Kevin Campell has lent his support to £65 million Arsenal man Kai Havertz, suggesting the German is still learning trades of a new system.
Kai Havertz finally broke his Arsenal duck as he scored from the penalty spot in their routine win over Bournemouth in the Premier League. Since the German international made his £65 million move from Chelsea, he has come under a lot of criticism for his lack of output in the final third.
The former Chelsea utility man has somewhat lacked in confidence, but Mikel Arteta has chosen to play him rather regularly. The Arsenal boss has not caved into the pressure of the media. Pundits like Graeme Souness have criticised the attacker, suggesting the Gunners spending £65 million did not make any sense.
Others like Paul Merson have sympathised with Havertz, and overall, the reactions to his performances in an Arsenal shirt have been mixed so far. The goal at the weekend will certainly help with his confidence issues, but as we go forward, Havertz has the full support of his manager.
For instance, Arteta made a strange ‘wife analogy’ to describe Havertz’s situation earlier in the season and has repeatedly told the media about how he’s adapting to a different system. Now, former Arsenal star Kevin Campbell has lent his support to the attacker. And on the Football Daily podcast, he insisted the German be given time to adapt to the new role.
🚨🎙️| Kevin Campbell on Kai Havertz: “For me Fletch he is lacking confidence and any player who is lacking confidence will have bits missing from their game, that’s just the way it is.”
“The fact of the matter is that Kai Havertz adds an efficiency to Arsenal that people won’t… pic.twitter.com/w0xw8k2iz2
— afcsphere (@afcsphere) September 30, 2023
Campbell said, “For me Fletch he is lacking confidence and any player who is lacking confidence will have bits missing from their game, that’s just the way it is. The fact of the matter is that Kai Havertz adds an efficiency to Arsenal that people won’t give him credit for, because as far as people are concerned he cost £65m and he should be scoring five or 10 goals a week.”
“It doesn’t work like that, it’s a new system, he needs to learn how Arsenal play, and that attacking prowess has to come with confidence and his confidence is low.”
Campbell’s words make a lot of sense, as Havertz has indeed taken on a new role. In the current system, he is the direct replacement for Granit Xhaka, who had a wonderful season last time out. Replacing the Swiss midfielder is not an easy task. But the £65 million Arsenal utility man has done a commendable job so far.
In fact, some of his numbers have been very good from a midfield perspective, which shows how quickly Arteta has made sure Havertz is ready to assume the difficult midfield role. Hence, as Campbell suggests, the former Chelsea man would come good with time.
