Kai Havertz: Kais and Lows

[BigPoppaPump]

That's why I said he strange players because when on mood he best CF in league and im not joking. Just need more consistency from him imo of course him staying fit will be vital

All our best players are the ones who got the most hate from fans for years. We bought Kai and automatically got better but they couldn’t admit it.

 

[tap-in]

I’ve never been one to praise Kai but I’m now seeing what he brings to the team. He’s not a classic striker by any means, but in some ways, he’s far more intelligent than a classic striker. When he was at Chelsea, I always rated him. Now Im feeling the same again. That dummy was not only intentional, it was world class, and too the goal, most strikers would have picked the keepers right, not the tiny gap to his left.

 

[Bloodbather]

I've mostly been a defender of him his entire time here, even he was flubbing his lines in front of goals all the time. Because he's always been a very useful player. Only time I was really critical was when he initially played in midfield, but I just thought he was being played out of position.

But as I said after his 'purple patch' of scoring goals a few years back - Kai is one of the best strikers in the world when he's playing confident and taking his chances. He becomes a complete package in a way very few players offer.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

All our best players are the ones who got the most hate from fans for years. We bought Kai and automatically got better but they couldn’t admit it.

The level of hate he gets here is out of this world. Never seen anything like it.

 

[Hleb's Sirush]

Wonder if people still think it’s a purple patch. Since he was moved to CF, he hasn’t looked back.

He doesn't look like a natural finisher. (heck it doesn't even look like he can hit a ball with any power sometimes). His biggest strengths are his football intelligence, off the ball movement, link up play and stamina. He is at his best when he is facilitating those around him.

Not really suited to when the onus is on him to be the one who has to get the goals. He is too much of a team player and too unselfish to go for goal if he thinks he can play someone else in. Understanding this is very important as expecting him to be like a hungry goal scorer puts him off his natural game.

This is why A-M gets so easily annoyed by him and he is/was underrated. Don't get me wrong, seeing your CF have the chance to take a shot when there was a clear opening, like it happened against Chelsea when he tried to play in Ode and the chance was gone would be infuriating if you expected him to think like most striker.

Having said all of this and knowing his strength isn't purely goalscoring it always surprises me how regularly he scores. His goals to games ratio record when playing CF is actually very good. Not decent, not good but very good. And as you have said it has been long enough period now to rule out a purple patch.

His stats as a CF:

Arsenal - 28 goals and 13 assists in 66 games.

German national team: 14g 4a in 27 games.

Thats is 42g and 17a in 93 games. That's a phenomenal record.

In summary I still want us to get a striker like a Harry Kane or a Haaland or attainable ones like Alvarez (the actual Alvarez isn't attainable but I mean similar level). A pure striker, greedy and sometimes able to win you games by having two touches and getting two goals. This doesn't mean Havertz is surplus to requirements, it just means you have different options. Once you accept this you can really start to appreciate Havertz and enjoy what he does.

 

[Sulosky]

He doesn't look like a natural finisher. (heck it doesn't even look like he can hit a ball with any power sometimes). His biggest strengths are his football intelligence, off the ball movement, link up play and stamina. He is at his best when he is facilitating those around him.

Not really suited to when the onus is on him to be the one who has to get the goals. He is too much of a team player and too unselfish to go for goal if he thinks he can play someone else in. Understanding this is very important as expecting him to be like a hungry goal scorer puts him off his natural game.

This is why A-M gets so easily annoyed by him and he is/was underrated. Don't get me wrong, seeing your CF have the chance to take a shot when there was a clear opening, like it happened against Chelsea when he tried to play in Ode and the chance was gone would be infuriating if you expected him to think like most striker.

Having said all of this and knowing his strength isn't purely goalscoring it always surprises me how regularly he scores. His goals to games ratio record when playing CF is actually very good. Not decent, not good but very good. And as you have said it has been long enough period now to rule out a purple patch.

His stats as a CF:

Arsenal - 28 goals and 13 assists in 66 games.

German national team: 14g 4a in 27 games.

