Micah Richards has admitted that he was so impressed by Kai Havertz’s performance during Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat against Manchester City.
The Gunners came so close to recording a historic result at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, only for missed opportunities to come back to haunt them.
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Havertz really impressed in the first 45 minutes against City and scored the equalising goal after pouncing on Gianluigi Donnarumma’s mistake.
The German attacker was picked ahead of the team’s top scorer, Viktor Gyokeres, and despite the defeat, it looked like the right call from the manager.
Micah Richards hails Kai Havertz’s display vs Man City
Micah Richards thinks Kai Havertz was key in helping Arsenal to play with greater attacking intent than usual against Manchester City.
The Gunners produced a very encouraging display at the Etihad by going toe to toe with a very strong Pep Guardiola team.
In the end, they came up short, but against lesser teams, that sort of intent will win them games, and Havertz was key towards their approach.
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Richards told The Rest Is Football: “Just lastly for me on this game, I think I said, I think it was on Sky six months ago, that Arsenal need to take the handbrake off, and I think they did. I thought Kai Havertz was excellent.
“I thought he held the ball really well. His movement, yes, you’re looking at the chances that he probably should have scored.”
Arteta now has a decision to make over whether he keeps Havertz in the team or brings Gyokeres back up top.
Mikel Arteta made a mistake not bringing on Viktor Gyokeres sooner
One criticism that could be had of Arteta during the weekend’s defeat was that he should have substituted on Gyokeres sooner. The Swedish striker was given just 14 minutes to change the game.
The Gunners were chasing a goal, and instead of really going for it, Leandro Trossard and Ben White were the first players introduced.
Gyokeres and Max Dowman changed the game off the bench against Everton; therefore, it’s bizarre we didn’t see either of them sooner at the weekend.
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