Jamie Carragher was impressed by Kai Havertz’s performance as Arsenal defeated Chelsea yesterday, insisting that there is currently no player in the Gunners squad capable of taking the German’s place in the starting team.
Havertz has been keeping Viktor Gyokeres on the bench since the season started, highlighting the competition for the number nine role at Arsenal. The Gunners have also sold Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus, leaving Havertz and Gyokeres as the two main options for the position.
Havertz continues to earn Arteta’s trust
Arsenal have one of the best squads in the league, but the Gunners know they must continue improving as the season progresses. Players such as Havertz could prove crucial as Arsenal look to win important matches and challenge for success.
The German has experienced injury problems in the past, but there is little doubt that Havertz remains one of the top players in the Arsenal squad. His ability to contribute in different areas gives Mikel Arteta another valuable option when the Gunners need to find a way to secure victories.
His fine goal against Chelsea further demonstrated why Arteta continues to trust him. Havertz has shown that he can make an important contribution in attack, while his overall influence on the team has made him difficult to displace.
Carragher sets high standard for replacing Havertz
Carragher believes that only a player operating at the very highest level could realistically take Havertz’s place in the current Arsenal team. Speaking on Sky Sports, he explained that the Gunners would need a world-class forward capable of delivering consistently at the highest level.
“To displace Havertz out of this team, you need to be one of the best players in the world, it has to be an Ian Wright or Thierry Henry, a guarantee of 30 goals a season.
“Gyokeres is never taking Havertz’s place, nor would Rogers, and it is not so much what they give you in attack, more what they give you as a team.”
Carragher’s assessment underlines the importance of Havertz to Arteta’s plans. Despite the competition for places, his performances continue to suggest that he remains a central figure for the Gunners as they aim to maintain their challenge throughout the season.
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I’ve made this comment before on another article before.
If Havertz can stay fit, I am confident he will get 20+ goals this season.
He hasn’t managed to so far in his career.
I don’t think he has ever played a full season at CF though. In his first season with us, he managed 13 league goals( 12 non penalty goals) and he played half of that season in midfield.
For perspective, Gyokeres, who is regarded as the better finisher, managed 11 non penalty goals playing exclusively at CF last season.
So it’s not that far fetched to say he can score 20,playing at CF for the whole season and taking Pens. But he doesn’t need to imo because he contributes in other ways. If you include assists,his numbers are quite good.
Havertz is everywhere playing his ar..e off. He and Odegaard are battling it out for man of the season so far with Tzolis coming up on the outside.
Fitness is one of important attributes of a top player. If he can’t stay fit & contribute at his best for 70-80% of the season then that player can not be considered as great no matter how much talent he has. This is unfortunately the reality. Hope Kai stays fit. He has unique skills
Havertz can be frustrating in the way he misses chances but he more than makes up for it. For starters, he keeps getting on the end of chance after chance because of his brilliant movement.
He makes everyone around him better, a facilitator like Firmino was at Liverpool. It’s not a coincidence that Arsenal scored the most league goals in its Premier League history( 91 goals) in 23/24 with Kai at CF. Those numbers dropped to 69 in 24/25 and 68 last season,when Kai wasn’t regularly available.
The goal Odegaard scored yesterday is almost a copy of the one he scored in the community shield. In both instances,Kai and Calafiori make the runs that create space for the shot. With him, the wingers and midfielders will score more and he still chips in with a decent amount himself.
This is has always been how Mikel has preferred his forwards and I don’t think we’ll ever go the “pure goalscorer” route unless Haaland wants to magically come to the Emirates (even Haaland is a bit underrated with his service for others imo). You have to a have the technical ability to play with the rest of the midfield. With how things are going this season I do wonder if Arteta is about to put Merino in the pecking order ahead of Gyokeres. The signs and vibe I’m getting is that Mikel cannot give starts to forwards that don’t have a certain technical level despite how hard Gyok has been trying.
I see all that too. No-one, including Arteta, trusts Big Vik to be able to hold onto the ball under pressure, and it’s obviously a justified concern. Secondly, if Mikel is training for a style with rapid one-touch combinations and technical attacking, Saka, Tzolis, Ødegaard, Calafiori and Havertz etc can all handle it, but Gyok isn’t the right type of forward for that.
Havertz is an intelligent, selfless, mobile, unpredictable, elusive, modern, versatile attacker.
He personally shuns spotlights adulations. Wish you Kai the best of luck!