Kai Havertz starred for Germany in their 7-0 Nations League thrashing of Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday.
The Arsenal star played in an attacking-midfield role for his country, just behind striker Tim Kleindienst, and produced a magnificent performance.
Whilst it is fair to say that Germany were up against inferior opposition, and were always expected to win this game comfortably, manager Julian Nagelsmann still deserves credit for inspiring such a ruthless display from his side.
Kai Havertz shone particularly, and Arsenal fans will be pleased to note that he registered both a goal and an assist in this match.
German media hail Kai Havertz after win vs Bosnia-Herzegovina
Mikel Arteta and the Emirates Stadium faithful will be hoping that the 25-year-old’s confidence will have been boosted by his success against Bosnia-Herzegovina, and he has certainly be lavished with praise in the wake of this fixture.
The German media have not always praised Havertz when it comes to his performances on the international stage. On this occasion, though, his efforts were lauded.
Bulinews gave the Arsenal man a score of 9/10 for his performance, and stated: “Was a threat throughout and threatened the visitors’ goal on several occasions. Scored Germany’s third goal after a neat one-two with Wirtz and set up two goals in the second half.”
Meanwhile, Bild have Havertz’s display a rating of 2, a very strong score in their system which would count 1 as perfection.
Sky Sports Germany claimed Havertz was: “A constant source of unrest! He was involved in the opening goal. He is constantly fed with crosses. His header is initially blocked by the strong Bosnian goalkeeper. He is rewarded a little later with the 3-0 for a strong first half.”
On top of that, Ran gave the former Chelsea man a grade of 1, and said: “A very, very strong game from the Arsenal star, who, as a free spirit, can do whatever he wants behind center forward Kleindienst. He was unlucky a few times at the beginning. Then he broke the deadlock. He ended up with a goal of his own and two assists.”
Can Arsenal get more from Kai Havertz?
Arteta will be delighted that Havertz was able to impress for his country, though Nagelsmann’s use of the player will surely raise questions about how he is deployed by the Gunners.
After bringing him from Stamford Bridge to North London, Arteta tried to reinvent Havertz as a midfielder. However, this plan was largely abandoned after he struggled to adapt to the role at Arsenal.
Since then, Havertz has established himself as Arteta’s first choice striker. However, Naglesmann now seems to have cracked the code for getting the best out of Havertz in a No. 10 role.
This may inspire Arteta to revisit his initial plan for the player.
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