Chelsea: Trying to find Kai Havertz’s best position misses the point of him

Recent weeks has shown a renewal of talk on Kai Havertz’s best position. That conversation misses the point of Chelsea bringing him in.

Though it is still somewhat ignored that Kai Havertz is recovering from Covid, he probably could have played more in Chelsea’s dire run in recent weeks. The main reason why he seemingly hasn’t has been a lack of a position for him.

There is a growing consensus that the 4-3-3 doesn’t have a place for Havertz and even if it does, it is in a position that he is not suited. Many will eagerly claim that he is a 10 and needs to play in a 4-2-3-1 to get the best out of him. That argument misses the point of Havertz entirely.

Havertz got his debut at Bayer Leverkusen in 2016 as a central midfielder in a 4-4-2. It wasn’t long after that he was shifted higher up the pitch into the right wing spot. In his second season he was very much a 10 for the vast majority of the year. He stayed there until Peter Bosz came in and shifted him back to central midfield (this time in a 4-3-3) while also moving him to right wing in the latter stages of the season. Last season, easily Havertz’s career year, Havertz split his time almost evenly between the10 spot, the right wing, and false nine.

Frank Lampard has mostly continued that flexibility. He started Havertz higher, on the wing and in the center forward role, in the early weeks of the campaign. He then moved him to the supposed 10 role that suits him. When the 4-3-3 became the main formation, Havertz became one of the dual eights. But why then is it that finding his best position misses the point?

Mainly because of the type of player Havertz is. The reason why he shifted around so much at Bayer Leverkusen is because he will largely do the same things no matter where he is on the pitch. He likes to find space regardless of where the space is, which means sometimes he can be out wide and sometimes he can be deep and sometimes he can be dead center. If there is space, he will find it and fill it.

Take his assist in the Manchester City match for example. He came on as an eight in the 4-3-3, but he found space deep on the left where he started his run. He got the ball and ran it up to the left flank of the final third before crossing it into Callum Hudson-Odoi. He wasn’t in the 10 position dead center or on the right wing where he has traditionally lined up when playing wide. He did all that from the right central midfield spot.

The question then becomes why life has been harder for him in England than it was in Germany. The answer is if you have a player that is that free flowing, you need the appropriate structure around them to facilitate it. At times at Bayer Leverkusen, that meant Havertz’s starting position would be right wing because the structure was over there to let him work. At other times it meant he was central as a striker or as a 10 because the structure was central to support him.

What Chelsea needs to find is not Havertz’s best position, but where they can structure around him to do his work. Before his bout of Covid, that was seemingly as one of the dual eights though the goals and assists were not as free flowing as desired. Even still, the structure seemed to suit him. Both Hakim Ziyech and Reece James could come central if Havertz opted to go wide. Mason Mount could stay deeper if Havertz opted to go more central. The German was just hitting his stride when he got Covid and everything since has been recovery.

But that structure could change in a transfer window or two and Havertz could find another spot in the field. He ought to be given a shot on the team sheet in the next few matches but, ironically, he can be the last name on it in midfield or a forward role. It isn’t about position with him. It’s all about the structure to let him work.