Kai Havertz’s performance in Graham Potter’s first game in charge at Chelsea has been called into question by football.london writer Scott Trotter.
The 23-year-old was named in the new manager’s starting XI before coming off in the 66th minute for Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the 1-1 draw against Red Bull Salzburg at Stamford Bridge.
Following a shock 1-0 defeat in their Champions League opener to Dinamo Zagreb which ultimately saw Thomas Tuchel lose his job, the Blues needed a response. However, they were made to settle for a point as Raheem Sterling’s opener was cancelled out on 75 minutes by Salzburg’s Noah Okafor, leaving the west Londoners bottom of their group.
Alongside his forward partner Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Havertz was awarded a meagre 5/10 match rating for his display by Trotter for football.london, who gave this post-match verdict on the German: ‘He seemed to be more dedicated to appearing in the opposition area during his time on the pitch but lacked finesse at crucial moments. The German forward could not mark his 100th Chelsea appearance with a significant impact.’
Assessing Havertz’s performance v Salzburg
The £150k-per-week attacker memorably scored the winner in the final as Chelsea were crowned 2020/21 Champions League winners but the 28-cap Germany international has appeared out of sorts ever since.
Only Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner and Saul Niguez posted a lower average SofaScore match rating in the Premier League last season than Havertz among the Blues’ squad (6.83).
He netted 14 goals and created another six in 47 appearances in all competitions last term but has only been involved in one goal in his first eight games this season.
On Wednesday night, Havertz showed little to suggest that he could build on that tally, either. He had one shot off target, posted a 71% pass completion rate (nine misplaced) and ranked second-lowest for touches among outfield players who started the game for Potter’s side (SofaScore).
The 23-year-old also lost seven of his eight duels (87.5%), conceded possession 16 times and is seemingly a man low on confidence, but hopefully a change in the dugout can help him to rekindle his best form.
