Alan Pardew has said that Arsenal player Kai Havertz struggled against Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League this past weekend.
The former Newcastle United manager has said on talkSPORT (7:32pm, September 3, 2023) that Kai Havertz was the “weakest player” in the Arsenal team against Manchester United on Sunday.
The 24-year-old, who can operate as a forward or as an attacking midfielder, started the match.
Havertz struggled to make a huge impact and also failed to take what seemed to be an easy chance to score.
Arsenal got the better of United 3-1 in the end.
Alan Pardew on Kai Havertz for Arsenal vs Manchester United
TalkSPORT pundit Alan Pardew, though, was not too impressed with Havertz, noting that he was also at fault for the goal that Marcus Rashford scored for the Red Devils in the 27th minute.
Pardew said: “It was a poor pass, wasn’t it? Havertz is definitely struggling a little bit.
“He had a miscue as well, didn’t he, right in front of goal, about 10, 12 minutes in? He is just not having those moments.”
The pundit added: “Of the Arsenal team today, he was probably the weakest player I would say in terms of the performance level.”
We believe that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta needs to drop Kai Havertz from the starting lineup after the international break.
It is simply not happening for the Gunners midfielder at the moment.
Havertz, who joined Arsenal from London and Premier League rivals Chelsea in the summer transfer window, is not being deployed in his best position.
And that is affecting him.
Martin Odegaard is the playmaker and plays in the number 10 role.
That is not going to change anytime soon.
And it should not.
Yes, Arsenal won against United, but let us not forget that they needed two late goals to do so.
The Gunners have to have 11 players at the start of the match who will make an impact.
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