Kai Havertz: Why The Noise? by Patrick S
When news broke that Arsenal were interested in signing Kai Havertz from Chelsea, many expressed pessimism about his potential arrival. A few days later, rumour became reality when the German signed on the dotted line for Arsenal for a reported £65m from Chelsea.
‘For £65million I want a player who is going to boss a game, who is going to look like scoring goals.
‘He gets in people’s way. He makes it harder for teammates to find space, isn’t quick. He’s not a prolific finisher and isn’t great at getting the ball and turning.
‘If I’m Smith Rowe, if I’m Trossard, I’m thinking gaffer come on, I know you’ve paid 65m for him, you’ve got to give me a chance.’
The fact that Havertz has had a quiet start to life at the Emirates hasn’t helped matters either. His miscued shot with only Onana to beat in the game against Manchester United along with that stray crossfield pass that resulted in Marcus Rashford giving Manchester United the lead, before Arsenal rallied back to win the game 3-1 didn’t help.
That has made the noises against Havertz even louder, more painfully even from Arsenal fans, who, at all costs, should stand in support of their player! Mikel Arteta has been unwavering in his defense of the player he signed so expensively two months ago. He has called for calm and patience recently referring to the patience he exercised in his woo his wife, Lorena Bernal. He therefore urged Arsenal supporters to show Havertz the kind of love that would make the player feel at home, to enable him rediscover his mojo that made him one of the most sought after players, forcing Chelsea to shell out a jaw-dropping £75m for the then 21-year-old three years ago.
Yes, Havertz hasn’t had the best of starts in north London. But we’ve seen enough examples of players whose starts were not as glamorous, but turned out to absolute legends. Didier Drogba was labeled a flop in his first season at Chelsea. Today, the Ivorian is considered one of the greatest players in history of the Blues. It took Thierry Henry 9 games to score his first goal for Arsenal, but today the Frenchman is officially the finest player to have played football in the Premier League. Many labelled Fabio Vieira a flop last season, wondering why Arteta sanctioned £35m to sign him from FC Porto. Today, the cries for the Portuguese to start ahead of Havertz are growing louder by the day after impressive cameos against both Fulham and Manchester United.
All this points to one thing: patience. We are talking about a supremely talented player, playing at a new club in a new role after a very bad season at Chelsea. His cause has not been helped by the change of personnel behind him, with the left-back slot occupied by Jurrien Timber, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Jakub Kiwior and Oleksander Zinchenko in the four games played this season. Would one expect the German to establish a chemistry with players who have kept on changing every passing game? Absolutely not. Much as Havertz has not done enough to justify such a huge outlay in the four games so far, the criticism that has been thrown towards him is vividly unwarranted.
The bottom line is that people need to calm down. Havertz will definitely come good. He’s playing in a complex system where he plays a hybrid role, starting out as a left-sided #8 end ending as a forward with his team in possession. He, just like anybody else, needs time to stake his claim. He’s not a bad player by any stretch of imagination, as no bad player can cost a combined fee of £140m.
Give the lad time!
Ssekatawa Patrick
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Maybe because he:
– Flopped at Chelsea
– Looked uninterested
– Missed a couple of sitters
– Made a grave mistake
– Played ahead of fans’ favorites, such as Smith-Rowe
But they forgot that Havertz never hid in duels, which was similar to Xhaka. I believe he is just a victim of some bad instructions and just needs to improve his positioning skills
Like I have always emphasized on this platform, a player is said to be a great professional when he uses his discretion in the pitch well. Arteta need not tell Havertz all he ever need to do during a match. And that includes his positioning upfront and intelligent passes. Havertz as a professional with international experience should up his performance. You can’t fault fans who pay a lot to come watch and support their team from wanting more from him. Yes fans should be patient but Havertz should do more and step up his game. Yes, Arteta repositioned Xhaka but Xhaka had the mind to do more. And that’s what we want to see from Havertz
As I mentioned, I think Havertz would’ve been more useful if he was tasked to do high-press and if Odegaard/ Saka make long diagonal passes to his head
Patience is key when it comes to Havertz’s situation at Arsenal. I am highly positive that he will come good when he finally settles into the team’s system.
Trouble with comparisons such as Henry, Kai Havertz has spent years in the EPL and looked very poor. He has never looked good. We supporters have right to trust what we see.
‘You can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear’ is the old saying that describes Havertz. He’s ‘found out’ in the EPL and just isn’t good enough for Arsenal. I feel for players like Leo Trossard, who is so much better than Kai Havertz.
👍Agree Sean, Henry came from French football, whereas Havertz has 2 seasons in the EPL under his belt. No comparison.
