Chelsea sold the scorer of the UEFA Champions League 2020–21 final, Kai Havertz, to Arsenal. The Gunners were recruiting heavily in the recently concluded transfer window and chose to bring in young German talent. Havertz made a name for himself at Bayer Leverkusen. However, since his big-money move to England, the forward has failed to make much of an impact.
Kai Havertz has struggled in the first few matches played for the Gunners this campaign. This talented German has looked like a misfit in Mikel Arteta’s tactics, and here is a look at some of the stats of the player that show the early season struggles at North London.
Change in role
Kai Havertz is a natural centre forward, secondary striker, or attacking midfielder. He is strong in the air and has the ability to find the back of the net. The above heatmap shows that the player is featured in the centre of the park and sometimes on the right side.
Mikel Arteta has completely changed Havertz’s role on his side. He started as a striker in the FA Community Shield and then played as a left CM for the Gunners. This is a new role for Havertz, and he is struggling to adapt. The player has failed to get into good scoring positions and has yet to add an assist or goal to his name.
Poor conversion rate
Arsenal are unbeaten in the Premier League this season. The German started in every game until the last game away at Everton. In the first two league games, the player got a chance to play as a centre-forward. He has taken five shot attempts in the league and failed to hit the target. Havertz attempted two shots in the Community Shield match and both were on target. This shows the level of confidence that the German has dropped. He even mistimed a scoring chance against Manchester United.
The 24-year-old German scored nine goals for Chelsea in the 2022–23 season. Of these nine goals, seven came in the Premier League and two in the Champions League. He averaged 2.15 shots per 90 minutes and had a good accuracy rate of 47%. Arsenal will hope that the player gets back to his scoring form.
Positive side
Kai Havertz might be struggling to score goals, but the player has been decent at keeping the ball and distributing it. He has completed 143 passes in the six games played and has a high accuracy rate of 90.2%. These include five passes to the opposition penalty box, and four have found a teammate.
Mikel Arteta will look for a better role for his new player. Havertz has been a misfit in the midfield and is unable to unleash his potential. Arteta might pair him up with Gabriel Jesus in some of the matches and hope for a positive outcome from his player.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
