LONDON — As Joshua Zirkzee’s name was chanted by the traveling Manchester United faithful, Kai Havertz was in the tunnel almost immediately. We could hardly blame him. He must know what’s coming.
It wouldn’t just be the missed penalty in the shootout. It was the earlier shots that brought Arsenal to this position – for the second time in five days – where a cavalcade of missed chances dealt a major blow to their trophy chances. A fatal case in this case as, for the third time in five years since their FA Cup victory, they exited the FA Cup in the third round.
For the rest of the season, Havertz might not have a week like this. Neither do Arsenal. Even if this team were somehow to be a title contender made up of mediocre players, it would be incredible if the 49 shots they took against Newcastle United and Manchester United only resulted in one goal, not even the penalty which they missed. The defining feature of Arsenal’s season has been their misfortune. Good process, bad results. It was Havertz until a penalty that, yes, could have been hit harder but was denied more thanks to the excellence of Altay Bayindir than something poorly done by a player with a 20-for-21 record previously.
The déjà vu was strong in this one, however. A year ago, the great Ian Wright memorably lamented the absence of a “killer” in this Arsenal team. Here’s Havertz as Kendall Roy, the man who just couldn’t be trusted with the biggest moments. Too much tangle of limbs while his teammates need calm and serenity.
Havertz finds himself in the right positions. It really matters. A center forward is basically expendable if he doesn’t do this. All competitions combined, the score is 0.5 expected goals without penalty (npxG) every 90 minutes on two and a half shots. Even after his own hellish week, he’s a goal finisher equal to xG. These are hardly Erling Haaland numbers, but they are the best that Mikel Arteta currently has.
And he continued to hold those positions in this one, just like he did against Newcastle on Wednesday night. In doing so, however, he exposed his own inability to get his act together. Moments after Bruno Fernandes elegantly swept away a rare United attack, the ball fell tantalizingly to the Germany international, barely 10 yards from goal. All it would take is a convincing connection with the ball. Even that seemed beyond him, a horribly high and wide shot to his favorite left boot.
Then, in that moment, all could have been forgiven, the bounce of the ball seemed to favor Havertz. Meeting Martin Odegaard’s cross, the crotch looked curious at first but the ball recovered nicely. Bayindir wouldn’t make it. All it took was one touch, right? Not this one though.
Rather, these failures serve to erase the good. He might have sold Harry Maguire’s touch for the Emirates final line, but he took the penalty from which Martin Odegaard could have won the game but for the first in a series of exceptional saves from Bayindir. His move to the back of United’s line also provided a fine cross opportunity, with Leandro Trossard somehow managing to allow Matthijs De Ligt to reach the goal line in front of him and hang the ball securely.
“It’s amazing how you don’t win this game,” said Arteta, who this week saw his side turn six and a half xGs into just one goal. “The dominance, the superiority over the opposition and everything we did to try to win the game. We clearly didn’t get what we deserved. we did once.
“We are going home extremely sad but I couldn’t be more proud of my players. The team, individually, what they produced on Wednesday against Newcastle, against two top teams, is incredible. We have not been rewarded.”
Asked if Havertz’s form could improve, he added: “For him and for all of them, I love them, we love them all. Individually and as a team, they are a joy. What this team produces every three days is incredible, whatever happens happens. I’m not going to lose sight of it.
“What can we do better? Let’s try to do it. It’s an emotional part linked to confidence but it’s very difficult to ask anything else from our players.”
Such adoration was not shared by most of the Emirates Stadium, where many seats were vacated after Havertz’s shootout failure. Add those flustered misses against Newcastle – yes, the cross was deflected but you couldn’t have met it with your head yet – to Sunday’s event and you have a wobble at the wrong time. The January transfer window brings requests from supporters which do not necessarily correspond to availability. In the meantime, the best, perhaps only, alternative is unlikely to return any time soon. Less than 10 minutes after a first strike, Gabriel Jesus was forced to leave the field with a knee injury. Arteta has confirmed that it is not the right knee that has been tormenting him since the 2022 World Cup. Either way, it appears to be a major problem for a team already without the likes of Bukayo Saka and Ethan Nwaneri.
“A big worry,” Arteta said. “He had to go down on a stretcher in a lot of pain, touching his knee. It’s not looking good. The worrying factor is the feeling he had when he had to go down and the pain he felt.”
As for Havertz, perhaps the problem is the same as above for Arsenal. Havertz is the best center forward they have and there are few better than a player who initially signed hoping his days at the top of the line were in the past. The 0.47 npxG per 90 he posts in the Premier League is bettered by 10 players, not just Haalands and Mohamed Salah but Yoane Wissa and Dominic Solanke.
Arteta has always sought to quell any suggestion of a more heliocentric attack. He doesn’t want his goals to depend on the ups and downs of a single player, but rather share the opportunities that present themselves. However, this can surely be done by playing with the level center forward Alexander Isak that the fanbase dreams of. A good finisher like Havertz scores on his xG. The best of the best find a way to always beat the underlying numbers.
“We are lacking in different ways from different players. I understand that but I can’t love our players more. I focus a lot on who we need to perform at the highest level. The rest is not in my hands .”
It’s true. Instead, Havertz has been the problem this week.