People are constantly making excuses for Havertz not performing well at Chelsea because of the turmoil following the sale of the club. It’s nonsense because he had a good run of games under Tuchel before the event and failed to shine. He is talented, no doubt, but lacks dynamism and his body language gives the impression he is not interested. His finishing is woeful and doesn’t compensate this fact by creating sufficient goals, chances or assists. 7 assists in 93 Premier League matches with 19 goals. I have always maintained that we overpaid for him but like most Arsenal fans hope I’m wrong. A like for like comparison with Drogba would be their PL records after 93 games, Havertz is a seasoned PL player he’s no newby and has to produce now irrespective of how ‘complicated’ Arteta’s system is.
Personally I would give Smith-Rowe a few games because if he is still a bench player come Christmas we could lose him in January and that would be a shame. But I believe that MA will persist with Havertz because he obviously rates the player.
Thank you for the stats i promise u this Guy gettin all this games for what? Worse stats than Pepe We should definitely start esr. Even Fabio viera but Havertz is the teachers new PET. Players like Tierney gettin loaned but doin more in his position havertz does in any position in arsenal
Maybe because many of us have seen what Haverz has done at Chelsea for 3 years and is doing exactly as we thought at Arsenal. No less no more. In football there is no patience, especially when you shell out that sort of money and pay tge wages he is getting.
I agree Reggie
Laughable comparing low energy Havertz to Drogba and Henry of all players!
So now Havertz is poor because of constant changing of the back 4? Funny, because Rice doesn’t seem affected by that at all.
The excuse change after every poor performance, and apparently it’s everyone else’s fault, even the fans now?
The issue is he has not performed well in the PL. He was bad with Chelsea based on goals and assists, and he isn’t improving so far with us at all.
Perhaps he is not suited well to the demands of the PL? He never found his feet after 3 years with Chelsea, guess that was their fault and the fans too.
To me it’s perspective, deliver something worth cheering about, perform and accomplish something worthy of praise.
I’m not against the lad, I’m just not in the habit of freely handing out praise like Halloween Treats. That is just my opinion and my perspective, others may see things differently.
Exactly!!
👍 Spot on
We are “making noise” because we’re told to be patient with a player whose stat is not close to Pepe,. the so called FLOP after 3 years in EPL.
I see him jug around the field for 90mins, waste a glorious chance, lazily pass to united and played 75mins afterwards for ensuring we didn’t score and pre-assisting United’s goal.
I actually stats to show there’s something good he’s doing not this “was sorted after 3 years ago” crap like Pepe wasn’t sorted after when we signed him.
I don’t like talking about players salary, but if he doesn’t fit in, we are looking at another potential player whose contact must be terminated to get him off the books as even Saudi teams won’t pay him 280k
Simple because it is an easy way for Arteta haters to criticise and insult him. Just like in the later wenger years when every opportunity/ bad game/bad signing was a way to insult the legend. There are many here and we all know who they are.
Add to that the normal neutral supporting arsenal who are prone to quick meltdown and easy to trigger and we have a party.
Then you have people like me who preferred ESR or Trossard in that role or a box to box mid like prime Ramsey instead of Havertz. Zero minute for ESR is a disgrace btw. Havertz body language and facial expressions do not help.
You criticize alleged Arteta haters and go on to agree with their opinion about Havertz.
Yea couldn’t make it up HH 😂
So your only allowed to criticise a player if you have a Arteta poster on one’s self bedroom wall.
😂😂😂
Ackshay, what does a person’s opinion of Havertz, have to do with their opinion of Arteta?
The only correlations are that Arteta brought in Havertz and is responsible for coaching him to be a better Arsenal player.
Like you (and Agbonlahor) I am concerned for the impact on the Arsenal careers of ESR and Trossard.
Havertz will be dropped eventually based on the gaffer’s need in his position only for him to come on as a substitute to save the day afterwhich a new monster in him would have been unleashed where his transformation process would have been completed just in time for the run-in. So i urge you melts to pipe down and see him as a player following the paths of Partey,Odegaard and Vieira laid down by Mikel.
It’s incredible the abuse some of these footballers undergo. It’s even worse when the abuse,harassment and ridicule come from their own fanbase. It was sad to read the statement from Maguire’s mum. Fans and pundits have been on his case for a long time and I see Havertz’s situation going the same way.So many fans have been on his back even before he kicked a football for Arsenal. A lot of the mistakes he makes are exaggerated whereas anything good he does is minimized. I do hope he gets a goal in his next match to ease the pressure on him and get him going.
Harvertz must be the only signing this season that was affected by the changing at the back.
Rice who was closer to the back was not affected but Harvertz who played more attacking was affected the most. Now I hear it all.
Take it or you leave, some players are not just suited to the EPL no matter what, Ozil was a better player than Harvertz in EPL and yet we still believe he throw his talent away by not trying at all.
