It’s safe to say Chelsea has found Kai Havertz’s best position

Chelsea has spent the better part of the last two seasons trying to piece together its perceived “best” starting XI. There are a plethora of different options to choose from based on the Blues’ opponents. While they sit and twiddle their thumbs over their opposition for every single match and let it justify a decision on who makes the first XI for each game, a majority of other European clubs have a designated team the manager turns to under the brightest lights. It’s a bit odd, therefore, that Chelsea remains incapable of putting together this starting line-up as its attack continues to struggle. Part of the reason this is the case is because Frank Lampard recruited a handful of players who play in numerous positions. One of these such players is Kai Havertz.

Havertz has had it rough during his first two seasons at Stamford Bridge. Forget the fact he had to pick up and move to a new country as a 21-year-old, adapt to a new league and a new way of life, he’s also been dealt an unfortunate hand. Havertz has gotten COVID-19 twice and he’s picked up a few injuries here and there. All of this while trying to establish himself in the Blues’ starting XI. Despite the struggles and talks of the German wunderkind being a flop, it seems as if Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has finally found Havertz’s best position.

Chelsea has seemingly finally unlocked Kai Havertz at his best position at striker

It’s often been said that the Blues look much more fluid as an attacking unit when Havertz is leading the line. Many will shrug this notion off and immediately direct you to his statistics to disprove this theory. However, the two don’t exactly go hand-in-hand.

Chelsea has had some of its highest scoring games with the 22-year-old playing as a striker (7-0 vs. Norwich, 4-0 vs. Malmo and 3-0 at Newcastle, to name a few). It’s worth noting that arguably Chelsea’s best all-around performance of the season—the 4-0 drubbing of Juventus—did not feature Havertz at all. Overall, the point is that the Blues tend to score a lot when Havertz plays as a center forward, regardless of whether or not he’s getting in on the action. Admittedly, there is a bit of recency bias attached to this sentiment, seeing as he played well in Lukaku’s absence against Lille and Liverpool. That doesn’t mean there aren’t positive signs in these performances.

In this piece, we will discuss the reason for Chelsea’s success with Havertz playing as a striker, the statistics to back this argument up and the youngster’s future place in the team.