Which is Kai Havertz’s best position? Is he a striker? Is he an #8 or a #10? Thats one question Gooners tend to always ask themselves watching the German international.
German media outlet Bavarian Football Works suggests that the Gunner excels as a #10 and is surrounded by creative players. At the Emirates Stadium, these creative players could be Saka and Martinelli on the wings, a top midfielder like Odegaard of Nwaneri, and a striker like Gyokeres or Sesko.
FW stated: “Wherever Julian Nagelsmann goes after the 2026 World Cup, Havertz needs to demand a transfer to that club. Nagelsmann recognises that Havertz is best used as a number ten surrounded by creative teammates.
“Often knocked for his lack of aggression and consistency, his talents are being maximised with the German national team.
“He’ll never be a complete player but he can be a solid contributor for Nagelsmann as World Cup qualifying kicks into gear next year.”
From these claims, I can’t help but feel Mikel Arteta has just been told he is not using Havertz in the best position and how lucky he is to be told where to.
Most Gooners would agree Havertz isn’t the goal-scoring striker this Arsenal team needs.
As usual… Kai Havertz scored for Germany in their 7-0 win over Bosnia & Herzegovina… 🫡
• 1 goal 💥
• 1 assist 🅰️
• 1 chance created
• 46/51 accurate passes
• 1/1 tackles won
• 3 recoveries
• 3/6 duels won
🔸7 goals and assists in his last 9 appearances for Germany. The link-up between Kai Havertz and Jamal Muisala was outstanding in this match.
To go to the next level, Arsenal needs to be bold enough to sign top goalscoring strikers like Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko.
Arteta should emulate Julian Nagelsman’s use of Havertz, as it is disheartening to witness his success on international duty but not replicate the same impact at the Emirates Stadium.
We cannot take Kai Havertz’s work rate for granted. I hope Arteta finally finds what gets the best out of him in his team. He is a player who has the potential to leave Arsenal as a legend, but that won’t happen if he departs after the 2025–26 season to join Julians Nagelsman.
What do you think?
Daniel O
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Will
Cost us a proper run at title ,confused why a manager would spend that much on player hoping he can lead the line as a striker when he isn’t one .
Probably Artetas massive ago as something to do with with it ,If we could win a trophy from talking bollocks ,Arsenal and Arteta (great salesman ,I’ve give him that )would be quids in .
Stuck with this clown now after his massive salary which is a massive shame for proper Arsenal fans .
He is not a striker in the orthodox sense, but he can do a job in the same way has Firmino did for Liverpool. That would work OK if Saka and Martinelli were firing in the same way as Salah and Mane was. However, there is currently more pressure on a striker scoring goals because they are not coming from anywhere else. Yes, we need a prolific goal scorer, but we need the likes of Martinelli, Trossard and even Saka to score more. Havertz for me is best as an attacking midfielder, he has different attributes to Odegaard, that’s why we struggled without him. However, Havertz is a high scoring midfielder, not a low scoring striker. He may never have that perfect fit in one position, but I think he is technically a very good footballer, and he leaves nothing on the field, even though his languid style may not always portray that.
Best position similar to DB10 in my opinion, obviously not in his league, but in our present team he’s the best we’ve got in that position. Ødegaard is by far our most creative player.
I doubt Havertz can play CAM well, because he can’t easily cut inside due to his lack of close control skills
We also don’t play with 4-2-3-1 anymore. His best position in Arteta’s current formation is CF
I just feel like if Arteta could become a bit more fluid and less rigid in his approach when it comes to our attacking third then we may be we would be more potent in terms of goal scoring.
Let the front players be more flexible ( be given more freedom to interchange positions) throughout each game. He needs to be a bit more unpredictable in the way he sets the team up.
As the article says, “To go to the next level, Arsenal needs to be bold enough to sign top goalscoring strikers like Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko.”
Having missed getting a striker last summer, it’s likely that we’ll have to wait now for next summer to “go to the next level” – assuming Arsenal can hold on to the current level in the meantime, of course.
At the end of the season we can properly analyze the good and bad.
IF the striker question is a prominent factor, then I think there has to be a change. At the very least we need an upgrade on a toothless Jesus.
Nwanarei looks very promising, and Summer plans should include him and playing time. I sincerely hope he gets more time rather than the club bringing in another attacking midfielder.
IMO we need a striker to compete with Havertz, a winger to compete with Saka and Martinelli, and a B2B midfielder to balance our overly defensive midfield.
Durand,
As far as the striker situation goes, we’ve known this for three seasons now.
So, that issue is already well over due for looking at.
But with the window being closed, there’s nothing that can be done, until the January window, or the summer.
Bit it really should have been addressed way before now to be honest. Had it been, who knows we might have been champions by now.
But we’ll never know now will we.
I agree. You’d have thought that the need for a striker had just occurred. Given the goal scoring for of, say, Jesus with a mighty 4 EPL goals all season for 2023-24 it was surely “on the radar” (or should have been) prior to this season. But we are where we are – and that’s (still) pretty light in the “striker” department. Whether it can be rectified in January is the question – I doubt it, but we’ll see.
My only concern at the moment with Havertz is that he can go injury free, because due to bad planning with the squat we have not substitute for him. Not other goal scorer in the center of our attack; incredibly!
His best position is CF
He’s far from the best CF in the world
In fact I think our best finisher is actually Trossard
But Trossard works better off the bench in my opinion
CF is the position we must play Havertz from.
Any other position would be pointless
Havertz is a raumdeuter, he’s Tommy Muller 2.0
Play him just behind an actual striker and watch him flourish.