Winners and losers from Chelsea’s 3-1 victory over Udinese

Loser: The Kai Havertz experience

What a frustrating player Kai Havertz has been for Chelsea. Before I get into it, I think the German will figure it out and become a very good player, whether it be with the Blues or somewhere else. Nobody with the kind of athleticism, height, intelligence, skill, work rate, etc. could ever become a bust … right? However, at this point in time, there remains a pressing question that needs to be answered this season: what in the world is Havertz?

Since he arrived in west London, multiple different managers have attempted to answer this question. There was that spell under Frank Lampard when he played as a No. 8 with Mount ahead of N’Golo Kante in the No. 6 spot (which I liked more than most). Then there were the minutes he played as a second striker with Romelu Lukaku at times last season. Now, as evidenced by this preseason, it seems as though Thomas Tuchel has settled on Havertz being a No. 9 who does a lot of stuff that would normally fall under the category of a false nine without actually being a traditional false nine.

On Friday, there were flashes of the potential Havertz has playing in a role like that. He showed nice interplay with Sterling, who seemed to enjoy flowing into the No. 9 spot when Havertz dropped deep or out onto the wing. Still, the lack of goals from a striker in a team that really struggles for goals remains infuriating, and Friday was a good example of that. Havertz does so much else well, but I’m not sure Chelsea can afford to play a striker who doesn’t score goals. If he doesn’t start producing in front of net, it would not be surprising at all to see Tuchel start Sterling up top and abandon the striker position all together. Between how well Mount and Sterling looked together and Havertz’s goal struggles on Friday, that is likely the direction we are heading in.