Tag Archives: kai havertz

Sesko “the one for Arsenal”

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A new striker is top of our list this summer. Despite us scoring more league goals in a single season than any other in our history, the forward line is an area that can be improved.

After much searching, amateur scouting and watching YouTube clips, Benjamin Sesko is the one I want for Arsenal.

Kai Havertz shows the way

I often cast my mind back to the January window in 2022 as Arsenal searched for a replacement for Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang. We were heavily linked with Dominic Calvert Lewin, Dusan Vlahovic and Alexander Isak; three strikers of a very distinct profile.

It was clear at this point that Arteta basically wanted a “more mobile Giroud” to lead his line. Someone who could work a defence with their movement, whilst also provide a physical presence in the box.

After missing out on Vlahovic, Arsenal turned down the opportunity to sign Isak in the summer and plumped for Gabriel Jesus.

Jesus was a completely different profile to the players we were previously looking at. Smaller, quicker, trickier. Although his hold up play is actually underrated.

In 2023 Arteta was focused on signing players that he thought would take us to the top 4. Jesus would be fine if we just wanted a top 4 challenge. But now we are title chasers and that means a new striker and a return to Arteta’s original plan.

In the second half of the season, due to injury and form, Kai Havertz was pushed further forward, replacing Jesus. Havertz would grab himself 8 goals and 7 assists in 13 games. This showed that a bigger, mobile, technically gifted striker is the way to go.

Sesko playing style

I have previously described Sesko as a “more mobile Dimitar Berbatov”.

Whilst he is not an out and out goal scorer or powerhouse forward in the Erling Haaland mould (who is?), he is a technically gifted player who has a great touch, great movement and a decent bit of pace.

He is not too dissimilar to Havertz, but has better instinct in the box and will be able to sniff out those goalscoring positions that Kai does not.

Age profile

In the back end of this season, Kai Havertz showed he is a genuine option as a striker for Arsenal, alongside Gabriel Jesus. That means that we no longer need to look for the “finished article” and that we could look for someone a little bit younger, a little bit rawer.

Sesko is just 20 years old (turns 21 in a week).

With the situation we are now in, we could afford to sign someone like Sesko and take our time developing. The Slovakian can play in tandem with Havertz, rather than be expected to come straight in and replace him.

A very high ceiling

Last summer, Sesko moved from Red Bull Salzburg to RB Leipzig for £20million. It was a huge step up from Austria to Germany.

Sesko started the first half of the season slowly, often coming off the bench for his new team. But as the season progressed, he established himself as their first choice striker and finished the season on a 7 game scoring streak.

14 goals in 31 Bundesliga games might not excite many, but 11 of those came in the last 16 games. Sesko proved he has that ability to step up to the next level.

The Premier League is a step up from the Bundesliga (gap not as big as Austria to Germany though). Sesko will need to continue working hard and step up again if he wants to be a regular starter for one of the best teams in Europe.

I believe he has the potential to become one of the best in Europe, and his 2nd half of the season form in Germany has shown he has the hunger to work hard on his game.

Again, with Kai Havertz at the club, we will not need Sesko to make the impact on day one. We can afford to take it slowly with Sesko and for Mikel Arteta to build him into the striker he wants.

Cost

My main concern with the links with Viktor Gyokeres was the price tag.

I was not sure paying £70m+ on a 25-year-old who was playing in the Championship 12 months ago made much sense. And as we have seen with other recent Liga Portugal imports (Darwin Nunez), the step up to England from Portugal is huge.

Isak would have been a good option this summer, but considering at Newcastle spent on him (£70m) you can not see us getting him for less than £100m. That would mean less investment elsewhere in the squad.

Finally, I was also always uncomfortable spending big on Ivan Toney considering his age.

Sesko has a £55m release clause, making him the cheapest player I have mentioned in this blog. He is also the youngest and has the highest ceiling. It is a deal that makes most sense.

And what for Kai Havertz?

When we signed Havertz, I always saw his recruitment as a utility forward. Someone who could play in multiple positions.

He has excelled up front in the second half of the season, and considering Sesko’s age and rawness, he will play a big part upfront next season.

Havertz would still remain an option playing deeper (just not with Olexsandr Zinchenko in the same team – a blog for another day) when we want to set up more attacking.

Next season we need to compete on 4 fronts. That means we need to be prepared to play 60 games. There will be more than enough to go around.

And Jesus’s future?

Some reading this might think “Jesus is gone then”. Incorrect.

