Arsenal are still in search of a traditional striker to anchor the top 9 role and lead the club’s attack with Kai Havertz now added to Arteta’s make-shift options.
Since taking over as Arsenal manager, Arteta is yet to sign a traditional striker for Arsenal and has relied heavily on his attacking midfielders to man the center-attacking berth for the club.
Former Manchester City star and Brazil international Gabriel Jesus has been deployed in the role, including Eddie Nketiah.
Recently, Kai Havertz, who joined the club last summer from Chelsea for £65m, has been added to the Gunners’ central attacking options.
Kai Havertz is originally a number 8, playing mainly as an attacking midfielder. Mikel Arteta began his experiment with the German sensation during Arsenal’s 2-0 FA Cup loss to Liverpool.
It appeared the footballing sensation was chained in his new role in the clash against Liverpool. He missed a series of chances and could not navigate his way pass a sturdy Liverpool defense.
Premier League pundit Chris Sutton blasted Arteta’s decision to switch Havertz to a traditional number 9, insisting it is a disastrous move that has ‘shackled’ the player.
The contention was that Kai Havertz harnesses his best energy when played more in his original role as an attacking midfielder than being heaped with the responsibility of leading the attack on the center-attacking berth.
Despite the red flags, an intransigent Arteta stuck to his new team plan and tactical setup, still playing the former Chelsea star as a striker.
He had glowing reviews for Havertz after the Liverpool match, insisting he was ‘superb’ and needed time to get his axes right.
Meanwhile, there were the reliable props for Arteta’s bold tactical move with Havertz. Havertz, who had a difficult time settling into Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal setup early in the season, was beginning to harvest the goals for the Gunners.
His goals were typical attacker-styled strikes involving some well-timed runs and the ability to read the spaces and get himself into scoring positions in the opponent’s defense line.
He showed that quality in his first goal for Arsenal against MLS All-stars when he ghosted into the back post and fired home Arsenal’s 5th goal in the game.
He repeated the same against Barcelona in a pre-season friendly and perfected the art when he took a false nine role and assisted the goal that led to Arsenal’s big Premier League victory over Manchester City this season.
Mikel Arteta reveals why he uses Kai Havertz as a central attacker
It appears Arsenal are reaping from Kai Havertz’s new-found role. The German has been scoring week-in and week-out recently and is among the standout performers for the club.
A vindicated Mikel Arteta has revealed why he deployed the 24-year-old as a central attacker. Speaking ahead of Arsenal’s crunch Premier League tie with Manchester City, the Spaniard said Havertz is fit for the role as he possesses core attributes of central attackers – the ability to threaten the opponents’ defense, provoke attacks, read up and play up the spaces in-between the opponents’ defense, including disrupting their positional balance.
“Kai is a constant threat”.
“He can threaten you in behind, he can come to some good spaces and provoke a lot of issues positionally for the opponent.”
Despite a promising stint in the Gunners’ attacking berth, Kai Havertz may not tarry on his shift as a central striker if Gabriel Jesus returns from the sidelines. Meanwhile, Arteta’s experiment in the Arsenal attacking lineup will cause some major shakeups in the squad with Eddie Nketiah more likely to lose his relevance.
How would you rate Kai Havertz on his new-found role at Arsenal?
