Will Mikel Arteta solve the Kai Havertz conundrum? | ESPN FC Extra Time

On today's edition of ESPN FC Extra Time, Steve Nicol, Shaka Hislop and Mario Melchiot join Dan Thomas to discuss:

0:00 Stevie's new voicemail
0:58 Preseason friendlies
4:20 The Kai Havertz conundrum
5:08 Transitioning from good to bad clubs
9:14 How did you get your jersey number?
13:32 Favorite thing about London?
16:47 Career choice if you didn't play football?
18:34 Start, Bench, Drop: Gimmicks edition

[jessetaylor]

Think the conundrum was solved when he was moved to the 9. I don’t get why there’s still a debate. Heaven forbid if Odegaard got injured, he can even play the 10.

[stickykitty]

Conundrum?
He was one of the best players in the end?

[LtDangle]

Apparently y’all don’t understand that they don’t make the questions, they take them from viewers. And Stevie’s answer is exactly the same as y’all are saying 😂

[Photosoflife]

The 23/24 season ended at the wrong time for Havertz. He had 9 goals and 6 assists in his last 14 matches of the season for Arsenal. He was cooking. People love to mock him but I think he’s actually a very good fit for how Arsenal play and could have the best season of his career for them this year. He’s a very good fit for Arteta’s side.

[shubhammunda]

This was a fun extratime after a long time 😂

[virupakshawalla]

Stevie in pub until 2am and training on Monday 😂

[seymourlj]

These ex players are ALL CLASS, the stories about the cities and what they did, SPOT ON.

[tobaepebinuade]

Kai Havertz had a relatively good debut season at Arsenal. Many people questioned whether or not he would be a good fit for the system and if the transfer was going to work out and while things got off to a slow start as he was ineffective as a midfielder initially, he did very well towards the 2nd half of the season where he was scoring goals almost every game when Mikel Arteta was playing him as a striker. That was mainly because he was their only choice to play in that position since Gabriel Jesus was injury prone and inconsistent and they didn’t have a proper striker also he didn’t really fancy Eddie Nketiah meaning that his other alternative was to play Havertz as a center forward.

Despite having 15 goals and 8 assists in all competitions there’s a certain section of Arsenal fans who aren’t entirely convinced by him and they believe that this summer they need to go out and buy a striker a pure goalscorer if they want to win the Premier League next season. Havertz hasn’t done a bad job as his linkup play and overall presence brings out the best in other players in the team, he’s not really a natural number 9 and Arteta will feel like he’s going to continue his experiment with him up top next season and he obviously knows what he’s doing if he’s going to back him, but at the same time, he isn’t a prolific goalscorer and that’s the player that Arsenal are lacking if they are to elevate their team and take the next step as they need more quality up and they should keep Havertz and sell one of Nketiah or Jesus.

[flashstep]

Selling a 20 min video on a 1 min segment. Bravo!!

[am-yxmr]

I live on the Wirral and remember the pub Stevie was talking about. Shut down now sadly:(

[mmehdi]

Havertz as number 9 destroyed Germany's chances of winning the Euros

[KaelanMonroe]

Absolutely disgusting out of you to title this about havertz and then maybe have 2 minutes of content surrounding it and it being slander. There's no Kai havertz conundrum he's world class. ESPN is and continues to be a complete joke

[flynngoodwo]

what Kai Havertz conundrum?? the guy ran rampant in the second half of last season .. laughable..

[Derekstefan]

Mo Salah Egyptian King is sang to the melody of Sit down by James. Wonder if Stevie knows that?

[michaelbekele]

Havertz isn't a natural number 9. He can't dribble past a defender, score outside the box and he is slow. Arsenal can't rely on him as a main striker and win a premier league. Period!

[agspr]

he got 13 goals and 7 assists in the league, and he only played as a striker for less than half the season. there is no Havertz conundrum. give him a full season and he gets you ~20 goals.

[FosaEvbomwan]

Playing him in the midfield against villa, helped us to loose the cup

[genericanimelover]

I don’t rate Havertz that high, but I think he is currently our best option up front. Do most of his highlights come from being lucky? Maybe so, but sometimes you need luck to win, especially in knock out competitions (see England). Havertz won Chelsea the UCL. I would gladly suffer through 90 frustrating minutes of Havertz playing poorly on the ball if it means he wins us games with 1 lucky play

[SaucyboyShaun]

Arsenal need a 9 and cb along wit a backup winger and
Midfielder to win the league.

[ryanmumbower]

As an Arsenal fan, can anyone explain to me Arteta prioritizing center back in the market with Califiori? It's our strongest position and there are many more areas that need especially since we have supposed limited funds