narrow win over Nottingham Forest, playing in the left 8 position, featuring in several tactical positions to support the team, but lacked cutting edge when required. When Arsenal visited Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace, Havertz played in the left 8 position as well and had one shot that whistled past the post with Sam Johnstone rooted to the spot, but Takehiro Tomiyasu’s red card made Arteta revert to Satanball and Havertz full defensive capabilities came into play, as he won lots of duels, made recoveries, a couple of blocks and even interceptions, playing several positions on the same night.
Next up was Fulham at home and Havertz’s performance on the day wasn’t good. After playing 90 minutes in the first two Premier League games, he was yanked off in the 56th minute for Fabio Vieira, who went on to have a stormer, winning a penalty for his team and providing a sumptuous assist for Eddie Nketiah. The vitriol and pitchforks came out in full effect for Havertz, making his manager to come out in his defense in his pre-Manchester United press conference,
“I tell you what I feel about him, that I love him, that I see his qualities every single day in training. His work rate is excellent, a lot of the things that he’s done for the team is so good.
“The visual one, the one with the stats at the moment is what is missing to put the ball in the net and to arrive on those zones and have a different impact in the game, but for the rest is that.
“It’s difficult to ask, especially our people in our stadium and our supporters for more, but my feeling is, give him love and we will get the best out of him.
“I think we have some very, very, very beautiful examples in the last few years with players that we have given a lot of support and be behind them and give them love and they have felt that and they just have exploded. A lot of good examples.
“So I will stick to that because not everybody is going to be willing for Arsenal to do well. But the ones that really by heart and soul, they really want the best for the club, let’s do it because there is a lot there to give us.”
Havertz saw himself in and out of the starting lineup in the coming weeks, losing his place to the likes of Leandro Trossard and Fabio Vieira, but he kept ticking along, making appearances and thanks to the generosity of his teammates, Havertz scored his first Arsenal goal from the penalty spot in the 4-0 demolition of Bournemouth.
November turned out to be a breakthrough month for Havertz, as his performances in the month earned him the Arsenal Player of the Month award with 65 percent of the votes, beating the likes of Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Trossard.
His first goal in November turned out to be in the international scene, scoring the opening goal in Germany’s 3-2 defeat to Turkiye, while playing as a left wing back. However, Havertz followed that up with a late headed winner against Brentford. Havertz joined the scoring party in the 6-0 thrashing of RC Lens and scored a vital goal in the last gasp win over Luton Town.
Havertz scored his fourth Arsenal goal in six games with the match clincher against Brighton on Sunday, forcing all those fans that berated him to eat their words with a little ounce of shame while they were at it. The midfielder had some tense words regarding his upturn in form, stating that while he never really paid attention to his harsh critics, he’s not going to get carried away with his current hype,
“Every footballer probably feels more comfortable on the pitch when everyone is praising him, everyone is screaming his name and everyone thinks he’s great,” he told Sky Sports Germany.
“Of course I also think that this is easier. But I now know that this is not reality. That you’re the hero one weekend and the idiot the next – I think we know that enough by now.” Of course it wasn’t my best time, I’ll be honest and I can get a lot more out of myself.”
“My self-confidence suffered a bit from time to time. Nevertheless, I believe that I am now so strong that I can work my way out of such depths.
“You can’t please everyone anyway. Sometimes they like you, sometimes they don’t like you – and I accept that. As long as the people around me are happy with me, that’s enough for me.”
Ex-Gunner, Granit Xhaka, also had some encouraging words for Havertz, which will no doubt, spur the young German on to continue his good form.
Havertz is repaying Arteta’s faith in him in grand style.
Long may it continue.
Sayonara.
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