Havertz must play CF this season
Watching back the game against Liverpool, it makes me a bit disappointed, of course there’s no need to stress right now and we must keep in mind that it is pre-season, the players aren’t fully match fit and ultimately the pre-season is used to build your fitness and connections within the squad. The results don’t really matter that much, but, I do think Arteta has a lot to think about coming into the new season and a few big choices to make, and one I think he needs to make rather sooner than later, is Havertz playing as our number 9
Gabriel Jesus is incredible on a good day and can produce some great performances and uses his knowledge and experience to put himself as Arteta’s normal first choice when it comes to centre forward, but we saw last season that Kai Havertz is more than able to play in the number 9 role and when he does, he produces goals.
Initially brought in as a midfield option, it took Havertz a little bit to get going in the middle of the pitch and it wasn’t until Jesus was sidelined with an injury that Arteta really gave Havertz the chance to play in his natural position. When he did, he quickly began to shine and for me, was sone of our best players last season, especially in the second half of the season and I think his skill is wasted in the midfield. Not that he’s not capable of playing there, but just because of what he can and did produce up top and centre.
Jesus is a great player to have in the squad but it’s hard to deny that his performances haven’t declined in the last 2 years, and he seems to be followed by injuries that leave him out of game play for several weeks. I’m not against keeping Jesus, but I don’t think he should be our starting number 9 anymore and I’d much rather see Havertz given more game time up top then him.
Arsenal have been on the lookout for a striker in the transfer market and I personally thought that might be the first position we looked to fill in the summer window, but it seems like it’s become less or a priority. I’m not sure if that’s because Arteta thinks he has enough options at the moment and it’s not a vital position he wants to fill, or because we just haven’t found the right player at the right deal yet.
What I do know is we have a great striker who produced a lot of quality last season, and I think if given the chance again, he will easily produce even more than last season.
What’s your thoughts Gooners?
Daisy Mae
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If Merino joins us, Havertz would have to play CF
I kind is feel Havertz potential to play as a CF is hug. He has the instinct to be at the right place at the right time though his finishing needs to improve. His runs behind defenders and positioning in front of goals is better than Jesus.
I kind of feel Havertz potential to play as a CF is huge. He has the instinct to be at the right place at the right time though his finishing needs to improve. His runs behind defenders and positioning in front of goals is better than Jesus. He can only be better coming season. His goal against Liverpool in pre-season was all about positioning.
He’s also stronger and better in the air
I’m just not sure he’s the super striker that Arsenal need. Jesus wasn’t either.
It’s only a friendly and the season hasn’t started, but it’s worth noting that Haaland got a hat-trick for City against Chelsea in their US friendly earlier. He is something that Arsenal just don’t have, or more accurately, don’t have anything close to in their squad.
Clearly, Arsenal isn’t going to get a Haaland Mk II but in my opinion they do need a player that can be relied upon to get that 20+ goals a season.
He’s something that no team have currently apart from man city of course
No
Havertz and Jesus are not even strikers ,not sure we have one actually on the books ,except from Eddie who we are getting rid of .
Does not look like we are getting one though so I would imagine it will be the same set up as last season .
It is funny that people that watch football, understand and analyze it everyday would call Kai a striker. But in what way is Havertz similar to Haaland, Toney, Watkins and others epl strikers.
The fact he scored more goal than some and was put there doesn’t make him one.
So maybe he’s a better striker then Adiva, if he scored more goals?
Just saying.
Or maybe if one of the players mentioned in Adivas post would have scored more playing in this team last season .
Ken, that largely because he played more game than them. I watched him alot playing for Leverkusen and never saw him played in that position.
He played 37 epl matches 30 as a starter and scored 13 goals and he has only scored 32 times in 128 matches. That is a poor return from a player some fan as a befitting no 9 for our great club.
Got to agree ,while Havertz played his part last season he will never be a natural forward ,he’s clumsy and not a finisher ,he needs 3-4 good chances to stick one away ,I noticed last season alot of his goals were aimed straight at the keeper and creeped in .
Not sure I’ve seen him bang one in with his head yet .plenty of up and coming players that could have been bought with the same transfer fee we payed for him
.
Didn’t he score against the spuds with his head?
Can’t argue with your figures Adiva, but he’s improved so much in the role, I think MA might just stick with Havertz and go for another winger or even a CB.
Similar to Toney in the way he physically occupies defenders and links the play. There’s plenty of differences between haaland, Toney and Watkins – doesn’t mean any of them aren’t strikers.
I do agree with you that havertz isn’t a natural striker because he doesn’t have the best finishing abilities, but he does have decent box instincts – the ball does come to him in the box, he’s just not as good as most natural strikers at turning chances into goals.
I agree that Havertz looks like our best option at Centre forward as things stand, given the attributes he brings that the others don’t have.
That said, I thought he looked good in midfield against Liverpool and can play there effectively against certain opponents.
Van persie, Henry. Weight, Pierre, Ade. Giroud… To varying degrees all great strikers… Match winner.. amazing skill levels….
Isak, toney, Haaland, RVN, Aguera, etc
Then take a reality …
Havertz. He’s no where near the level of being a top player. I can’t remember one instance at arsenal of him beating even a single player and scoring a goal that must mid table strikers would score. To win leagues and cl you need a striker who can do that 5 to 10 times a season.
Okay squad player. Nothing more. To think he cost more than Isak.
Arsenal are a strikers dream. With the chances we create a top striker will at least 30 a season.
