3 reasons why Kai Havertz has actually had a good start to the season

3. He is showing he can perform the crucial role being asked of him

Arteta has been staunch and consistent in his defence of Havertz on multiple occasions, asking Arsenal fans to show love and support to the German. That is because Havertz is the solution to the problem that Arsenal faced in the latter half of last season.

In the first half of 2022/23, Arsenal were the surprise team and the opposition would set up to try and beat the Gunners. After Arsenal enjoyed their best-ever start to a Premier League season, the opposition started to give them a lot more respect and constantly set up in deep blocks that were hard to break down.

This was a real issue for the Gunners and a large reason for their worse performances in the second half of the campaign, so Arteta needed to come up with a solution. Similar to his German compatriot Thomas Müller, Havertz is brilliant at interpreting space and popping up where the defenders don’t expect him.

For Bayer Leverkusen, Havertz was fantastic at crashing the box at the right time and got lots of goals as a result. As long as he can defend well for Arsenal, then this ability to find himself in the right place in attack will be crucial in undoing deep blocks, even if he is not directly involved with play.

His movement will cause havoc which is instrumental when playing against ten defenders. Couple that with Saka and Gabriel Martinelli constantly being doubled up out wide, and you will understand why Mikel Arteta signed Kai Havertz. Trust the process.