Speaking of Havertz, he is clearly still finding his place in the team. I have seen and heard the grumbling and concerns over him, but I did not think his performance on Sunday was as poor as is it’s being described, the errant pass leading to United’s goal aside of course.
Havertz is clearly lacking confidence as a player, but giving up on him after less than a month is somewhat premature. I think this is where Arteta’s natural talent for man management will come into play.
There has been similar scepticism over Arteta’s desire to experiment with a winning formula from last season. Ultimately the results have been conclusively in Arteta’s favour based on the start to the season, even if the performance’s have been less convincing.
Arteta’s decision to be bold in decisions such as this were key in restructuring what was a damaged mindset at the club in the post Wenger era, where there was maybe a feeling of one more heave to glory. With last season’s improved league form and positioning he’s certainly earnt the right to make such difficult calls.