Kai Havertz finally off the mark for Arsenal
Kai Havertz has had a tough start to life as a gunner, but on Sunday afternoon, Havertz finally got off the mark and scored his first goal in red and white against Bournemouth.
Some Arsenal fans were probably a bit confused in the summer when it was announced that we were interested in bringing in Kai Havertz, and with Chelsea putting quite a large price tag of over 60 million on him, there were plenty of worries and questions asked from us Arsenal fans, but I’ve personally stuck by the same concept, give him a bit of time and we will eventually get going.
But on Sunday afternoon, just after half time, Arsenal were already sitting 2-0 up when a Bournemouth defender chopped Martin Odegaard’s legs from under him in the box, and we were awarded our second penalty of the night. A quick talk from Odegaard and Saka then led to them handing the ball over to Havertz, who stepped up to the spot, took a deep breath and buried the ball into the bottom left-hand corner, sending the Bournemouth keeper the wrong way and scoring his first goal in Arsenal colours.
A really touching and nice moment as his teammates surrounded him and pushed him towards a roaring away section who were going crazy in the stands belting out a new chant just for him for a full 10 minutes after the goal at least. The Arsenal fans serenading him to the sound of Shakira’s Wakka Wakka song “Tsamina mina, eh, eh, waka waka, eh, eh, £60 million down the drain, Kai Havertz scores again” a chant that I’m sure will be one that sticks in heads for days and showed that Arsenal fans are truly behind him.
What Arteta said about it after the game.…..“The other thing (that pleased him) apart from the win is the human level of what they have done today as a team – to give the penalty to their teammate and have the empathy for a player like Kai, who externally is having some question marks, and that level of trust to take it and win the game for us.
“As a manager I’m more proud of this than the victory because this is what you try to build – the culture and environment that they support each other, have their backs and enjoy what we are doing.
“It’s worth it, it’s real and it’s not forced. They made the decision and showed the leadership without me even telling them so that’s much more powerful.
“And thank you to our supporters, because the way they have supported our team and Kai – it is going to mean the world to him. Thank you so much.”
A special moment for Havertz and his teammates and a nice touch from Odegaard and Saka to identify that he just needs to get off the mark, and this could really be the thing that boosts his confidence to be playing at the level we all know he’s capable of. You could sense the relief that Havertz felt and for the rest of the game it looked like a real weight off his shoulders had been lifted, playing with ease and confidence.
Arsenal fans will be delighted to see him get off the mark and will hopefully help drown out the constant negative noise. Havertz finished the game with his first goal and wih a smile on his face, which will hopefully do him the world of good. With the fans fully behind him, hopefully he finds the confidence he needs to perform this season.
What’s your thoughts Gooners? Were you impressed with Havertz performance and happy he’s finally got off the mark?
Daisy Mae
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Look who’s talking now! Who has lowered the confidence of ESR, AR, LT and several other players who were forced to leave?
ESR’s injury lowered his confidence, not Arteta. A little caution goes a long way. I doubt ESR can afford another injury that keeps him away for months and it’s upto Arteta to manage him in a way to ensure that he remains available and fit for the season.
We claim he is fit enough to play regularly now, but we have no idea what is really going behind the scenes. May be he isn’t yet cleared fully by the medical staff to play regularly. Maybe he is being adapted to a different role this season, which is hinted in the training sessions where he is playing as a CM rather than his preferred 10 position. I am liking the cautious approach by Arteta, when we already have been down with so many injuries. Playing Havertz is a lot safer as he has an excellent injury record.
Players like Jesus are naturally more prone to injuries due to how they play. Jesus plays riskily a lot and that’s a cause for concern. Players need to understand that the best way they can contribute to the team is by actually being on the pitch. I understand why Arteta prefers Havertz as he is intelligent in that way, like how Xhaka was. He is less prone to injury so you can build a strategy around him.
ESR Iis high octane player and he needs to be absolutely out of danger to be playing regular football. I would rather see him play less minutes for the time being than miss him completely this season.
Exactly! Similar approach was applied to help KT but unfortunately he’s got other ideas hence his loan move which has had him injured himself again last weekend at the Basque derby.
And it was’nt even from a reckless challenge, it was all by himself while bombing forward in a way Mikel does’nt permit his LBs. .
Management is hard enough. Understanding management is even harder for bystanders like us. That’s I don’t jump to conclusions all too often on behind the scenes affairs as many here who just seem to be sure of.
We can only work with what relevant and official information we have available, and to be fair that’s hardly much info to base a sensible opinion. People fill all those blanks with mere biases, preferences and agendas, which can quite sickening to listen to.
He really isnot worth the fee paid for him, but that is on Arteta and not him.
I think he is reserve quality at best,he has done nothing to warrant a starting spot or to keep it.
Maybe this gives him confidence to get going, but I won’t hold my breath. I hope ESR gets more opportunities.
