The Athletic’s Ed Mackey was impressed by one Arsenal star this afternoon against Aston Villa despite the player being dubbed as ‘wasteful’.
Mikel Arteta’s side suffered their first Premier League loss of the year as the north London side failed to make their chances out against Aston Villa as two late goals from Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins secured a 2-0 win for the visitors.
Whilst the likes of Martin Odegaard impressed on the day, it was a performance that Arsenal will want to forget about quickly, with the Gunners simply not at their best today as Villa took their chances with quality and precision.
Yet there was one more Arsenal player who caught the eye at the Emirates Stadium
Kai Havertz catches the eye as Arsenal lose to Aston Villa
As per Mackey, Kai Havertz had a good game for the Gunners as the German international returned to the midfield for Arsenal alongside Odegaard and Declan Rice, with the former Chelsea man finding a lot of joy in the opening half.
Whilst the 24-year-old was described as ‘wasteful’, the ‘third-man runs from Havertz’ caused Villa a lot of problems, yet poor finishing kept the Arsenal star from causing any real damage to Unai Emery’s side this afternoon.
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Indeed, overall it was a day to forget for Arsenal as the Gunners have now sent Manchester City top of the table, a position Pep Guardiola’s side won’t want to give up so easily.
Yet for Havertz, the performance from midfield today was an encouraging one, and supporters could now be warming to seeing the German deeper in the system after what we all see against Villa in north London.
Mikel Arteta will have a big decision to make this summer
Havertz’s performance in midfield again today showed what could happen if the German finds his shooting boots and his composure in front of goal.
And for Arteta, the Basque coach will have a major decision to make later this year in the summer in regards to what Havertz’s future at Arsenal is, with the 24-year-old good in either the midfield or leading the attack.
It will be an interesting choice for the Arsenal manager to make, and based off what we saw today, Arteta could be inclined to go all out on a centre-forward and allow Havertz to grow in the left-sided no. 8 role.