morning.
Welcome to another week and welcome to another Interlull. Yes, another one. Ahead of Saturday’s game against Southampton, Mikel Arteta was asked his thoughts on players leaving for their country and said:
I prefer not to watch the game! I pray everyone is okay. Because that last problem was, in many ways, a really intractable problem.
I am not a praying person. I’ll leave it to Arteta. However, there is already a problem as Kai Havertz has withdrawn from the Germany squad for the games against Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Netherlands. due to a knee injury. There is currently no information on how serious it is or is not. The optimistic side of me hopes this is just a minor issue and after losing Martin Odegaard at the last break, common sense has been applied and he will spend the next few weeks recovering. But you can’t help but worry. Because this season has already had some struggles, and part of me expects it to say that it’s on its knees, that it’s no more, that it’s kicked the bucket and shuffled this deadly coil.
We’ll wait for further updates on Kai, nothing serious, but we’ll keep everything under review. Because his importance to this team right now is very clear. It’s quite funny that he scored his first Premier League goal for Arsenal after seven games last season. It was a penalty kick against Bournemouth. I went back after that game to see what I had written.
“The penalty in the 2-0 win against Bournemouth was nothing like a World Cup final or anything, but it was a big moment for him. And he delivered the spot kick very well. He also scored one goal in the Community Shield, and both penalties he canceled were done with an assurance that was missing in other aspects of his play. I could see how much it meant to him and his teammates.
There is still a lot of work to be done, but this feels like a step in the right direction.”
Just look at Saturday’s equalizing finish. The first word that came to my mind was confidence. A year ago, he would have overthought the opportunity. On Saturday, Kai Havertz, full of confidence and belief, instinctively slotted inside past Aaron Ramsdale. Confidence is the biggest intangible in football. You can tell when someone has it and when someone has missed it. And now Havertz is full of it.
Arteta said beforehand that he was a player who needed love.
This is a player who needs a lot of love. He needs to feel protected, he needs to feel chemistry around him. Whether in football or in life, he gives so much to everyone. He needs that connection.
It’s really interesting to consider that despite the scrutiny surrounding his move from Chelsea, the fee and doubts about where he could fit into the team, Havertz was loved almost from the start. It was clear that he handed over a penalty when his teammates gave him one, and while some at the time may have dismissed it as some kind of charity, it was clearly much more important than that. When he scored the away fans started singing his song and there was great footage of them dancing and supporting him. I think this is the seed of progress that we can see in the next year.
And while we’re enjoying the benefits of how Havertz has been supported, we wonder if there’s another player in the squad who could use a little bit of that right now. When we talk about confidence, it’s clear that Gabriel Jesus has been underperforming and it’s hard not to worry about his form. He hasn’t scored since January, and almost everything he does feels a bit forced, like he’s trying too hard. I talked about his decision making and how he too often chooses difficult choices. It’s disappointing to see him struggle because I know he’s capable of more.
Like I said, I’m worried. But perhaps there were some signs on Saturday that could give you some hope. A brilliant take and seamy effort was blocked by a cynical shirt pull, and when he moved the ball quickly through midfield Raheem Sterling had a chance but was blocked by a solid Southampton defence. It’s not much, but maybe it’s a step in the right direction.
I’ve already seen people talking about the January transfer window. But the reality is we have 17 games to play between now and then. If Jesus finds some form, we have a better chance of success than if we don’t. Ultimately, it’s up to him. He needed to deliver when the opportunity presented itself, but he failed to do so on Saturday. In the long term, I think his future at Arsenal is a big question mark. But hopefully he can still offer something this season. He needs a goal to take the pressure off, and he might just need a little love if that’s going to reignite his spark.
Okay, I’ll leave it there for now. Below is yesterday’s Arsecast Extra. If you like the addition, The 30 will be reviewing all of the weekend’s Premier League matches. On Patreon. This will be an interesting result considering Brighton’s interesting result yesterday.
