It’s fair to say that things haven’t been entirely smooth sailing for Kai Havertz at Arsenal this season.
Unlike fellow summer signing Declan Rice, who hit the ground running, it took him time to settle in properly, and he had to deal with a fair amount of criticism. Things are on the up now though, and ahead of Champions League quarter-final with Bayern Munich, the German international spoke to Astro SuperSport about that criticism, what he has learned from Mikel Arteta, and hooking up with former Chelsea teammate Jorginho in North London.
On criticism earlier in the season …
Yeah, it is hard, of course. I mean, in a world like this, where everyone reads everything, you see everything on social media, obviously you read it, and it’s not the nicest feeling, but it’s part of the job. It’s part of the job that people criticise you.
Sometimes I was at home and I didn’t feel good about it, but on the next day I woke up and I said to myself, go again and prove it that they are wrong. And I think that’s just the right thing to do, because at the end, it’s my life, it’s my football career, and it’s what I’m doing out of it.
For me, that’s the most important. I want to make myself happy and not everyone else happy. That’s the most important thing for me, to enjoy my football. I knew there were going to be better times, of course, but obviously the noise is not always nice.
To be honest, I’m not the one who always reads social media and stuff like that, but nowadays you can’t look away from it and you hear some comments always. But I just try to focus on myself, enjoy my life, enjoy my football and enjoy the time with my teammates and just learn every day and get better and prove the people wrong that speak bad about you.
On Jorginho …
I feel like he just looks at me or I look at him and we both know what’s going to happen next. He’s for me one of the best players I’ve played with and it’s so nice to play with him because I think he knows my movements, I know his passing and which ideas he has in his mind. I love to play with him.
Jorginho’s influence on his Arsenal arrival …
Yeah, we spoke before. I played with him at Chelsea for three years, so I know him quite well. I just asked him how it is. He just spoke to me and said his honest opinion about everything. I think he was already so much in love with the club after six months, with the coaches and everyone, with the players.
Obviously that makes my decision as well easier because I spoke to the coach and everyone as well. And for me, it was like after the chat with the coach and with the board, it was clear that I want to come here.
On what he’s learned from Arteta …
He helped me from the first minute I arrived. I think he showed me a completely different spectrum of how to play football, which I have never experienced before. How to make myself better on the pitch as a player. I think in the last couple of weeks it worked quite well. I’m just so happy he helped me with a lot of things. I think he’s someone who wants to improve the players on a daily basis.
I’ve never had a coach before who was so detailed, and showed so many different things which are important on the football field. Or maybe I didn’t even know them before he told me to take care of some things on the football field, which he showed me and I think that helped me a lot!
60m down the drain. Kai Havertz scores again!
Looking forward to hearing this chant tomorrow evening as we bury Bayern at the Emirates!
Shame the reporter didn’t ask him about his chant and what he thinks to it – you do wonder with some reporters!!!
No need to wonder! The interviewer, Michelle Lee, is a Man Utd fan. Figures.
Shame Havertz didn’t ask her about the Chelski game and what she thought of it.
So great that he feels at home at Arsenal. His performances have got better and better. King Kai!
What gems chelsea had, ha ha 😉
“oh no not another Chelsea reject!” remember that? Now Chelsea fans are looking at us with the full understanding that they got fleeced, especially for Jorginho – TWELVE million, ha. In footballing terms it’s the sort of small change you wouldn’t even bend down to pick it up if it fell on the floor.
I was on board with Havertz although I thought the 65 million was a bit much for a player who’d gone downhill with his then current club. I still think we paid them more tham we should have. Regardless of that, as he’s starting to pull up trees that sum just keeps fading. I was not happy with buying Jorginho but that had more to do with the irritation over how they mugged us off over Mudryk. With hindsight though, what a nightmare that deal turned out for both Chelsea and Mudryk. With more hindsight, how wrong I was about… Read more »
The Big Fecking German (BFG)
BFG Mark2
More evidence of Arteta’s genius…..is everyone finally on board?
No. I prefer to continue pushing the boat.
Have been since day one and glad I’ve been fully vindicated. Now for some delicious silverware please! It is very telling how every Arsenal player, regardless of prior experience or success talks so highly about their development under Arteta and his coaching team. He’s a bloody genius in my opinion!
Buzzing for tomorrow, COYG!
So many players speak so highly of Arteta and how much they have learned from him and it’s no coincidence. He has almost single handedly brought this club back from the brink and now look at us. We’re a machine. I can’t thank Arteta enough for what he’s done. He’s the man.
Honestly wouldn’t swap him for Pep, Ancelotti, Klopp or Arsene, with all due respect.
The guy is a relentless perfectionist. Kaizen….He’ll win everything going, with Arsenal, I hope. Stranglehold.
What really sets him apart from the others is precisely what he talks about all the time with players: What he transmits. He transmits conviction like Pep, care for the players like Klopp, but also a demandingness I don’t think you clearly see from any of them (not to say they aren’t demanding, its just the way they talk publicly).
You can feel it, both when he speaks and just how he is on the touchline. What a manager
So many appalling players came from Chelsea. We deserved these 2 gems!
Let’s have some PTSD. William Gallas, David Luiz, Willian.
Let’s add how we sold them Giroud for 18 million as well.
arrrgghhhh!!! still kills me.
Ca$hley if you really want to go there. And I was pretty sore about Manu Petit.
Havertz wasn’t that good at Chelsea , at least in the few matches I saw him play in. So it was a surprise when we bought him. But now he’s gotten better , I suspect due to the environment and fellow team members who are all plugged in.
Let’s hope that he can continue his intangible contributions (along with the tangible ones).
He started out well there but dipped over time. He was a shadow of his former self by the time he arrived at ours and no wonder. That club mulches talent like an out of control a wood chipper. It’s been great seeing him bounce back since joining us.
“ON JORGINHO …
I feel like he just looks at me or I look at him and we both know…”
…how fucking lucky we were to escape that shower of shit former club of ours?
Ha ha exactly
I’m so here for the Chelsea and Man United clusterfart. Long may it continue.
An analyst online who I respect (Pythagoras in boots, on X) found a great way to put into words what I’ve been struggling to articulate about Kai. He thrives in what pythag calls the void. The void exists in the little tussles when the ball is bouncing around and there is a chaos of flying limbs trying to cajole it in this direction or that. These aren’t duels. They’re the in between grey areas that don’t have names or stats attached to them. Claude Makalele was elite at winning in the void; somehow he always came out of midfield scraps… Read more »
More good stuff Dr G, keep it coming ☺
He gets goals, he gets assists, and his work rate and energy, specially when defending is amazing. With time he will even get better in this team.
I still have baked in my mind the interview Kai did, while still at Chelsea, right around the time we bought Jorginho. In the interview, he is asked something like “who is your closest friend at Chelsea?” or whatever and his response is “Jorginho”. The interviewer then breaks it to him that Jorginho has left for Arsenal and you just see his face drop.
Horrible way to find out, but good on Arteta for reuniting the boys!