Jesus joined us from Manchester City after years of being a squad player. He wanted an opportunity to show he could be a regular starter. Unfortunately, injury and form resulted in him returning to that squad role he had with Man City.

The Brazilian basically has a choice – stay at Arsenal and accept a squad role, or push for a move and hope it is “3rd time lucky” in his dream to be a regular starter.

Jesus would still have a big role to play at Arsenal.

Havertz and Sesko would be two similar style strikers. There would be games when we might want an alternative option. Someone a bit trickier and quicker. That would be Jesus. Likewise, he could be a game changer off the bench with the way he buzzes around.

Gabi is also an option on the wing.

Previously, I spoke about need a striker who could also be an option on the wing. Alternatively, we needed to target a new winger. By signing Sesko, it would free up Jesus to play on the wing.

Jesus can play both right and left wing, providing cover and competition for Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard. I would not be unhappy if any of those 4 started out wide.

It also allows us to continue assessing our wing options.

Saka is a guaranteed starter on the right, but the left wing might need to be addressed in a years time.

Martinelli’s tough season can not be ignored, and whilst it is not an issue going into next season it is a situation to keep an eye on. Trossard also turns 30 and will have a year left come 2025.

In 12 months, if Martinelli does not return to form, I would not be surprised if we turn our focus on a new left winger, with Martinelli becoming the cover and competition. By using Jesus outside, it means we do not need to address the issue this summer and can allow Martinelli to continue his develop.

Final thoughts

Sesko is the one for Arsenal.

Keenos

MATCH REPORT: Arsenal 2 – 1 Everton

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Arsenal (1) 2 Everton (1) 1
Premier League
Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU
Sunday, 19th May 2024. Kick-off time: 4.00pm

(4-3-3) David Raya; Gabriel Magalhães, Ben White, William Saliba, Takehiro Tomiyasu; Thomas Partey, Martin Ødegaard (c), Declan Rice; Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli.
Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Gabriel Jesus, Emile Smith-Rowe, Jurrien Timber, Eddie Nketiah, Jakob Kiwior, (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho, Fábio Vieira, Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Scorers: Takehiro Tomiyasu (41 mins), Kai Havertz (88 mins)
Yellow Cards: Thomas Partey, Declan Rice, Jurrien Timber
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 69%

Referee: Michael Oliver
Assistant Referees: Stuart Burt, Dan Cook
Fourth Official: Josh Smith
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Stuart Attwell; AVAR Nick Greenhalgh

Attendance: c.60,000

And so the final day of the season has arrived for us all at last. By the end of the ninety minutes we will all know whether Manchester City have fallen on their sword courtesy of West Ham United or not, and ultimately, one way or another, our fate will be sealed. But hey, what a season we have all had!

With the absence of Bukayo Saka today due to injury, there is still a fantastic party atmosphere here at the Emirates this afternoon, in which we started proceedings today for the last time this season.

In the early stages of this game, we were dominating matters with accurate passing and clever play. A superb cross by Declan Rice found the head of Takehiro Tomiyasu but it went wide of the target.

The match started to quieten down and although we had domination, the visitors still managed to sneak in and grab a half chance, which was cleared adequately by David Raya.

Martin Ødegaard slotted the ball to Declan Rice, who managed to get a left-footed shot in, which was somehow saved by Jordan Pickford, and then Gabriel Martinelli’s right-footed shot from the right side of the penalty area was saved again by the Everton goalie in the centre of the goal.

After a slight delay due to an injury to Idrissa Gueye the match continued with pressure from our team, and it has to be said that frustration appears to be creeping in, as early as the twentieth minute here.

A sublime pass from William Saliba found Kai Havertz, who did very well to hold up the ball before cutting inside to push it onto his left foot; he tried a clever reverse shot in order to try beat Jordan Pickford, but the shot was blocked by an Everton defender.

Unbelievably, Dominic Calvert-Lewin managed to hit the post with a right-footed shot, which was an incredible let-off for us at this point of the proceedings.

Just after the half-hour, both Kai Havertz and Gabriel came close to scoring, but unfortunately their shots were blocked by an alert Everton defence.

Five minutes before the break, the unthinkable happened when we went a goal down because of a free-kick by Idrissa Gueye which ricocheted from Declan Rice’s head and beat David Raya and simply flew into the top right-hand corner of the net.

A minute or so later, we scored the equaliser when our captain passed the ball to Takehiro Tomiyasu who beautifully whacked the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

During the seven minutes injury time, we continued with the pressure, with the best effort being when Martin Ødegaard passed the ball to Thomas Partey who blasted the ball over the bar. Either way, the first half finished honours even here at the Emirates.

