What looked like a nightmare run to kick off the season back in August has now turned into a dream start for Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta’s side are level on points with Manchester City in the Premier League despite playing some of their most challenging away games of the campaign, and after last night, they have four points from six in the Champions League.
The North Londoners had the unenviable task of taking on French giants Paris Saint-Germain, but from minute one to minute 90, they looked like the far superior team and ran out as comfortable winners.
There were excellent performances all over the pitch from Arteta’s men, but perhaps the stand-out was a player who took more than his fair share of criticism last season, Kai Havertz.
Havertz's initial struggles
Arsenal surprised the footballing world last summer when they paid Chelsea a whopping £65m for the much-maligned Havertz, who, aside from scoring the winner in the Champions League final in 2021, had been somewhat of a disappointment in West London.
While Arteta was happy with his new signing, there was more than a little bit of criticism from fans and pundits alike, with former professional Gabby Agbonlahor particularly scathing, describing the transfer as “very strange” and the “wrong deal for the Gunners.”
Unfortunately for the North Londoners, early on in the German’s time at the club, it looked like Agbonlahor was going to be proven right, as in his first 24 league games, the Aachen-born star scored just five goals and provided one assist, in turn lending credence to Gary Neville’s description of his game against Liverpool in December as “terrible.”
However, as fans will now attest, Arteta’s decision to move the former Bayer Leverkusen ace from midfield to centre-forward towards the backend of last season has utterly transformed his form in red and white.
First Impressions
What did pundits and fans alike think about their new star signing when they arrived? Football FanCast's 'First Impressions' series has everything you need.
Havertz's impressive turnaround
So, while Havertz had played a few games up top for Arsenal in the first two-thirds of last season, it wasn’t until late February that Arteta decided to make the change a more permanent one, and from that point onwards, the former Chelsea ace has been sublime.
For example, in his 32 appearances in attacking midfield, the 25-year-old scored six goals and failed to provide a single assist, meaning he was averaging a goal involvement once every 5.33 games.
However, in the 18 games he played up top, the 53-capped international racked up a genuinely impressive haul of eight goals and seven assists, equating to a world-class average of a goal involvement every 1.20 games.
Appearances
32
18
Goals
6
8
Assists
0
7
Goal Involvements per Match
0.18
0.83
Appearances
1
8
Goals
0
5
Assists
0
1
Goal Involvements per Match
0.00
0.75
Moreover, it wasn’t just his raw output that was now winning him plaudits from those who were previously criticising him, but his overall impact on the team, with Neville arguing in May that he was “doing a similar thing to what Firmino did at Liverpool”, which is high praise indeed.
Fortunately for the Arsenal faithful, the “sensational” forward, as his manager dubbed him, has continued his fine form into this season.
Indeed, he currently has a haul of five goals and one assist in nine games, and thanks to the goal against Everton on the last day of last season, he is on track to match Robin van Persie’s record of scoring in seven consecutive home games for the Gunners.
While there have been plenty of excellent performances from the 6 foot 4 poacher over the last nine months, his Player of the Match display against PSG last night ranks among the very best.
Alongside his fantastically taken goal, he completed 100% of his dribbles, took 49 touches, played one key pass, took two shots on target, won two fouls, made four tackles, and really should have got an assist had Gabriel Martinelli not fired his shot right at Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Ultimately, Havertz came in for plenty – possibly too much – of criticism following his £65m move to Arsenal last summer, and while he was slightly underwhelming for parts of last season, he has undoubtedly become one of the club’s best players, and his form in front of goal and general build-up play has made him utterly undroppable.
Not just Havertz: Arsenal star who won every single duel dominated vs PSG
The Gunners sealed a sensational win on the biggest stage.
ByJack Salveson Holmes
