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.
The reason for the newfound success is Havertz forcing the issue of movement. Romelu Lukaku has been so uninvolved recently because he’s afraid to move out of an occupying position. Lukaku stays pinned against the opposition’s back line for long periods of time so that he can drag the centerbacks out of position. His Chelsea teammates have largely failed him by not sliding into the pockets of space left by Lukaku’s decoy. Further, he is hesitant to move out of this position because whenever he does drop deep to pick up possession, the wingers largely fail to move into the middle and create an opening for the Belgian to run into. It’s not known why this is the case, Havertz does not sit around and wait for an answer to the question when he plays though.
The way Havertz plays, he will start central and gradually drift to either wide area (traditionally the right side). This forces some action as the wingers—regardless of whether or not they’re on the ball at the time—no longer have a viable area to run into. As a result, they move into a central area. The German is much more comfortable playing out wide than his Belgian counterpart, which is perhaps why this method of play is so impactful. Havertz can distribute the ball to, or create chances for, his fellow forwards when they dart into these dangerous spaces.
Fluid movement in and around the 18-yard-box creates chaos and that’s where the Blues’ best chances come from. These opportunities don’t magically appear as a result of kicking the ball around from defender to defender outside the box as they switch play and wait for a run to penetrate the low block. Pep Guardiola’s famous Tiki-taka style has some elements of this build-up play, but Chelsea simply does not play the ball around fast enough, nor is the players’ movement creative enough, for this to work in Tuchel’s system.
Occasionally, goals do tend to dry up. That’s why Lukaku has been so important to Chelsea thus far, regardless of how poor his form is at the moment. Lukaku showed during the FIFA Club World Cup that he is capable of scoring goals from nothing. When the Blues are struggling, they know they are still in safe hands with the Belgian up front. The confidence that trait instills is not something that cannot be defined by statistics, but it’s crucial to the success of a Premier League team. This is where Havertz’s individual numbers come into play.
The versatile forward has already played in five different positions over the last two years with his new club, according to Transfermarkt. Havertz simply hasn’t looked comfortable—nor has he played enough matches—as a winger (on either side) or a central midfielder. His two most productive positions are as a center forward/second striker and an attacking midfielder. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone either. Havertz has appeared up top in 29 games, where he has notched eight goals and added three assists. During the 2021/22 season alone, he has six goals plus assists in 14 games as a striker.
Overall, this is fewer goal contributions than in attacking midfield (35 games, seven goals and eight assists) during his time in SW6. Neither return is particularly good either. As with a lot of other assessments in this article though, the signs of a solid foundation are there with Havertz.
It’s important to note that Tuchel’s favorite system, the 3-4-3, does not utilize traditional No. 10s. That leaves the managerial staff no choice but to play Havertz as a striker or winger. His individual stats may suffer a little bit when he lines up in the most advanced role in the team, but those around him tend to thrive. On the flip side, he is almost rendered completely useless as a winger as the fit is awkward to anyone with eyes. Coming full circle, Havertz does not have a fully developed clutch gene quite yet as a No. 9—few strikers at his age do though. Lukaku didn’t, nor did Robert Lewandowski; the duo developed it over time. Erling Haaland is the gold standard for modern day strikers, that doesn’t mean he isn’t a rarity, or even an anomaly, in this sense.
It takes time and practice to become a world class center forward, it’s not something one can just pick up one day and become an expert in by the next morning. Havertz needs time to develop. How he will get those minutes is an entirely different topic altogether.
The current dilemma Chelsea faces is one of trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The Blues happily dished out £97.5 million to bring Lukaku back to west London after his fantastic season with Inter Milan. It looked like a fantastic piece of business at the time—and despite some skepticism, I am a firm believer the Belgian will turn things around sooner or later—but now it seems to some as if Marina Granovskaia just made a club record fee-sized mistake. Lukaku hasn’t looked comfortable in Tuchel’s teams since the early days of his arrival. There has also been an injury or two sprinkled in there, as well as a bout with COVID-19 and a small “suspension.” These factors have all undoubtedly contributed to the striker’s struggles. The simple fact remains that Lukaku looks like an awkward fit in whichever formation Tuchel fields him in at the moment.
This directly impacts Havertz’s future at the club it seems. The gaffer has a few different options here. You also need to bear in mind that Lukaku is not Havertz’s only direct competition. Another reason the wunderkind has failed to see the pitch as often as expected is because of the meteoric rise of Mason Mount. There was a place in the side for both of them under Lampard as the English manager attempted to play with dual No. 8s. More recently, it’s been one or the other and Mount has made the right wing his home with his exceptional all-around play. Havertz’s direct competition in his two main positions has limited the options of his manager.
As it stands, Chelsea does not currently have the personnel required to give the 4-3-3 that Lampard tried (4-1-2-3, for all of you who love specifics) another go. Tuchel has shown a willingness to move in that direction with his recent utilization of the 4-1-4-1, but Mateo Kovacic’s role as the free-roaming midfielder who plays wherever required at certain points in time prevents that from being a surefire 4-1-2-3. It’s more like a 4-2-4 featuring an attacking diamond when Kovacic plays as a holding midfielder. The Blues need a player like Declan Rice to truly pull off a dream 4-1-2-3. This formation would allow Chelsea to play with Havertz, Lukaku and Mount at the same time in perfect harmony.
Enough about dream scenarios though.
Perhaps the only system that allows Tuchel to play all three in their best positions right now is the 3-5-2. This would allow for Havertz and Lukaku to both play centrally, where they excel, and continue to develop the solid relationship they have shown recently. Further, it sees Mount return to his natural position as a central attacking midfielder. This also keeps a midfield pivot—where players like N’Golo Kante and Jorginho thrive—in tact, which in turn helps solidify the defense.
This is just the most sensible option going forward if Tuchel decides to play Havertz more regularly on the back of his red hot form. Of course, [Alvaro Morata] could always hit the fan and given that the two sides don’t see eye-to-eye right now, there could be a split between Chelsea and Lukaku. This would be monumental seeing as the Blues just recently paid Inter nearly £100 million for the superstar No. 9. It’d require some unbelievable things to happen; such as a European club paying a majority, if not all, of that back to Chelsea. If the unimaginable was to happen though, questions do begin to arise.
Has Tuchel seen enough out of Havertz to suggest he could be the one to lead the line in years to come? That’s for the manager—and only the manager—to know right now. The signs point toward a positive response, but it’s unlikely we ever reach that point. The Blues will have to find a way for Havertz and Lukaku to co-exist as strike partners in the meantime as it’s seemingly the only way to get the best out of both men while keeping them happy long-term.
Chelsea has a solid foundation in the stars (plus Mount), it just has to spend the upcoming months plugging and playing while planning for a future with the expensive pair. If this situation is not handled with care, it could result in the Blues shipping off another world class talent in the name of an easy solution in the present, one that comes back to bite them in the future.
What do you believe Havertz’s best position is in this Chelsea team? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter!