For many followers of the Bundesliga, or European football in general, Kai Havertz is no unfamiliar name. Having burst onto the scene last season, the tall, marauding German youngster ended the 2018/19 campaign with 20 goals and seven assists to his name. Back then, and still now, his name was and still is on many fans’ lips, with rumours connecting him to clubs such as Liverpool, FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
However, the Wunderkind‘s form has stagnated. Although he has missed three games through injury this season, many expected Havertz to continue his run of form right from where he left off, but this failed to materialise – with just four goals and two assists so far, from 18 appearances. On a team level, Die Werkself are currently sitting fifth in the Bundesliga, one place below the Champions League berths, aided by an entertaining 4-3 victory over title challengers Borussia Dortmund yesterday, where Havertz failed to return a goal or assist, but was certainly involved in his team’s play.
During the last campaign, the 20 year-old was aided by the presence of Julian Brandt, another creative midfielder. Watching the two Germans play together for Leverkusen revealed one thing clearly – they were always on the same wavelength. The two benefitted from each other’s presence, often finding each other with tricky one-twos and piercing through balls. This meant Brandt’s departure to Dortmund heaped pressure on Havertz to become creator-in-chief, with greater influence over the attacking output and style of his side. Peter Bosz added the services of Nadiem Amiri and Kerem Demirbay to his ranks, but their roles were never going to be playmaking ones, rather working the shifts in the centre of midfield.
During the Dortmund game, Leverkusen appeared to play a 3-4-3, with Havertz on paper deployed on the right-hand side of the attacking trio. Shrewdly cantering through midfield, his role changed throughout the match, dropping deep throughout to provide 34 completed passes, but zero “key” passes. Having touched the ball 59 times, he was certainly no stranger to the play itself, but his impact to the team’s output was not as directly felt as usual. In fact, it was his midfield colleague Amiri who made three key passes, including one assist. Havertz passed the ball coolly and showed his strength against opponents. Before Dortmund scored in the 64th minute, he should have scored himself, running with the ball, cleverly flicked to him from Volland, to the penalty area, where he slowed and took a moment before firing against the post. Perhaps he is short of confidence – but not to the extent that he tried a pass to the incoming Mousa Diaby. Havertz had his eyes on goal then, and that’s not going to change.
Interestingly, the detailed stats indicate that Havertz on the whole is not fully off the mark. He is underperforming his xA (expected assists) by 3.03, and his xG (expected goals) by just 0.66. In other words, he’s scoring the right amount of goals, but not making the right amount of assists. He still averages 2.2 key passes per game, the same as Thomas Müller, who has ten more assists. With a passing accuracy across the season of 86.4%, he’s got a base to build on. Turning 21 in June, his criticisms have been fair – in that in attack, he sometimes hasn’t been up to speed and some of his decision making has left fans and critics with raised eyebrows, but a lot would have still have to turn if one was to start seriously questioning his talent.
Undoubtedly, Havertz is one of the most exciting talents to come out of Germany in recent times. He’s still young, with expression and grace in his movement on and off the ball. He’s got a point to prove in the second half of the season, with elite clubs watching over his performances. Peter Bosz has spoken repeatedly of Havertz’s talent, and the onus is on him and the rest of the Leverkusen coaching staff to help nurture him back to where he should be. He can’t evade the pressure that comes with the fear of being labelled a ‘one-season wonder’, and as they say, with great young midfield talent comes great responsibility to provide for the team. Undisputedly though, if there’s one thing that will improve his game, it’s time, and the luxury of being the creative centre-point for your team. As it stands, Havertz has both of these at his disposal.
Shivam's blog 