Kai Havertz explains how Mikel Arteta has fundamentally changed him as a player
Kai Havertz has been one of Arsenal’s best players so far this season.
He’s only scored twice in the Premier League in the first four games, but his all-round game has helped the Gunners play some scintillating attacking football at times.
As Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer pointed out, Havertz may not be the kind of centre-forward who lives for goals the way Erling Haaland does, but he does deliver in the biggest moments and makes everyone around him better.
It’s so clear he helps bring the best out of the likes of Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka. If those three can stay fit, it will do wonders for Arsenal’s chances of winning multiple trophies this season
But the player Arsenal fans are watching this season is not the same player who arrived from Chelsea for £65million in 2023. Playing under Mikel Arteta has fundamentally changed him. And answering fan questions on Reddit, Havertz explained how.
Asked what he has had to learn — and unlearn — under Arteta, his answer was interesting, albeit perhaps unsurprising.
“Wow, I learned so much. I can’t even name it all, there’s so many things,” Havertz wrote. “I think the biggest thing — I don’t want to go into a lot of detail — but it’s the work against the ball when you don’t have the ball.
“Before, I was a player where I tried my best, but if I didn’t win the duel I was not sad about it. I think Mikel just changed me as a player, definitely.
“I know how important defending duties are, and how important it is to defend well, to win your duels and stuff like that. So definitely I think that one, but there’s a lot of things that he changed.”
There’s a shocker. Mikel Arteta is obsessed with duels and defensive work rate. That is the foundation of what has made them the best defensive side in Europe.
Havertz has covered more distance than any other striker in the Premier League this season. He presses from the front, wins duels, tracks back, and then arrives in the box at the right moment to score.
That’s not your typical centre-forward, and shows the way he’s been moulded by one of the best coaches in the world. Arteta changed him, and Arsenal are reaping the rewards.