In summary I still want us to get a striker like a Harry Kane or a Haaland or attainable ones like Alvarez (the actual Alvarez isn't attainable but I mean similar level). A pure striker, greedy and sometimes able to win you games by having two touches and getting two goals. This doesn't mean Havertz is surplus to requirements, it just means you have different options. Once you accept this you can really start to appreciate Havertz and enjoy what he does.

 

[Trilly]

probably the longest non-wasteful streak he’s had in front of goal since that period of form when he first moved to striker.

A Kai that does all the other midfielder/target man type stuff he does while also finishing at an acceptable rate is a very good player.

I just worry that there’s going to be a dip in his finishing soon but hopefully that isn’t the case.

 

[MikelHadADream]

Alvarez wouldn’t have displaced Kai if he signed.

Think Kai is absolutely crucial to what Arteta wants from this team.

I’d go as far to say that there is no player in world football we could get that would make Arteta drop him.

 

[MikelHadADream]

probably the longest non-wasteful streak he’s had in front of goal since that period of form when he first moved to striker.

A Kai that does all the other midfielder/target man type stuff he does while also finishing at an acceptable rate is a very good player.

I just worry that there’s going to be a dip in his finishing soon but hopefully that isn’t the case.

It will be interesting to see if he can iron this out of his game, it’s not the first time players of his style (target men/link up types) have improved their finishing as they approach 30 years of age.

He’s never going to be Haaland or Kane, but if he can just cut the howlers out (like the ones we saw in Jan 2025 especially) then he’s going to really start getting his flowers.

 

[MauveGunner]

Great match. Hopefully he can keep this form for a long period of time.

 

[Jakarta]

Kai Kai. You may miss a ton of sitters and look so awkward at times with your finishing and striking ability. However, you’re the best striker at the club no doubt !

Great hold up play, link up, movement and understanding of the game. Just a shame he misses so many sitters and has fitness problems otherwise he would be our undisputed number 9 for the next couple of years(largely due to the crap striker market).

 

[BigPoppaPump]

The level of hate he gets here is out of this world. Never seen anything like it.

The craziest thing is he’s never actually been bad for us, they just had an agenda against him from day 1.

 

[Sanchez11]

Virtually 1 in 3 for us, not too bad really.

 

[Tnegs]

As someone who gave him a lot of abuse when he was signed him I’m happy to say that’s he proven me wrong. Anyone who thinks Arteta can’t coach attacking players needs to look at this guy and what he’s done with him. He’s the white Drogba minus the aura and charisma of Drogba but still effective like he was.

 

[Bloodbather]

Alvarez wouldn’t have displaced Kai if he signed.

Think Kai is absolutely crucial to what Arteta wants from this team.

I’d go as far to say that there is no player in world football we could get that would make Arteta drop him.

When he's finishing the way he currently does, definitely. As said before, it's just a rare all-around package. Target man ability, link-up ability, clever movement off ball, heading threat, high work rate, strong in physical duels. When you add even just decent finishing, there's not a lot out of there who can replicate it. He really just needs to not be crap at it and he'll remain the main striker.

 

[Fallout]

Maybe after the growth spurt he had to relearn how to interact with the football

Because when he initially arrived, his touches were below Sunday league level ... no ability to dribble, even making short passes was a struggle

Does anyone remember that skills challenge before the season?

Now he seems very consistent with short combinations, decent touch, decent ball striking, decent dribble

Maybe we are now seeing the real version after rediscovering his technique and this is not a purple patch

He also looked decent at the world cup tbh

 

[viktor]

What do you mean by “incredible record”?

i think this is what @boonthegoon mean about incredible record when havertz starting CF for us

 

[Gooner Zig]

What's really noticeable with Kai is his ability to be able to drift outside on to the RW allows Saka to take up more central positions which = more goals for Saka.

Kai is just the perfect CF for the way Mikel wants to play.

 

[Trilly]

i think this is what @boonthegoon mean about incredible record when havertz starting CF for us

He’s been good upfront but this is so cherry picked wthell

 

[qbs20]

He makes our attacking play more fluid and gets the best out of Ode and Saka.