3 reasons why Kai Havertz has actually had a good start to the season

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<p>&mdash; Eduardo Hagn (@EduardoHagn) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/08/3-reasons-kai-havertz-good-start-to-arsenal-career/2/"https://twitter.com/EduardoHagn/status/1699430371593433256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>September 6, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p><script async src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/08/3-reasons-kai-havertz-good-start-to-arsenal-career/2/"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></div> <p>The biggest reason why I thought Havertz was signed to start up front was because I didn&#8217;t think he was capable of performing defensively to the level required.</p> <p>However, he&#8217;s instead been expected to fill big shoes in midfield, essentially replacing Granit Xhaka. So far, Havertz has exceeded my expectations without the ball. He&#8217;s had the awareness to be in the right places at the right time and, importantly, has done exactly what&#8217;s been asked of him, which requires quite some discipline.</p> <p>For example, in the first 25 minutes against United, the Arsenal plan was to not press high to force United to go long or try and build up from deep without transitions. This led to the Red Devils not having a single chance until their goal. United going 1-0 up was both fortunate and ruthless, but it&#8217;s important to look at processes rather than outcomes.</p> <p>Havertz played a vital part in this system and never pressed high, instead occupying the midfield and stopping Onana from finding a spare man in the middle of the park.</p> <p>His large frame also makes Havertz good in duels, with his long legs getting in the way. The German has already made some crucial blocks, including one against Marcus Rashford. With his qualities in attack, being able to defend was crucial for his survival in this team, and he has performed well in this aspect.</p> <p><em>Continued on the next slide&#8230;</em></p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/08/3-reasons-kai-havertz-good-start-to-arsenal-career/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span>&nbsp;#2 reason why Havertz has had good start </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div class="embed "> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr">&#9742;&#65039; REQUEST LINE &#9742;&#65039;</p> <p>Here&#39;s Arsenal&#39;s open play attacking sequence involvement leaders from the 2023-24 Premier League so far.</p> <p>Reply to this post with the competition/team and the season/date range YOU want to see. </p> <p>We&#39;ll reply at 12pm BST where possible. &#11015;&#65039; <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/08/3-reasons-kai-havertz-good-start-to-arsenal-career/2/"https://t.co/ujN6BlfekK">pic.twitter.com/ujN6BlfekK

<p>&mdash; Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/08/3-reasons-kai-havertz-good-start-to-arsenal-career/2/"https://twitter.com/OptaAnalyst/status/1699732057520238782?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>September 7, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p><script async src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/08/3-reasons-kai-havertz-good-start-to-arsenal-career/2/"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></div> <h2>2. He&#8217;s performed better offensively than you think</h2> <p>Going forward, he has been better than people think and his criticism has mostly been for one of two reasons: looking clunky and missing chances/not scoring goals.</p> <p>Indeed, Havertz has not yet looked very fluid on the ball, but he has actually been quite good. Although he lost possession which led to a goal against United, Bukayo Saka did the same in the opening minute against Fulham. It happens. He has been good in the build-up and helped out the team &#8211; even if that isn&#8217;t his fort&eacute;.</p> <p>Interestingly, he has also <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/08/3-reasons-kai-havertz-good-start-to-arsenal-career/2/"https://fbref.com/en/squads/18bb7c10/Arsenal-Stats">lost possession less</a> than both of his midfield teammates: 6.3 possessions lost per 90 compared to 7.5 for Declan Rice and 11.8 for Martin Odegaard. Of course, he has had possession less than both of those players, but some criticisms of him seem unfair.</p> <p>The other criticism is missing chances, like that miscue against United and a run he didn&#8217;t finish against Fulham. While scoring those goals would obviously have been better, the important sign is that Havertz is getting into positions where he has those chances. Eventually, the confidence in front of goal will come and those chances will be put away, but getting them in the first place is the most important thing.</p> <p>As you can see from the table above, he has also created five chances &#8211; more than any other Arsenal player except Saka.</p> <p>Indeed, he hasn&#8217;t been exceptional yet, but he&#8217;s hardly been a disaster. I think there is a strong case of confirmation bias going on: people expect him to lose the ball, then only notice when he does lose the ball and their perception of him playing poorly is confirmed, when in fact, any midfielder can and will lose the ball.</p> <p><em>Continued on the next slide&#8230;</em></p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/08/3-reasons-kai-havertz-good-start-to-arsenal-career/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span>&nbsp;#3 reason why Havertz has had good start to season </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div class="embed "> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"> <p lang="et" dir="ltr">&#128680; Mikel Arteta on Kai Havertz&rsquo;s criticism: <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/08/3-reasons-kai-havertz-good-start-to-arsenal-career/2/"https://t.co/bO8A449FLa">pic.twitter.com/bO8A449FLa

<p>&mdash; Eduardo Hagn (@EduardoHagn) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/08/3-reasons-kai-havertz-good-start-to-arsenal-career/2/"https://twitter.com/EduardoHagn/status/1698306986754941069?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>September 3, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p><script async src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/08/3-reasons-kai-havertz-good-start-to-arsenal-career/2/"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></div> <h2>3. He is showing he can perform the crucial role being asked of him</h2> <p>Arteta has been staunch and consistent in his defence of Havertz on multiple occasions, asking Arsenal fans to show love and support to the German. That is because Havertz is the solution to the problem that Arsenal faced in the latter half of last season.</p> <p>In the first half of 2022/23, Arsenal were the surprise team and the opposition would set up to try and beat the Gunners. After Arsenal enjoyed their best-ever start to a Premier League season, the opposition started to give them a lot more respect and constantly set up in deep blocks that were hard to break down.</p> <p>This was a real issue for the Gunners and a large reason for their worse performances in the second half of the campaign, so Arteta needed to come up with a solution. Similar to his German compatriot Thomas M&uuml;ller, Havertz is brilliant at interpreting space and popping up where the defenders don&#8217;t expect him.</p> <p>For Bayer Leverkusen, Havertz was fantastic at crashing the box at the right time and got lots of goals as a result. As long as he can defend well for Arsenal, then this ability to find himself in the right place in attack will be crucial in undoing deep blocks, even if he is not directly involved with play.</p> <div class="embed "> <blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="j2TPzVy6gw"><p><a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/08/3-reasons-kai-havertz-good-start-to-arsenal-career/2/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/08/concerning-aaron-ramsdale-stat/">The concerning Aaron Ramsdale stat that suggests David Raya deserves chance</a></p></blockquote> <p><iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);" title="&#8220;The concerning Aaron Ramsdale stat that suggests David Raya deserves chance&#8221; &#8212; Pain in the Arsenal" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/08/3-reasons-kai-havertz-good-start-to-arsenal-career/2/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/08/concerning-aaron-ramsdale-stat/embed/#?secret=6fPbISkZ6l#?secret=j2TPzVy6gw" data-secret="j2TPzVy6gw" width="500" height="282" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p></div> <p>His movement will cause havoc which is instrumental when playing against ten defenders. Couple that with Saka and Gabriel Martinelli constantly being doubled up out wide, and you will understand why Mikel Arteta signed Kai Havertz. Trust the process.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">