To avoid defeat, Arsenal had to “park the bus” in the second half of their clash with City after Leandro Trossard received a second yellow card for the red card at the end of the first half. The Gunners’ defensive block was such that it hindered their ability to play their own game.
As a result, statistics like Kai Havertz failing to complete a single pass and losing nine tackles should come as no surprise. These statistics delight the German striker’s critics. They’ll use them as an opportunity to criticise him, but as a Gooner, you shouldn’t let them deceive you.
Clearly, everybody who watched the game will have noticed how the Arsenal forward did not stop running.
Havertz fought the hardest and won the most tackles on the pitch. With Arsenal down a player, he chose to make his presence felt by utilising his physical attributes, while covering as much area as possible. Havertz has demonstrated his enthusiasm and determination in three away games against Tottenham Hotspur, Atlanta United, and Manchester City, showing no signs of fatigue.
Yes, he did not perform as expected, but Havertz deserves high accolades following the Arsenal vs. Manchester City match. Not many strikers can match his impressive work rate. He demonstrated excellent positional awareness and served as a third pivot with Thomas Partey and Declan Rice. He was defending centrally and providing defensive assistance on the right wing (with Saka subbed off for the second half).
Havertz did an amazing job versus Manchester City, don’t let anyone tell you anything different.
Darren N
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Obviously, Kai is on player I respect in that Arsenal team. He works himself to the ground always giving 110%. His physicality is a bonus for us.
Kai is always reliable when arsenal are faced with a red card situation because of his tenacity. He lasts the distance & gives 100& plus%. And given his versatility & understanding of the game, he is always counted on.
He won many aerial duels and his high-press forced Ederson to kick the ball quickly several times
Raya wouldn’t have been able to escape from Man City’s high-press without a towering attacker in our front-line
This is why Arsenal wanted Vlahovic and Sesko
Havertz is no longer the luxury player he was accused of being before he joined Arsenal.That said he cannot be expected to play in every match and in this regard our lack of a quality back up central striker is concerning.I say this because I regard Jesus as a natural winger who will never be an effective centre forward, which brings me on to Aston Villa who happen to have the two most promising prospects I have seen in the EPL so far this season in Morgan Rogers and the scary Jhon Duran who could become a star of the future.No doubt many scouts will be admiring this pair and Duran in particular, would be at the top of my winter shopping list.
Think I’m winning my bet that he doesn’t score more then then Halland
Yeah true, but we need a striker.
I’m seeing reports that Arsenal want to buy Jonathan David.
That sounds crazy. He cannot make it in the PL.
Arsenal right now needs players who can play under pressure. We need a more than average striker like Gyokeres, Loic Openda, Jhon Duran, Watkins, Thuram, L Martinez but not David
Had Arsenal just held on one minute more the big German contributions would have been greatly appreciated.
But such is life at times of just small margins
I get disappointed when some of our fans fail to appreciate the magnitude of the challenge we had at Etihad stadium on Sunday! Was it easy to stand up to Man City on their home ground for 55 minutes when you are numerically disadvantaged? Even with parity in numbers, Etihad is a difficult ground to play at. Thus, any serious observer cannot fail to credit Arsenal for the character they exhibited. This was a real test of character and nerves and our team passed with flying colours. From now on, a new rivalry is born. However, I am at pains to understand Man City’s bitterness! Is it because we refused to relent and collapse under their pressure? There is an old saying that the end justifies the means and that is what Arsenal did.
Perhaps Man City had expected Arsenal to surrender after the first goal and let in more goals. When this did not happen, Man City was shocked! Instead Arsenal went on the offensive and got two goals in succession. This was more than Man City could stand. Even after Arsenal had been reduced to ten men, they continued to exhibit real fighting spirit. This was more than Man City could stand. Hence, the anger and resentment!
He deserves a rest tomorrow night, he really ran his socks off. Because of his languid style comparisons had been made to Ozil when he first joined us – well I can guarantee that Ozil would not have put in a shift like that.