Everton kicked off the most important second half of the season, and within a minute of the restart, we won the ball and started to put pressure on the Everton goal, culminating in a header from Kai Havertz which went just wide of Jordan Pickford’s post.

Kai Havertz was fouled by James Tarkowski who received a yellow card for his trouble, and shortly afterwards Abdoulaye Doucouré also received a yellow card for his foul on Gabriel; unfortunately, Gabriel was unable to continue as he had incurred a shoulder injury, so Oleksandr Zinchenko replaced him just before the hour mark.

A blistering shot from Dominic Calvert-Lewin was saved superbly well by David Raya and at the other end, a Jarrad Braithwaite header from Martin Ødegaard’s corner only got as far as Declan Rice, who hit a powerful shot over the Everton crossbar.

Shortly afterwards, a superb Gabriel Martinelli cross found the head of Kai Havertz, whose header bounced off the crossbar.

Emile Smith-Rowe and Jurrien Timber replaced Thomas Partey and Ben White with twenty minutes of the match remaining, and we continued trying to score a goal desperately as Leandro Trossard’s cut-back pass found Martin Ødegaard, who took a touch before shooting for goal from just outside the Everton six-yard box, but there were defenders everywhere and his effort went back into general play.

Leandro Trossard was replaced by Gabriel Jesus with twelve minutes of normal time remaining in order to grab goals, and patiently we moved forward with effort and desire.

Emile Smith-Rowe, after receiving a great cross from Gabriel Martinelli, hit the crossbar with a downward shot that bounced up and struck it with some force.

A clever shot from Gabriel Jesus was blocked by a defender that went out of play for a corner kick, and with two minutes left on the clock, we finally got the goal that we were looking for when Kai Havertz got the ball in the back of the net after a clever pass from our captain. However, there was a VAR check as it was thought there was a hand-ball from Gabriel Jesus on the build-up, but fortunately the goal was given by referee Michael Oliver.

In the five minutes injury time awarded, despite our best efforts, news came in that Manchester City had defeated West Ham United by three goals to one, and although every man did their very, very best that they could, second place in the Premiership for the season 2023-24 became our fate.

With eighty-nine points from thirty-eight matches, our boys finished just two points behind champions Manchester City. Yes, we deserved better of course, but overall we should be very proud of this season as we have progressed beyond all expectations.

We did poorly in the domestic cup competitions of course, but finishing runners-up in the Premiership and quarter-finalists in the Champions League is absolutely no disgrace. We are all so very proud of you all, and who knows what will happen next season? This could be a springboard for so much more. Well done, chaps!

Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, stick with the winners. Have a great summer everyone, see you again in August! Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Steve

Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon

MATCH REPORT: Arsenal 5 – 0 Chelsea

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Arsenal (1) 5 Chelsea (0) 0
Premier League
Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU
Tuesday, 23rd April 2024. Kick-off time: 8.00pm

(4-3-3) David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Takehiro Tomiyasu; Martin Ødegaard (c), Thomas Partey, Declan Rice; Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Leandro Trossard.
Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Gabriel Jesus, Emile Smith-Rowe, Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah, Jakob Kiwior, (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho, Fábio Vieira, Oleksandr Zinchenko

Scorers: Leandro Trossard (4 mins), Ben White (52, 70 mins), Kai Havertz (57, 59 mins)
Yellow Cards: Mikel Arteta, Ben White, Leandro Trossard
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 44%

Referee: Simon Hooper
Assistant Referees: Adrian Holmes, Simon Long
Fourth Official: Graham Scott
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Peter Bankes; AVAR Simon Bennett

Attendance: 60,238

A major showdown ahead on St. George’s Day with the boys from SW6, as most of our matches are with them, and have been for many years now.

This evening’s game could see the return of Takehiro Tomiyasu after his injury that prevented him from taking part in Saturday’s victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux, but aside from him, there appear to be no other issues reported.

Right from the start, there was an immediate penalty shout as Kai Havertz went through but tumbled under pressure from the retreating Benoit Badiashile as soon as he strolled into the penalty area, but in the fourth minute, we had the perfect start when Declan Rice moved forward before feeding in Leandro Trossard who, although the angle may well have been against him, got his head over the ball and smashed it past Chelsea goalie Djordje Petrovic and into the net for our opening goal!