People keep on saying he was a very good player in Leverkusen as if Joao Felix wasn’t a good player the same year too. Both scored 20goals and yet both are doing nothing now, even Felix still have a better reaction than Harvertz.
Harvertz can be better than he his, he will still score somes goals but don’t be surprise when he score about 5 consecutive goals and never score again.
Is he a better passer than Viera? No
Better finisher than ESR? No
More creative than Trossard? No, and this players are sitting on the bench.
Even if Harvertz have to do more than himself, getting introduce from the bench won’t harm.
Atleast Viera is showing some glimpse of talent and that’s from the bench, so why is Harvertz different?
Just need to trust the process and wait, noisy fans. Havertz will deliver the goods if we are patient. 65M up-front plus 330pw will turn out to be a bargain in the end for future starboy, Kai Haverz.
But who really cares if we could have signed better players – Maddison, Ward Price – for pittance compared to the fortune paid for Havertz.
And what if doesn’t deliver any goods? A loan, maybe. And which club will take him on loan for 330pw?
Final question: what’s the club record payment for a player (flop/outcast/misfit) to leave?
Stay tuned for the upcoming saga on the “undroppable” low-energy Havertz!
Yes, Rfrancis, Maddison has taken no time at all to adapt to a new manager and system of play at Spurs. Similarly Ward-Prouse at West Ham, both lower priced players.
I hear people talking about time, patience this and that. The truth of the fact is that Arsenal need to win games to put the team closer to the lifting of the trophy. Surely in the PL teams don’t give you time to figure out what to do with the ball in your feet.
Havertz needs to start from the bench when all is clear.
Havertz role in the team selection is not the same for Emile/Fabio/Trossard.
SWEEPERS – Ramsdale, Raya, Hein
OCCUPYERS / CONTAINERS – Havertz, Saliba, Mangalese, Rice, White, Tomiyasu, Partey, Kiwior
CONDUCTORS / CONTROLLERS – Timbre, Odegaard, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Elneny, Fabio, Emile, Trossard, Cedric
DRIVERS / OUTLETS – Nelson, Jesus, Eddie, Saka, Martinelli
Playing 3 controllers in Zinchenko LB, Odegaard R-AM, and Fabio L-AM will decimate the team spine and make the team culpable of conceding cheap goals against a very physical side like Everton.
One controller is simply enough for this Everton game.
Ramsdale
White Saliba Magalhaes Tomiyasu
Odegaard Rice Havertz
Saka Jesus Martinelli
We concerned fans hoping our beloved arsenal stay within touching distance in the title race. Not waiting till we falter because we are hoping one player realizes is potentials.
If you aren’t concerned, check your ambition for the club?
‘Why seat in a faulty car in hope it will come good, when you can use others while it’s in the workshop’
Ambition is fine but do you really believe we came 2nd last season because we were title contenders? It’s more like we were title contenders because we came 2nd. It was a very bad season to base any conclusions from as many big teams were poor. This season we are fighting for top four again imo. So a little patience can not go misplaced.
Here we go again. I really hope Havertz stays clear of this site. People were making fun of Chelsea last season saying how poor, clueless, and absolutely haphazard the Chelsea management was and how poor they were playing. Now, just to ditch Havertz, people are absolutely ignoring the fact that he was playing in such a shitty team, all season.
“Havertz has been in the EPL for 3 years and so….”
Yeah, 3 years at Chelsea, of which only one season with Tuchel was good. Now don’t tell me Havertz didn’t exactly light the league that season, it was his first season in the EPL, and bear in mind that he was just 21 when he signed for Chelsea.
Then the 2 upcoming seasons absolutely destroyed whatever momentum he had. 2 seasons of horrible experience is hard to shake off and hence his slow start at Arsenal. He can come good but the kind of criticism and bashing he is receiving from the fans of his own club, it will be a slow process. If you are complaining that Havertz is not getting up to speed fast enough and bashing him as a player not worthy of wearing the Arsenal badge, you will be one of the reason for Havertz’s slow adaptation to life here at Arsenal. This is the age of social media and words get around at the speed of light.
If you say, “He is a professional and should do his job because he is being paid and criticism shouldn’t affect him” then behave like a true supporter of the club as well. It’s our duty then to support the manager who is trusted by the management and support players who are trusted by the Manager. If we can’t do that, we should refrain from opinions that mandates players to perform because they are being paid. It’s such a self centered opinion that only serves our own sense of entitlement over the club and players.
I would only bash Havertz if somehow he had the power to force Arteta to always include him in the starting XI. I would only bash Arteta, if he was adamant to play Havertz while his seniors and assistant coaches disapprove and would rather see the personnel change. I would bash the management if they were forcing Arteta to play Havertz every game despite his wish.
As of now, none of that seems to be the case. So exercising patience and support for everyone who are working hard to bring the club to the new heights, seems to me the rational solution.
If you think it’s hatred Haverts, you are wrong.
If you think it’s hatred for Arteta, you are wrong
If you think it’s lack of commitment to the football club, you are also wrong.
It’s wisdom to keep a square peg away from a round hole until you can reshape it. Forcing things will either break one or both.
I haven’t said hatred. It’s too strong a word to be used to describe fan’s relationship with the club, manager or the player. I haven’t said that.
I just mean it’s impatient bashing that I see here.
Btw, if Xhaka was still at Arsenal, would anyone ask to rotate him with Trossard or Smith Rowe? I am not comparing Xhaka with Havertz in his current form, but am asking to understand why Arteta might be willing to stick with Havertz. He is seeing him as a future undroppable player so lets not pressurize the process is all I am saying.
And I think us being at 2nd position last season has skewed the perspective of many fans and we suddenly think we are the title condenders. I would only believe that if we reached 2nd when all other teams were firing on all cylinders as well, unlike last season. City has been the Champion even when the competition was high among teams.
It’s my realistic assessment that we are not there yet and last season has done more harm than good when it comes to fans psyche. Made us impatient, arrogant and volatile.
We finished 2nd but we weren’t there yet to be there.
I think we are in a fight to the top four this season and the squad building isn’s there yet. We aren’t finished in that aspect. Many questions need to be answered, many key positions are riddled with injury prone players.
We have to realize though it has been almost 2 decade we won the league but we can’t hasten our way to win by being impatient and losing the perspective of where we are. We will get there when we are there.
The amount of support Havertz has from MA, if I had about 10% of support from my manager in my workplace, then I would have definitely worked 12hr shifts 6 days of the week, oh wait…I still do it lol…
Haha, isn’t that the reason sports and entertainment are such a successful businesses? To drown human’s misery and sufferings into the sea of fantastic esctasy of belonging to a grand victor, to muster will, emotion, time and money on something we feel more likely to provide us a sense of achievement and comaradarie. If people were all well to do and content in their lives, sports and entertainment industry would collapse. It’s better that there are descrepencies in the world of sports and in our lives. What would people look forward to with hope then?
Daulet, Maddison and Ward-Prouse have successfully transferred to and are contributing strongly to Spurs and West Ham on the back of their previous clubs being relegated. Both clubs were both worse off than Chelsea.
Maddison and Ward prose are at least 2 year seniors to Kai, prowse being 28 now. Experience counts. Especially experience we gain in younger years stick harder, whether the experience was good or bad. Kai is just 24. James maddison and Ward-Prowse are hitting their peaks right now. Kai will get there if he remains a part of a team that has a concrete vision behind it like Arsenal is what I’m saying. It’s too early and he’s too young to write him off.
Kai Havertz had been successfully doing 50% of the job Arteta bought him for. Upper defensive works. Now, once he is well verse of the team and gets his confidence back, he will produce better at the other 50%, the attacking outputs. If Chelsea spent billions on players, I know they will spend some funds to corrupt the social media with anti-Arsenal propaganda especially when they bought their most prized stallion. Fabio Viera and Eddie Nketiah had improved greatly under Mikel Arteta. Kai Havertz will be the same.
So it’s Chelsea’s fault for Havertz’s poor form?
What about all the good players on bad teams who actually perform?
Absolutely shocking all the excuses people make.
It is simple, the player should take responsibility for their performances, and it’s on them to step it up.
Stop blaming fans, stop blaming Chelsea from last couple years, stop with ridiculous idea changing our back 4 is the cause of Kai’s $hit performances.
It’s Willan 2.0 at the moment; forcing Kai into the lineup, lessening the team while better more deserving players rot on the bench.
F Vieira, I don’t think he can play CM and I’m still unsure of Rowe and Trossard’s capability in playing a CM role. I think we need a strong physical presence in CM along with ball-winning capabilities. I think in a midfield three there would be certain weaknesses if fielding two out-and-out playmakers/goalscorers
Yes we may not compare havertz to drogba or Henry. But with patience. He is eventually going to turn into a player we will all enjoy as fans. Let’s not forget odeegard’s initial loan from Madrid was not perfect but okay. Some of us fans were not really in support of the permanent move but Mike saw something some of us fans did not see. Look at granit later years with Mikel. The performance really improved. What havertz need is strong support from us fans . Especially the Fans that go to the stadium to watch match. Cheer him up even though he makes mistake. We are human. And please don’t compare him to Declan because Declan plays in England right from time. Also as human, our level of adaptation to new environment varies, it is obvious the fear of new environment shows in havertz handling of balls. The way he hurriedly give pass to his teammates tells all. But all he need is a good talking to from Mikel and a very strong support from us Fans. Let’s trust the process please.