Arsenal's Kai Havertz problem isn't what Fleetwood performance suggests

Whenever Arsenal suffer a negative result, a scapegoat is established amongst the fanbase. For Tuesday night's humiliation at Highbury against Fleetwood Town, Kai Havertz is seemingly the man.

Supporters have piled in on the German for failing to find the back of the net against the League Two outfit, with the striker undeniably spurring countless clear-cut opportunities in the game. He finished the game with seven shots, 0.72 expected goals and 14 touches in Fleetwood's box, but no goals.

He should have made more from the positions he found himself in. There's no denying it. While none of his misses were particularly glaring or egregious, the sheer number of dangerous spots he found himself in should've resulted in a goal.

That said, there is something so wrong and inaccurate about the discourse around him emerging from this game, and another player should arguably be facing much more flak.

Kai Havertz was a threat vs Fleetwood

Nobody from Arsenal's starting XI deserves praise for their performance on Tuesday night. Mikel Arteta's men were playing League Two opposition - looking relatively threatening against this calibre of team shouldn't be lauded.

However, it's staggering that some Arsenal fans watched that game and their first thought was to lament Havertz. As we've established, he should've done more with the positions he found himself in, but he was at least in positions. After Martin Odegaard's introduction, he was able to stay focused on playing in and around the box to make things happen in the final third, and he did this.

The Champions League winner consistently made intelligent runs to get in behind Fleetwood's backline, popping up in the half spaces with time on several occasions. He also constantly found hismelf arriving on the end of moves, as highlighted by his shot and expected goals numbers.

He didn't quite execute, which is frustrating, but he was 10 times more threatening than any other Arsenal player on the pitch. Again, this doesn't warrant praise because of the opposition, but it does mean it's strange for him to be the centre of the scrutiny, particularly when there are others who didn't look remotely threatening.

Vikor Gyokeres, for example, didn't look dangerous. He may have scored a fortunate and scrappy goal, and he deserves credit for battling the defenders to score that goal. However, this was one of just three shots he took, with the other two amounting to just 0.09 xG. He only had six touches in the opposition box, completed five passes and had 23 touches, against a League Two team.

Kai Havertz's form is still a concern

Looking fine and threatening, but slightly wasteful, against Fleetwood shouldn't be a cause for concern. In fact, if Havertz had produced that exact performance in a league game, it'd be extremely encouraging. If he has seven shots and 14 touches in the opposition box every week, he'll score plenty of goals.

The concerns should actually stem from recent matches, when he hasn't looked threatening at all. Across his last three starts in the league and Champions League, he's managed just five shots, while he's currently at just 2.13 shots per 90 and 0.33 expected goals per 90 in the Premier League.

These aren't good enough numbers for a striker, and certainly aren't conducive to a prolific season. If he continues to fail to get shots off, then he's not going to score the volume of goals required for Arsenal.

On the other hand, if he somehow translates his Fleetwood performance to games that matter, he'll be absolutely fine.

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