Faltering Arsenal man ‘lucky’ after ‘quite strange’ decision kickstarted his Gunners career
Jermain Defoe believes Kai Havertz is “lucky” that he has Arsenal teammates who want to help him, after they made the “quite strange” decision to let him take a penalty in the win over Bournemouth.
The 4-0 win over the Cherries was Arsenal’s joint-biggest win this season. It was also significant in that it was the game in which Havertz scored his first goal for the club since his £65million move from Chelsea.
It was a step in the right direction amid a period of faltering for the German.
He’s not been his best self since he moved to the Emirates, and Graeme Souness is among the pundits to question the signing – especially the money that was spent on it – wishing Mikel Arteta “good luck” with getting something out of him.
The manager would have had to wait a little while longer to see some returns in front of goal from Havertz had he not been given the opportunity to take a penalty against Bournemouth.
Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard have shared the penalty-taker role this season, but the new signing was given the second in that game, a decision which former Premier League forward Defoe feels was both lucky and strange.
“He is lucky that he has got players that are actually giving him the ball to take a penalty,” Defoe said on Premier League Productions.
“I have been in some dressing rooms and you are the penalty taker.”
The same goes with free-kick takers, leading to a famous moment in which Defoe argued with Gilberto over a free-kick while at Toronto FC, which Gilberto netted, making his teammate look a bit silly.
“But I do think it’s quite strange, to be honest, that Saka, Odegaard, then Havertz, for different reasons, taking the penalty,” Defoe said.
Indeed, Havertz could just as easily not have been given the penalty, and his visible confidence struggles could have continued. However, he’s on the board, and Defoe is happy for him, and feels it’s a step in the right direction.
“But for him, delighted for him because you never know what goes on in people’s lives. There are a lot of things that can affect the way you play. For Havertz, it’s good,” Defoe added.
