Arsenal: Arteta now unsure about Kai Havertz at the Emirates

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·19 September 2023

Arsenal: Arteta now unsure about Kai Havertz at the Emirates

Highlights

Havertz's position in the team is uncertain, as Arteta has been experimenting with different roles for him, but he is likely to be back in the starting lineup soon.
Despite criticism, Arteta has shown faith in Havertz by starting him in the opening four Premier League games.
Havertz's best position may be as a centre-forward, but with competition from Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah, he may have to adapt to a different role in the team.

Arsenal star Kai Havertz was dropped for their recent game against Everton, and Paul Brown has explained to GIVEMESPORT whether we're likely to see him in the side again soon.

Havertz may have been disappointed not to start at Goodison Park at the weekend.

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Havertz signed for the Gunners during the summer transfer window for a fee of £65m from fellow London side Chelsea, as per Sky Sports. The German international played predominantly as a striker during his time at Stamford Bridge, but Mikel Arteta has been utilising him in a deeper midfield role. It's not quite worked out for Havertz at the Emirates Stadium, and after starting the opening four games, Arteta opted to bring in Fabio Vieira on Sunday.

Havertz has been receiving criticism for his performances so far in an Arsenal shirt, but Arteta has publicly backed the former Bayer Leverkusen man...

"I said to him [Havertz] on Saturday when things are hard in the beginning when I met my wife it was hard in the beginning. I had to work and message, if she says yes on the first day it is probably no good. [what won her over?] persistence, I think. We took the plane on Sunday, we took the metro. We win games, and that's the beauty of it."

The Gunners defeated Everton in the Premier League, but they lacked a little physicality in midfield. It will be interesting to see whether Arteta opts to bring the German international back in for the Champions League this week. Unfortunately for Havertz, there are many football fans who consider him one of the worst signings of the summer, including agents.

We will see Havertz back in the team before long - Paul Brown

Havertz and Vieira are drastically different profiles for the midfield role in Arteta's side. Vieira is more of a technical, goalscoring creator, whereas Havertz offers more of a physical threat. Interestingly, Arteta chose to play Vieira against one of the most physical sides in the Premier League in Everton.

Brown has suggested that he's not sure where Havertz's best position is, and Arteta is going to utilise him in multiple different roles. The journalist adds that he expects Havertz to be back in the team before long, but he's unsure in what position. Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, he said...

"It's hard to tell. Arteta likes to rotate for tactical reasons as much as anything. He's tried Havertz in a number of roles. They haven't all been terribly successful. I don't think that means that Havertz is going to be out of sight for long. I strongly suspect he'll be back in very quickly. I still don't personally know what his best position is. Not even really sure that Havertz does. Arteta seems to still be searching around for the right place to play him but he has said that he's going to change the team a lot this season, and the players will just have to accept that. He's made it clear that Havertz will be played in more than one position. So, I think we'll see him back in the team before long, but who knows where he'll be playing."

Despite being dropped by Arteta, it's clear the Gunners boss has plenty of faith in him, considering he started the first four Premier League games. The Spaniard will need to rotate his squad as he looks to balance domestic and European football this campaign.

What is Havertz's best position?

Naturally, Havertz has contributed more goals in a centre-forward role. However, with Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah as Arteta's options in this position, it's going to be difficult for Havertz to displace the pair.

After spending a significant amount of money on Havertz, Arteta has to find a formula which gets the best out of him. There's no doubt he has the talent to be able to regularly produce for Arsenal, but the deeper central midfielder role is an experiment which hasn't worked overly well so far. Although, Havertz is offering something to the Gunners outside of scoring or creating goals, so it will be interesting to see what Arteta's plan for him is for the rest of the season.