Kai Havertz: Arsenal Forward’s injury deeply deepens the crisis, so what does Mikel Arteta do in the attack now? | Football news

Only last week, after the January transfer window had closed without the addition of a team forward to his arsenal team, Mikel Arteta talked about the need to be “flexible” in attack to face the absences of Bukayo Saka and the Gabriel Jesus.

A discouraging project has become even harder now.

Having already lost Gabriel Martinelli in injury for more than a month in the Carabao Cup defeat at Newcastle, Arsenal is scared the Kai Hevertz era could end after being suspected of the same muscle.

The absence of Havertz leaves Leandro Trossard, Raheem Sterling and 17 -year -old Ethan Nwaneri as just other attack options available. Saka is still a bit of his return from the problem of Hamstring, despite reinforcing his restoration in Dubai. Jesus is out for the time with his knee injury.

Jesus’ absence had left Havertz as Arsenal’s only choice in place of the striker, with Arteta admitting last week that the 25 -year -old may need to start any game between now and the end of the campaign. But it had already been a huge workload.

Only William Saliba and Gabriel have played more minutes than Havertz than Arsenal players this season. Havertz already has up to 34 appearances in all competitions that have done the last 51 term. In addition, the role of No 9 in Arteta is uniquely demanding of course.

Premier League tracking data for this season show. Jesus and Havertz rank the first and fifth respectively between strikers for a distance covered every 90 minutes. It is worth noting Dominic Solanke, who receives a similar amount running for their northern London Tottenham opponents, has also been overwhelmed by recently injury.

Of course, injuries are not exclusively down for loading. Fortune also plays a piece.

But in the case of Havertz, in particular, it should not be a big surprise that he has fallen victim. Arteta described him as a “genetic force” last week, but each player has his limits and Havertz looked close to his recent game in Arsenal.

It produces an epic shift, even with its standards, in a 1-0 win over Wolves, where Arsenal played almost an hour with 10 men. He then played 89 minutes from a 5-1 win in Manchester City and finished 90 away to Newcastle, despite the fact that the draw was dead in the second half.

Arteta’s hand was forced, at least to some extent, by the lack of available alternatives. But it is reasonable to ask ourselves if there could be more to protect a player who has last longer than anyone else in Arsenal this season and also ranks at the top for pressure and attacks.

A hot weather break intended for a very necessary rest and recovery apparently came too late for him.

Who could fill in No. 9?

Arteta mentioned all three Trossard, Sterling and Nwaneri as false-nine options last week. The first one sees the favorite for the work that played 723 minutes of Premier League in Arsenal, about a quarter of its entire arrival two years ago.

Whether it could provide the required target threat is another question. The Havertz finish has been disappointed at times, but is Arsenal’s top scorer with nine goals in the Premier League. The total of 15 in all competitions put him on the right track for the time of his highest career.

Trossard, on the other hand, found only the net five times this term in total and scored only once, in a 2-1 win in Tottenham in January, in his last 18 appearances in all matches.

The form of Sterling is even less convincing.

Chelsea Loanee has shown signs of improvement from possession of recent cameras. His five matches against Spurs were the second highest in a Premier League game.

But he has only scored once all season, in the Carabao Cup against Bolton. His lack of confidence in front of the target was summarized by his lost sentence in the Champions League victory over Girona.

Then there is nwaneri. Moving a player just 17 to such an unknown role would be a huge question from Arteta, but the academy product certainly seems Arsenal’s biggest threat right now.

With seven goals in just 700 minutes this season, the average of 0.90 per 90 minutes is the highest of all Premier League players in all matches. It also ranks at the top among Arsenal players for shots at the target every 90 minutes, as well as the precision of shooting and converting the shooting.

Given the danger he puts when he cuts from the right side and targeting shots to the far corner, as he has successfully done in recent Girona and Manchester City, Arteta may feel that it is better to keep him in his natural position.

An alternative for Arteta would be to get out of the foot and redefine one of its middlemen.

Could Mikel Merino deserve to try in place? It would be a difficult task for Spain International, which still finds its feet in English football, but has at least the physical properties and aerial strength to serve as an exit in a similar style to Havertz.

Regardless of what Arteta is doing in the No. 9 position, it should be creative in wide positions. Trossard, Sterling and Nwaneri cannot be expected to play every minute. Others, such as Myles Lewis-Skelly or even Kieran Tierney, may have to be used further forward.

Arteta, of course, has already promoted the best players of the club’s academy in Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly, but others for the margins of the first team, such as Wingers Nathan Butler-Oydeji and Ismeal Kabia, should now be invited now .

The injury crisis adds to the January questions

What is certain is that there is no perfect solution.

Arsenal is already six points behind the leaders of the Premier League Liverpool, who play their hand against Everton on Wednesday night. They cannot afford further slippers, regardless of the result in this game at Goodison Park.

But reality is the attractions may have to be reduced. The chances of Arsenal’s title had already been strongly affected by the injuries to Jesus, Saka and Martinlli, and while the last two are going to return in the weeks and in the coming months, Havertz’s addition to the long -term list is still absent.

All of this serves to step up control of Arsenal’s decision not to boost in January, having failed an offer for Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins. The club’s attitude was that it was better to wait in the summer, when the long -term goals became available. But he felt like a bet, even before the injury crisis deepen them.

It is one that has been upgraded.