He did nothing special in the game, but I’m happy to see his teammates letting him score
If he hid in duels, I don’t think his teammates would support him
He’d better play again when we play against Lens, to prepare him for the Man City game
It was a wonderful gesture from his teammates and the fans. Indeed a weight was lifted off his shoulders and that was evident in one moment when he turned with the ball skillfully to move it forward-this is different from the safe actions he normally does. He was able to get on the ball more,one instance even dropping deep to collect the ball from the defence. I think Havertz has done relatively well off the ball-making runs and winning duels. With confidence,I expect his on the ball showing to improve because he clearly has the technical ability to do so.
Finally,I hope fans and pundits start evaluating Havertz as a midfielder. Many times I feel like people are expecting forward type performances from him when he’s playing in midfield. I just hope he can get on the ball more-even just retaining the ball by keeping possession ticking as Xhaka did. By the way,it would be interesting to see Kai’s stats alongside those of Xhaka. Defensively,I think he’s been able to replace Xhaka. This is surprising because he was expected to struggle defensively. In my opinion,Zinchenko has been less exposed this season because of some of the work Havertz does.He now just needs to improve on two midfield aspects :
1. Possession,passing and link up- he’s doing it but not enough. Also think most of his passes tend to be short but I believe he has the ability to do longer passes to switch play or evade the press.
2.Final action- assists,goals or the clever pass just before the assist. Fabio excels in this aspect. Havertz too can because this is what anounced his arrival on the world stage as a teenager at Leverkusen.
ESR came on and got into great positions and had 2 shots on goal. He always had the instincts to find space and positions to score.
However, let’s keep sending out Havertz, and hope he can find space and positions to score.
Real shame a sharp and in form ESR can’t get chances like Havertz. A loyal academy graduate who stays with us and is so talented, is not favored over a mercenary who joined us for money.
Would be nice to see ESR have a fair chance to honestly compete for starts. Unfortunately, Arteta prefers to “showcase” his transfers instead of open “competition” for all his players.
Durand I get your point regarding ESR in an attacking sense.My doubts as someone who prefers Havertz in the ‘left 8’ regard his defensive contributions. The way we played last season, a significant defensive burden fell on Xhaka,particularly because Zinchenko moves centrally to help with build up. My opinion(and I could be wrong) is that ESR has not demonstrated that he has the defensive nous to offer sufficient protection in the middle left area of the pitch. He’s also not good aerially – Havertz wins a fair share of aerial dues as did Xhaka.
Perharps ESR is better utilised in the position where Odegaard plays because not much is required of him in a defensive capacity and that seems to be the case from what I’ve observed so far e.g. against Brentford in the League Cup. I think Arteta sees ESR as an alternative to Odegaard whereas the left midfield position is for Havertz /Fabio. It’s also fair to assume Arteta prefers a left-footed player in that position as it’s more natural for them to make runs/overlap in the left channel allowing Martinelli to move centrally and take a shot.Xhaka performed this task so well last season.
Onyango
You make good points, and I understand what you are saying. First, let me say I am not “anti-Havertz” but more for Arsenal as a team.
Havertz should have to play his way in is all I would say. Rice, Partey, and Odegaard is our best midfield, and can lead us to the title.
Shifting Partey to RB to force in Havertz weakens the team in my opinion, and shifting White to CB and dropping Gabriel makes it worse.
Havertz is there obviously to break up play and move the ball forward. But who is better at that, Partey or Havertz? It’s worth considering even Jorginho is better at that than Havertz.
I agree with you on ESR being perfect competition and backup to Odegaard. Unfortunately, Arteta will rarely if ever rest Odegaard and give ESR a run of games.
As a result ESR gets shifted to the wings (he’s less effective) or Arteta tries to reinvent him as an 8 when it’s not necessary.
Some of us wonder why Arteta doesn’t play players using their strengths, but instead opts for the square pegs in round holes approach.
It’s an honest question, not bashing Arteta.
Why not build on our strengths from last year, add some players to a squad that held 1st for 93% of the season?
A midfielder like Douglas Luiz is quality, versatile to play DM or CM and cheaper, yet they take a massive gamble on Havertz, hoping he can do the job in midfield.
Not bashing the manager, just questioning why better options were passed over, at a higher cost in fees and wages. Also, disrupting and unbalancing the team
I get the points you make although I disagree with some of them. For instance,the claim that Partey was played at RB to accomodate Harvertz. This may not be true because Partey played there in our final two games last season,long before the arrival of Harvertz.In my opinion,Partey played there because Arteta always wants atleast one fullback inverting into midfield. In the absence of Zinchenko in our final games of last season,I think Arteta tried Partey there so he could offer what Zinchenko did on the left.This continued into the new season when Zinchenko was still not available for the start of the season. Whether or not it worked is debatable but in theory it was supposed to work because like Zinchenko,Partey is press resistant,comfortable at receiving the ball and adept at carrying it forward.
ESR played on the wings and he did fairly well on the left wing in the absence of Martinelli. I don’t think ESR being asked to play 8 is necessarily reinventing him. He is a typical box to box midfielder and that is no different from the role he’s being asked to perform. I also believe that a good player can and should be able to play multiple roles. There are hardly fixed roles in modern football. Players are constantly being challenged to play different roles. Even the great Messi has played as an attacking midfielder,as a right winger and as false nine-he’s excelled in all three positions under different managers.
