Last year was defined by the injury suffered by William Saliba. Supreme all season, things fell apart once he was injured, missing the run-in during which the results wouldn’t come. And whatever other explanations there may be for the disappointng end (and Rob Holding might have nightmares about it) the absence of our best central defender remains the reason most Arsenal supporterss think the Premier League trophy went to Manchester.
I suggest that this year, it’s the Kai Havefrtz season. If we should be successful, and somehow keep our position at the top of the table until the end, the German will be in no small way to thank. His performance at White Hart Lane was immense. Not just his goal but his all-round contribution. And it’s been happening since the start of the year, with vital goals and physical presence. The song Kai Havertz Scores Again will go down in folklore alongside Arsenal chart hits Good Old Arsenal (No. 16, 1971) and Ian Wright’s Do The Right Thing (No. 43, 1993).
Yet much earlier in the season, he was the sixty-five million pound misfit. The songs about him being a waste of money were founded on what was (or wasn’t) happening on the pitch. I recall Alan Smith saying he should be subbed at half-time of the West Ham Carabao Cup tie. There were reports that Chelsea would almost have given him away, and complaints that for a fraction of the money spent on Havertz, we could have had a striker and James Maddison, who was proving to be a really effective midfielder up the Seven Sisters Road. How things change! Perhaps it just took Havertz a long time to get over his treatment in west London. Or to learn the Arteta way. Or a while for the coaches (or the absence of Jesus) to suss that he really could make it as a central attacker. (The pain of the perhaps fatal defeat to Villa is all the worse as it’s one where Havertz was withdrawn to midfield.)
Given the time, we could probably analyse the whole season in minute detail and imagine links between any player, referee or substitution and a set of results. But there’s no getting away from it. One way or another, this has been the Kai Havefrtz season, no matter how it ends.
A final thought on the Champions League semi-final between Bayern and Real Madrid. How different it might have been if they’d both been beaten in the Quarters. Had it been Arsenal vs Manchester City, what might that have done to the Premier League run in? Would we have rested key players? Would City have been looking to inflict damage on our key players to reduce our effectiveness in the final three games? If they’d sought to take out Havertz, we’d have known they think it’s his season, too!
Richard Smith 01/05/24