Havertz at $40m an ok gamble. At $65m… What was Arteta smoking. Kudos would have been a much better singing… We could have rested Saka at times , kept Chaos and would have probably won the league. Oh well
He’s already been identified as the striker if his role last season is anything to go by. I must admit he has to be more ruthless in front of goal though, to further endeer himself to the fans as the top striker. A bit of swagger whilst maintaining composure in his attempts on goal will do the trick.
I won’t like to see him a “little selfish” as many fans agree should be the trait of strikers, rather pass the ball to a free team mate if you’re in slightest doubt. Grabbing an assist also goes a long way in a player’s confidence.
Totally agree, Daisy Mae. Havertz looked far more natural up front and the team performed better with him there. I really like Gabriel Jesus but he’s a winger, and a very good one. I’m not convinced Jesus is even our best backup option for the striker position, I’d probably prefer to see Martinelli or Trossard play there.
Simple as this
We don’t sign a proven striker , we don’t win title
What if we do sign a proven striker? My bookie’s waiting.
Is I was still a betting man and we signed either of Isak or oshimen I would put a lump sum on us winning the league .
Then I can see it
That’s an opinion not fact!!!. Cos you make it sound like fact statement
In your opinion if gonna be like that then let us expect trophyless again next season…
The team learned to play with Havertz, he with the team, we have other players capable of scoring, so where is the problem?
Merino needs us and there is a place for him to play.
However, if we can spend an extra 60 to 80 million and find a relatively young striker who will press the opposing defenders, run relentlessly, not get injured, score at least 20 goals himself (not counting those of penalties), he will distribute at least another 10 to his teammates, he won’t make easy mistakes, he will be capable in the high game, he will want to come to Arsenal and with a reasonable salary, then yes let’s buy him. Havertz will cover other positions or stay on the bench and because he will be a luxury for the team we will sell him.
But since we will hardly find all of the above, that is why Arteta wants the striker he is looking for as an assistant and not to replace Havertz. If Nketiah is sold, a similar caliber, with room for improvement will be found. If it doesn’t sell this year, it will remain with the prospect of being sold next year and then it comes back for Sesko. There is no other way to explain Arsenal’s tactics with OM.
Harvetz is ok. Liverpool won the UCL and EPL with a false 9, Kai outmuscled Lukaku and won the UCL as a false 9..Rooney won Man Utd dozens of trophies as a false 9. Our issue is the dip in form of Saka and Martinelli, since they share the burden of goal scoring with striker. At times getting a so called lethal number 9 doesn’t work, ((Darwin Nunez, Werner, Lukaku, Lucas Perez, Morata etc)
We need a striker, make no bones about it!!!!
Harvertz is not a striker so stop your nonsense.
Unfortunately, I doubt MA agrees with your thoughts. As long as Jesus is fit, he will likely return kH to the middle to accommodate Jesus up front, the same thing he by returning Nketia to the bench in order to accommodate Jesus even when it was evident that our Hale end boy was more productive.
However, I’ll keep my fingers crossed
Havertz movement up top is great but what’s the point of it all if the goal output per minute is the same as Jesus and Nketiah?
I mean this in the nicest way possible but he’s Gervinho v2.
And lets not forget part of reason for Kai’s success at CF is actually due to having a more competent midfield behind him (him not being in the midfield).
Hardly anyone mentions that our best run last season havertz played lcm and trossard up front . I’m surprised used two up front , because i think havertz would work well with a partner up top . Hopefully this season we can give it a crack now we have more options for a back 5/back 3
Not sure what you mean there – whenever havertz played LCM, we struggled, and I don’t recall trossard playing up front at all last season. Trossard played lw in our best run and cut inside – certainly did his part, but not as a striker. We were at our best last season when havertz was up front – he occupied defenders and made our attack more cohesive. Doesn’t mean he was perfect and we can’t sign someone better, but he wasn’t a weak link when he played up front – he was a weak link when he played midfield.
If we do sign a better striker, the only use I see for havertz is as a bench player or cover for that striker, and maybe odegaard (as the most advanced CM of the three).
I don’t see much of a debate here. With his performances in the latter stages of the season, Havertz is set to be the primary center forward (CF) this season. What many overlook is his injury record—he’s consistently available, which is invaluable. At his age, and with his regular playing time, his development will outpace that of a striker who misses 10-15 matches each season, even if that striker is more clinical when playing.
People often miss the importance of momentum. Coming back from an injury and missing games can destroy a player’s momentum. So, I have no doubt that Havertz will be a vital player this coming season, potentially scoring 20+ goals if he consistently plays as a CF. If he plays in the midfield, he should be judged by midfielder metrics, not striker metrics. It’s a simple fact that if a striker plays as a center-back, they won’t score many goals, even if they are technically a striker. It’s frustrating to have to point out such an obvious fact.
If someone argues that we need a 30+ goal striker, I wouldn’t expect Havertz to meet that mark. I understand the concern about not having a traditional striker. However, he can definitely score 20+ goals and contribute a bunch of assists, easily reaching a 30-goal contribution in a season. Will he score 5 goals in a single match? No. But will he score or assist in almost every match he plays? Quite possibly, yes.
We don’t need a Haaland to score 20+ goals every season; Watkins can do that too. If Arsenal wants someone who can actually score 30+ goals in a season, I’m all for it! But I don’t think there’s any striker out there who guarantees that. I’d rather go for a clinical winger to support Saka and Martinelli.
Kai is a good team player no doubt but can’t risk of him being a main sriker for us.