i dont get this. Whats wrong with admitting he has had a pretty shite start to his Arsenal career? I still think he will come good, but lets be real about his current performances.
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He was so bad against United that an excellent run of his led to us being awarded a penalty. It should have been a penalty. Had that set us up for a comfortable win over United the conversation today would be very different.
I do think he needs that decisive contribution to really prosper.
The confidence that comes with a goal/assist can really transform you as a player.
It is weird seeing him in the various clips that people are now sharing of him from Leverkusen.
He looks like a completely different player. His confidence then was through the roof. He was carrying the ball so elegantly, he was pulling of some superb passes and shots effortlessly.
Iâd like to think, just like Odegaard and Vieira, once he finds that confidence back like they did heâll shine.
If he does, weâll have yet another massive weapon in our team.
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there he mostly played on the right, started attacks from deeper and they played a lot of quick transition/counter-attack ball. looked more like invincibles Arsenal with seas of space and faster passing.
we do things a bit different here now, he sits further up, on the left and weâre more methodical, and we get crowded a bit more in his space.
we also play a very specific type of football with what I assume is a lot of micromanagement, that can take time to adjust to as a new player.
Plenty of players can be alright just not in this system like Auba/Laca/Ăzil/Pepe etc. Difference here is we picked Havertz to come so I expect Arteta (given his great record with this) to know what he is doing and that this is work in progress.
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I thought he played in between midfield and the striker at Loserkusen, weâre asking him to start from further back and play defense. I could be totally misremembering how he played in Germany. It was a while ago.
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I saw a heat map someone put on here when he joined from his time at Leverkusen, and it was predominately on the right hand side of the attack.
He will find his place here and he will come good. Hes a very talented footballer.
This is massive, when it happens itll be like hes a new player
We were saying the same thing about Pepe when we were waiting for his first goal
Tbf, in his defence, playing on this left side of attacking midfield doesnât really make it easy on him.
Always thought of this since I first saw him there.
A very awkward position for him. Imagine Ode on that side. Would be at least 30% less dangerous.
When we were sigining him I thought he was coming here to be an option, alternative for Jesus, Ode, Saka, where he played before, but never saw him here.
I just really really hope Arteta knows what he is doing.
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The funny thing about Pepe was that when he first joined he was electric. His first 4 games were good performances from what I recall.
And also Bergkamp and Henry.
no youâre right, he would be⊠Sakaâs role there, but both are true. I mean started attacks. From deeper, they played that way. They would fall back further without the ball, pressed, won the ball, hit on the counter through their wide players and striker, seas of space to work with. Then he would arrive late in the box like a mole.
We donât do that the same way here (so far anyway), we build to an attack differently, move players up, start from CB or midfield, end up with the ball out with Saka or Martinelli to combine with maybe ĂdegĂ„rd. Havertz ends up sitting still further up watiting for something to happen or for a chance to participate.
This is something I assume Arteta knows and is working on.
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Nothing wrong with assuming professional footballers with time on their side will adjust to new teammates & tactics.
Unlike Pepe, I donât think Havertz is getting his basics wrong. Pepe at times couldnât dribbling despite that being his biggest asset.
I wouldnât say he couldnât dribble but sometimes he was dribbling without purpose.
I remember at times he used to dribble himself into nowhere whereas Saka and Martinelli whilst not as flashy, they dribbled with purpose and have a better understanding when to release.
Look at this:
That dribble where he took out 3 players and had Laca open for a simple tap in should have been the end of it. Instead, he gets cocky and tries to dribble past people again, for not good reason.
Kai has the basics right. And Arteta himself has highlighted it. Statistically he is a duel machine, his passing has been great when he kept it simple but he needs to come out of his shell and be more brave.
That pass across that led to the goal we conceded was a good example of a player short of confidence. Itâs not an easy pass and you can see him second guessing himself which led to hin not hitting the ball right and a Man Utd player intercepting it.
The same applies for the chance he missed.
Regardless of all that, his movement off the ball has been superb. We saw us take full advantage of it in the penalty he won. He makes those runs all the time but heâs rarely picked up. That will come with more chemistry in the team.
Iâve shitted on him a lot in the past but when you really pay attention to him you can really see heâs got an exciting profile and untapped potential.
Thereâs a reason why all the different managers he had, all had faith in him. Club like Bayern and Madrid wanted to sign him this summer. Someone as picky as Arteta made him our first signing of the summer.
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Havertz is extremely talented. Itâs easy to have belief that hell turn good.
IDK that it means a player will come good. A lot of coaches might believe they have the key to unlock a talented playerâs potential.
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Bayern didnât go for him during his best spells in their
own league and barely any mention of interest in the summer if at all, they didnât go for Werner either.
The Real interest was reported but never really materialised because they didnât value him for the fee Chelsea were looking for.
Only we were really looking to bail him out at that price.
This same argument was made about Xhaka, every manager played him and rated him. Arteta unlocked that potential and so we should at least allow him some time to do the same for Kai
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I agree, Arteta probably saw something in him a few seasons ago and thinks he can make him good again which is fine if youâre taking a 20m punt.
But why pay 60m for a player whoâs done very little in all the seasons he was at Chelsea, when there were better, cheaper options.
Good post. A player like this also has a very high floor.
The worst case scenario with Havertz is that he remains inconsistent and a bit frustrating with the ball but is still a really hard working, highly coachable, tactically astute, positionally versatile player with unusual physical traits that make him situationally useful for beating the press over the top or getting on the end of crosses in a packed box when weâre chasing a goal. Thatâs a very valuable squad player that you might be very happy to pay 40m for. So the downside scenario here is that maybe we slightly overpaid for a player who is still a valuable contributor and in the rotation of players Arteta depends on. Thatâs not a mistake that will ever really hurt you that much.
The downside scenario with Pepe, in contrast, was that we paid 72m for a player that Arteta doesnât even want in the squad at all because he canât be trusted to do the most basic things, like stand in the right place, press at the right time, pass a ball without taking five touches, etc.
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I couldnât get past this for too long