Finally,about there being better choices is a matter of what the coach is trying to build . From your perspective,the choices might look wrong but I’m sure he had a plan and in that plan,Timber,Rice,Harvertz and Raya were the tools he needed to execute whatever he’s trying to build. I’ve always been of the opinion that a coach should be allowed to get the players they want if they think said players will help them achieve success even if they are choices fans may not approve of.It is why I was a bit disappointed when the club couldn’t get Emery the player he wanted in Zaha. We don’t know what Arteta is trying to build so we can’t possibly choose for him the tools or materials he needs. The tools he’s chosen are like a sword-let him live or die by them. If he does well,win win for everyone. If he doesn’t then the club should look for someone else.
I don’t get what you mean by ‘disrupting and unbalancing the team’. I’m just not convinced a distrupted and unbalanced team can go on the unbeaten run Arsenal is on;just one point behind the best team in the world. Sure,Arsenal is not creating as many chances as last season from open play but I expect that to improve with time.
Everything said,I’m a big ESR fan. I think he offers something that no one else in the squad does-something reminiscent of prime Aaron Ramsey. I hope he gets good minutes in either attacking midfield positions. I think we have a talented pool with diverse skillsets for those two positions in ESR,Odegaard,Harvertz and Fabio,which is a good thing. Of course there’s always the more defensive option of having just one of the above and two of Partey,Rice,Jorginho,and Elneny. We can play differently to suit different opponents-I just hope the coach does it because the talent is there.Cheers!
Well said mate. I admire the way you put in effort to make fans who are unnecesarilly fraustrated see the light.
ESR did more in 10 minutes than Kai did all game . Even the players know he is not up to par . The entire team is carrying him like a passenger .He is literally the worst player in his position in the team . He surely needs to up his game else the famed Arteta ruthlessness should be showed his way.
I doubt that any serious minded Gooner, can understand WHY HAVERTZ is preferred to ESR
How do you know that the players know he is not up to par , have they personally contacted you and said so….
Marty, The sympathy they showed him to take the pen, means player also know how down he is.
Being down and being not up to par aren’t the same thing.
they don’t like to pass to him. I can’t imagine being Odegaard who is so silky, has to pass it to such a clumsy player. If Kai cannot stand out against Bournemouth, how is he going to face a team like City? I will weep if Arteta seriously plays him in a game we have the best chance of beating City in for YEARS. It’s a handicap every single time.
When the team and manager have to do things to lift a player’s morale and stats while a better player rots on the bench, you wonder what happened to open competition. There are reports that Smith Rowe’s agents will actively seek a transfer in January if the situation doesn’t change. We just want competition and not favouritism
It is unfortunate that in this case, ruthlessness combined with favouritism results in the better performing ESR being ruthlessly dropped to favour Havertz
All very cutesy letting Havertz take a penalty, followed by what seemed like orchestrated cheering for him thereafter.
I watched Havertz throughout the game on Saturday and his actual contribution was minimal.
Like so many of us gooner fans, I would have much preferred ESR to have been playing instead of Havertz, and Odegaard giving HIM the penalty opportunity.
What must ESR do to get a full game?
Perhaps if he went to Chelsea in the January window and then Arsenal bought him back for $60m he would be persevered with.!!!!
Is it all just perception? Is it a case of familiarity breeds contempt on Arteta’s part?
We allow varied opinions on Just Arsenal, and my opinuion is that you are a twat of the finest order.
Your perception is the most ridiculous one ive see for at least an hour.
So what is it again? Twelve games ubeaten and you think Arteta is an idiot?
A starting XI with Havertz in it will not challenge City this season. Thats the simple analysis many of us have seen so far. Unbeaten streaks are all well and good but the goal is to challenge Man City and I and many others don’t think Arteta is setting this team up for success in the best way possible.
Really? lol.
really really, lol
For the first time in more than a decade, Arsenal has secured the best player’s services in the team and for the first time we have players who aren’t just high performers but loyal to the badge and won’t change it for monetary benefits, and people are crying that Arteta is managing players wrong and going so far as to say Arteta is not setting up the team for success. Wow. It almost sounds like a desperate attempt to see Arteta fail so their prophecy is fulfilled.
And regarding ESR and Havertz, ESR is great offensive player and likes to get forward into the dangerous areas but the team needs a defensive balance since Partey is out for now. And if anyone thinks ESR is better than Havertz in defensive duties, I won’t waste my time further. Havertz might not be the first one to run towards the goal, but he is almost always the first one to track back and help the defense. And we need that right now, until Partey is back. Then Havertz can actually be more free to be on the offense more often.
Spot on! Quite obvious when Vieira started ahead of him at Goodison leaving the load on Declan who’s also got offensive duties to contribute which must have weighed on him till HT at the NLD.
People don’t seem to see how defensively better Zinchenko is looking this season. He must have improved but the credit goes to Havertz in this case. Zinchenko is always covered by Havertz when he is in pressure or tight situations.