A few minutes later, Takehiro Tomiyasu collapsed on the halfway line after clashing with Nicholas Jackson, whose studs appeared to catch our man just above the ankle, but the VAR team were not interested in informing the referee about it, apparently.

Chelsea came back at us through Conor Gallagher, but William Saliba was on hand to deal with the issue successfully. The visitors certainly felt that they had a chance in scoring, with the best of the chances falling to Axel Disasi but the ball ran post our post, thankfully.

We started to take a hold on the game when Declan Rice received the ball on the half-turn, easily spinning past Enzo Fernandez before firing a strong shot just over the crossbar from the edge of the penalty area.

Although Nicholas Jackson hit the outside of the post when the visitors broke out of their half, we just shrugged out shoulders and got on with the game. Just before the half hour mark, we had three good chances to score again.

Bukayo Saka ran into the penalty area but his shot went straight at the keeper, and then Chelsea lost the ball and goalie Djordje Petrovic was called into action to deny Leandro Trossard an obvious goalscoring chance, and then the keeper pulled off a sensational save to keep out another Leandro Trossard shot that deflected off a defender at the last moment and looked certain to drop into the bottom corner of the net before fate took a hand.

Just before the break, Chelsea had a couple of good chances to score through Nicholas Jackson and Conor Gallagher, but David Raya played exceptionally well to keep the visitors out to ensure that we were a goal to the good at half time, but not before Mikel Arteta was booked by the referee for complaining!

The second half started rather slowly, with both clubs having chances to score, but it was us that got closest to putting the ball into the net when Declan Rice won the ball off Conor Gallagher high up the pitch and passed it to captain Martin Ødegaard, who moved forward and beautifully laid the ball off to Declan Rice in the penalty area, but he shot it straight at the Chelsea keeper.

Our captain was driving the boys forward, and it was a sublime pass from him that found its way to Kai Havertz, who was through on goal, but Chelsea keeper Djordje Petrovic raced off his line to keep out our man, sadly.

Seven minutes after the restart, we grabbed our second goal of the night when the ball was eventually played in to Declan Rice whose shot was blocked, which fell right into the path of Ben White who merely tapped the ball into the net.

This second goal certainly fired us up, and five minutes later, we scored our third goal when Martin Ødegaard played a stunning pass forward, which was weighted perfectly for Kai Havertz who ran through on a one-on-one with Djordje Petrovic and merely chipped the ball over the hapless Chelsea keeper and into the net.

We were now actively hunting for more goals, with Chelsea looking more and more lost as the game was rolling on.

Kai Havertz scored our fourth of the night when his shot went in off the post, and our tails were up and our confidence was there for all to see.

Ben White scored our fifth of the night (and his second) when he collected Martin Ødegaard’s lobbed through-ball, attempting a first-time cross that stroked elegantly into the top corner of the net!

A few minutes later, Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard were replaced by Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli in order to consolidate our situation on the pitch, and there were even more changes when Jorginho and Oleksandr Zinchenko replaced Thomas Partey and Takehiro Tomiyasu with about a quarter of an hour remaining of the match.

Ben White was booked for a silly, yet minor infringement and a little whilte later, we almost scored our sixth goal when Declan Rice hit the post, and then, with one eye on the weekend, Mikel Arteta replaced Bukayo Saka with Fábio Vieira with just a few minutes left on the clock.

Fábio Vieira then went on a clever run through the Chelsea defence before unleashing a strong shot which hit the side-netting, confusing everyone, as it looked like a goal!

During the seven minutes injury time, Gabriel Martinelli easily beat the offside trap and ran at the Chelsea goal, but Djordje Petrovic somehow saved the one-on-one to spare the visitors yet further embarrassment. There were no more goals, and we ran out worthy winners here tonight.

With this victory tonight, we have gone three points clear of Liverpool and have significantly added to our goal difference situation as well, which is most pleasing to see. Tonight’s win was a triumph for everyone in the team, but none more so than our captain Martin Ødegaard who put in a masterful performance that inspired his men from start to finish.

It was great to see both Kai Havertz and Ben White get two goals, but it is not to be forgotten that Leandro Trossard’s early goal set us on the path to victory against our West London rivals this evening. And yet, we could have scored yet more goals tonight, but it was not to be.

The performance by everyone overall was wonderful, the attitude was first-class, and nobody in the Premiership will surely fancy their chances when they get the opportunity to play us, whenever that is. Well done, chaps!

Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners.

Our next match: Tottenham Hotspur at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, 28th April at 2.00pm (Premier League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Steve

Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon