Kai Havertz: HavHurts

[HollandGooner]

No striker this window then

If we are still ignoring this then we do not deserve to win anything.

 

[KrissKringle]

If we are still ignoring this then we do not deserve to win anything.

Don't worry. We probably won't if we continue to play like Stoke trying to grab a draw instead of going for the win.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

What a joke post. Don’t know why it’s got so many likes. We signed a guy who is a flop at CF and midfield.

Literally brought him and he led us to the highest points tally since the invincibles.

 

[Gooner Zig]

Literally brought him and he led us to the highest points tally since the invincibles.

Led is a bit strong, big part of.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

Led is a bit strong, big part of.

Wouldn’t have happened without his form up front, arguably the most important player.

 

[Entropics]

I don't mind drugged up Havertz keeping the starting CF spot as long as we don't get caught, Artetaball doesn't need serious strikers. Just buy some attackers in any position, show at least some intent to improve.

 

[KrissKringle]

Artetaball doesn't need serious strikers.

So, we should have kept Eddie?

 

[Entropics]

So, we should have kept Eddie?

No, the 30M was a scam.

But upgrading Jesus with another duel monster might be enough.

We had multiple injuries this season to important players, Saka, Ødegaard, Gabriel..we just need to admit that the worst one was Havertz.

 

[Riou]

Non Covid trophies...

Havertz - 0
Nkietah - 1

... interesting

 

[grange]

Literally brought him and he led us to the highest points tally since the invincibles.

Massive player bringing that winning attitude Arsenal lack

 

[Jasard]

Havertz falling over whilst built like Akinfenwa will be a spectacle

 

[Sanchez11]

Kai is useful

 

[Mohamed7]

Play him as a striker all season he’ll get more than 15 games. We would’ve won the league if he played there earlier.

What do you mean earlier? He started as a striker and remained there till the injury. May be an odd match or two he played LCM I can’t recall but definitely 95% of matches he leading the attack.

He scored 9 in 21 league matches averaging about a goal every two matches and a half. With 17 remaining, if we use his average, he should have got ~16 league goals. How would 7 more goals from him make any difference to our capitulation? At best, it would have only delayed the inevitable.

What we missed are the goals from Saka, Ødegaard…

 

[Legend14]

Sure, we’ll get a more consistent scorer.; we clearly need one or two. I doubt that we sign a better all around footballer compared to Kai.

I can see Kai rotating at 9 and 10 next season.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

What do you mean earlier? He started as a striker and remained there till the injury. May be an odd match or two he played LCM I can’t recall but definitely 95% of matches he leading the attack.

He scored 9 in 21 league matches averaging about a goal every two matches and a half. With 17 remaining, if we use his average, he should have got ~16 league goals. How would 7 more goals from him make any difference to our capitulation? At best, it would have only delayed the inevitable.

What we missed are the goals from Saka, Ødegaard…

I'm talking about last season he only starting playing striker around february if I recall correctly.

 

[Mohamed7]

I'm talking about last season he only starting playing striker around february if I recall correctly.

Ohh Ok. You meant last season. Makes sense.

Yes, I agree and it was after the turn of the year. First was at home against Liverpool .

However, I believe the improvement was more about the team achieving better balance once the Havertz-in-midfield experiment was scrapped, rather than any notable improvement in his performances as a forward.

We were still scoring goals in the first half of the season, and only really struggled from mid-November to late December — particularly in matches like Villa (away), West Ham (Home), and to a lesser extent, Fulham (away), where we failed to convert numerous chances. Havertz was a major culprit in that period, except against West Ham, where he was unavailable. Despite this, we still averaged 2 goals per game in those 22 matches.

Beyond those few matches, the real issue was elsewhere. A midfield trio of Havertz, Rice, and Ødegaard was a big failure — lacking in build-up, retention, and control. Once Jorginho started playing as a 6 and Rice shifted to an 8 (thanks to Jesus’s injury, unfortunately or fortunately), the team gained far more control and dominance in midfield. We did score more in those 16 matches (avg. 2.8) but data were skewed by 3 matches against poor teams: 6xWHU, 6xSheffield, 5xBurnley.

So, yes — in short, you’re half right. Moving Havertz helped, but not because it suddenly fixed our scoring. It helped because it gave us a more stable and functional midfield.

 

[Fewtch]

Henchvertz looks like he's lost a yard unfortunately

 

[blaze_of_glory]

Great elbow late on and we have missed is work rate up top quite a bit.

 

[DanDare]

Henchvertz looks like he's lost a yard unfortunately

Yeah, judge how up to the pace of the PL he is in his first few minutes back

 

[Entropics]

Zero proof of his newfound superstrength, other than giving Schar an elbow spent most of the time falling to the floor.