Largely lost in the consensus confusion that set in after Arsenal splashed 65 million pounds to sign Kai Havertz from fellow London side Chelsea is how impressive the Gunners frontline was in the 2022-2023 season and what the German could add to that tally.
Even in the absence of Gabriel Jesus for a good number of weeks and playing with wing forwards (Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka) who are still yet to turn 23, the Gunners scored 88 goals and only scored six fewer than league champions Manchester City.
Mikel Arteta doubled down on wing forward production by signing Leandro Trossard in the January transfer window and the same theme run through the rationale behind Arsenal’s Havertz signing.
While not exactly a wing forward, Havertz thrives in a hybrid role through the central area and those swats of grassland carved out between the edges of the penalty box and the central areas in the final third. He has been signed to provide exactly what Martinelli and Saka provide on the wings but through the middle.
Beyond Havertz, Arsenal has signed defender Jurrien Timber and midfielder Declan Rice to address areas they fell short in the final stretch of the last campaign that cost the Gunners the EPL title.
While negotiations in football are a tricky business and it playing a big role in Rices’ somewhat delayed arrival at the Emirates, it is clear Havertz was targeted by Arteta as the guy to give the Spanish coach the chance to fully utilize his playbook.
After spending extensive time with Arsene Wenger in his latter playing days and doing same with Man City coach Pep Guardiola as an assistant coach, Arteta most assuredly has grand tactical schemes he couldn’t get his hitherto thin squad to play out in real time until now.
With so many quality and versatile players at his disposal, the biggest threat to an Arsenal EPL title winning season is Arteta’s man management skills. Throw up every in game scenario that demands a tactical tweak or two and Arsenal have the men to get the job done. Throw up any crazy formation and Arsenal can match the shape to beat 85% of teams they face.
However, keeping starting caliber players engaged and ready to contribute immediately despite playing limited minutes in backup roles is the subtle art Arteta needs to pull off. Only the best of the best managers have done this and that list includes Sir Alex Ferguson, Carlo Ancelotti, Zinedine Zidane and Arteta’s former boss, Pep Guardiola.
In short, Arteta’s evolution into an elite manager from a hot shot ex player turned coach is one of the standout themes to follow this season.
Gabriel Jesus has suffered a knee injury and is set to miss games at least in the first month of the new season and that comes with a silver lining in the dark cloud of the Brazilian suffering from a similar injury that cost him extensive game time just months ago. Should this development persist, it could curtail Arsenal’s return on their “Gabriel Jesus investment”.
How Arsenal lines up against Man City in Sunday’s Community Shield is sure to give a sense of what Arteta’s team brings on a nightly basis at least from a schematic standpoint and how to get the best out of Havertz this season.
Playing Havertz, Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice in Arteta’s familiar 4-3-3 setup wins a ton of games against many a team in the world but against Guardiola’s that is too risky.
Playing out such a setup would take Arsenal back to the last campaign and bring up the same issues that cost them the league title last season and that is defensive cover. As brilliant as Rice is, flanking Odegaard and Havertz on either side of the Englishman is asking a lot defensively from the former West Ham player to solve on his own since Odegaard and Havertz work hard a ton for their team but shining on the defensive side isn’t exactly their forte.
Quite frankly, Guardiola’s Man City will overrun Arsenal should the aforementioned trio start in midfield as will Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and to some extent Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea and Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United.
Playing through mistakes and phasing out mistakes highlight the importance of playing preseason games and in the loss to Man United, Arteta was given a rude awakening of what lies before him should he pair Odegaard, Rice and Havertz in midfield against a top tier team.
Partey’s improved involvement in preseason shows he is very much part of the Gunners plans for the upcoming campaign.
However, switching to a 3-4-3 system that spreads the midfield in a diamond shape is the best way to offer defensive protection to Aaron Ramsdale while providing space to accommodate Rice, Odegaard, Havertz, Saka and Martinelli plus another forward.
Arsenal’s envisaged lineup for Sunday’s game has William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Timber in the backline with Thomas Partey at the base of the diamond midfield with Rice and Odegaard lining up on the right and left sides diagonally off Partey and Havertz placed at the tip of the shape.
The German gets to play centrally behind Eddie Nketiah with Martinelli and Saka on the left and right wings respectively and for a guy who tagged himself as a, “midfield player who likes to go into the box” this setup puts Havertz right where he needs to be.
Nketiah does a ton of great work keeping defenders busy with his work rate and constant movement and doing so gives Havertz chances to do what he does best; manipulate spaces, recognize spaces and take advantage of spaces.
This is highlighted in some of his stats from last season where he ranked third in attacking runs in the EPL only behind Heung- Min Son and Ollie Watkins while ranking fifth in the league in runs made that challenged the backline.
For runs Havertz made as a target of passes, the German ranked second in the entire league only behind Mohammed Salah.
The return of Jesus won’t change this Havertz trend from happening and that is exactly what the German needs to build up his confidence after a poor run with Chelsea.
A confident Havertz who scores goals off late runs into the box is a Havertz who can even push up and lead the line considering the fine goal returns of Martinelli (15) and Saka (14) last season. Both wing-forwards are expected to kick on from their impressive outings and score more than they did last season.
Now this is a different situation from the Chelsea setup that had wings Raheem Sterling, Mykhailo Mudryk, Noni Madueke, Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech struggle in front of goal as this group combined for just eight goals with Havertz scoring seven goals in the Premier League.
Havertz can lead an attacking line but he under performed last season because he didn’t get enough help from fellow attackers and his confidence was shot to the extent he missed quite a number of sitters.
After a difficult spell at Chelsea, signing for Arsenal was a very odd choice shrouded in uncertainties over where he would be played to best utilize his strengths.
In his final season at Bayer Leverkusen in 2019, Havertz scored 20 goals and added seven assists in 42 games and with a bit of tweaking from Arteta, Partey’s timely return to his early 2022-2023 season form and Gabriel Jesus’ injury, Kai Havertz is in the best situation to excel.