Cobra Kai Havertz: Kai The Redeemer

[OnlyOne]

Not a killer or sniffer, never will be, doesn't hit corners he only scores because we're a really good team.

Look at the crap he produces for Germany, just pens. I think a proper striker in this team gets 25+

 

[Macho]

Have you noticed most of his goals hes aiming close to the keeper. Is that deliberate or just coincidence?

Probably instinct, hard to say. You remember his UCL final goal? In those situations I think he's great and a really cool customer. It's all a bit scruffy though, but he does get it done.

I am actually not that critical about his goal scoring ability at all, he gets a lot of chances for himself which I like. The rest of his game I'm not crazy about but it's not entirely his fault as he's been tried everywhere.

 

[Thrice]

We shouldn't forget that he wasn't even playing as a striker in that game. He played as an attacking midfielder behind Füllkrug.
I still think his best role would be as a free-roaming central attacking midfielder. But since we already have Ødegaard for that, Havertz will have to play as a striker. Not ideal, but he has the talent, and more importantly, the football IQ to make it work.

 

[PrinzPoldi]

I am not trying to praise Kai or make any agenda here... just talk about this game against Hungary.

If anybody did watch this game, which I did, would easily found out that, yes, Fullkrug scored an open play goal, and Kai only scored a PK. The huge difference between the two was, Fullkrug, a "more clinical" striker was pretty much invisible the time he was on the field; while Kai was very active and heavily involved the whole game.

Back to the original issue, we all know Kai is not clinical, never. All his managers know including Arteta and Nagelsmann. It is really a matter of choice on what player you want on the team.
You want a clinical striker that could be isolated or not involved most of the time, or you want a bad shooter but good on other stuffs? There is no right or wrong, but just a matter of choice by the manager.
If we get Osimhen, or Watkins, or Sesko, will they meet Arteta's requirements of involvement? Who knows??

Back to this game. We know Kai's shooting is bad, no need to be repetitive.
However, the way he involved as an attacking midfielder, I still believe he could contribute as a midfielder for us. Not on Ode's level or his way, but he is adequate to play some games there.

Not a praise, and not an agenda.

 

[Trilly]

I actually think his finishing is alright

What does alright mean? Not good enough?

 

[Macho]

What does alright mean? Not good enough?

In that I don't think it's a problem and if he reached 20/GA or more it wouldn't surprise me. I think he's ugly and brutish to watch with his elbows and scruffy finishes, but he is effective.

 

[Trilly]

In that I don't think it's a problem and if he reached 20/GA or more it wouldn't surprise me. I think he's ugly and brutish to watch with his elbows and scruffy finishes, but he is effective.

What do the assists have to do with his finishing?

20G/A yeah, 20G I can’t see it with his current finishing ability. We might just chance create him into getting 20 but the problem is the games where we’ll only create 1 or 2 clear chances and they fall to him as the CF.

I don’t see how that doesn’t cost us.

 

[OnlyOne]

What do the assists have to do with his finishing?

20G/A yeah, 20G I can’t see it with his current finishing ability. We might just chance create him into getting 20 but the problem is the games where we’ll only create 1 or 2 clear chances and they fall to him as the CF.

I don’t see how that doesn’t cost us.

If he was on pens tho.. idk you know what I mean?

 

[Trilly]

If he was on pens tho.. idk you know what I mean?

I know what you mean, same thing happens with Saka’s totals.

 

[Macho]

What do the assists have to do with his finishing?

20G/A yeah, 20G I can’t see it with his current finishing ability. We might just chance create him into getting 20 but the problem is the games where we’ll only create 1 or 2 clear chances and they fall to him as the CF.

I don’t see how that doesn’t cost us.

Assists have nothing to do with his finishing, I am just saying that as long as he is productive then I don't think we can criticise him too much even if he isn't the striker we all envisioned.

It would be nice, but I am not as fixated on having a 20 goal guy because it's not the only way to win something.

Furthermore, I am also not convinced Arteta necessarily wants that seeing all the strikers he gazed this summer and his history with that position to date.

 

[OnlyOne]

Kaicho.

 

[Buhry]

These Kai Germany comps are actually dreadful btw I’m not quite sure what I am looking at.

Lots of good passing and some bad finishing lol. Not like there is anything else to post about here during the int break so why not post it

 

[Hleb's Sirush]

He is in great form. Involved all over the pitch, nightmare for defenders to mark him. There is no question we and Germany play better with him in the the side.

So you would have thought given his all round performances AND right now consistently scoring or assisting pretty much in every game people would at least wait till his form dips. But no, seems quite a few posters want to criticise his "finishing" or his ball striking abilities in general at every opportunity. Yes he isn't the most clinical or cleanest striker of a ball but it seems because of this he is being underrated by many.

Fact of the matter is he has 9 goals and 4 assists in his last 20 games for Germany.
He has 11 goals and 7 assists in his last 17 league games for us.

So both for us and Germany he is producing elite numbers right now. It is extremely rare for CF to be involved so much in general play and be extremely clinical. That's just unrealistic.

It is one or the other. Auba for example was a great finisher but the rest of his game wasn't much help to the rest of the team. Haaland is like that too. He makes up by scoring a ridiculous amount of goals but if he isn't scoring then you would have to agree with Roy Keane that he is almost like a league two player because his all round game is non existent. Jesus is the opposite, amazing all round play but very poor finishing. Havertz right now has a foot in both camps. Great all round play while still scoring at a great rate.

If/when his scoring rate slows down then by all means let's revisit his finishing abilities and there is a debate to had, but right now I will enjoy his goals for us even if he scores them all with his arse.

 

[fute]

Kai's style is not pretty, but he gets the job done.

What more can you ask for?

 

[db10_therza]

She is not pretty, but she gets the job done.

What more can you ask for?

I’ve slightly amended your post to help you move towards the answer…

 

[PrinzPoldi]

I’ve slightly amended your post to help you move towards the answer…

it is kind of rare that someone is pretty but not able to get the job done, right??

 

[WesleyNHohfeld]

He was excellent today despite a subpar midfield and nonexistent wing play. You can see how valuable he is as an aerial outlet and winning duels while running nonstop. The only offensive player who played well today.

 

[boonthegoon]

Again bit iffy with some of his passes but was everywhere and as usual helped us to hold on to the ball more when we need an outlet.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

The shift he put in was absolutely heroic, he was everywhere. I couldn't even tell if he was playing CF or in midfield he was literally doing both and then drifting wide when needed too. Fantastic.

 

[RandomHero84]

I thought he worked to supplement our deficiencies both in dropping deep to supplement our link up through the middle, as well as a strong defensive shift.