Here's How Arsenal Can Fix Viktor Gyökeres

Arsenal are top of the league but there's still some big problems and those problems could cost them the title

However, a certain Kai Havertz could come in and save the day. So today I'll be explaining how he can maximise Jokeres' strengths, make Arsenal sustainable in the final third and make everyone around him go up a gear

A gear that they're going to have to get into if they want to win the Premier League. without Havertz

Jocherez is often receiving the ball in wide areas but the pass he's receiving are short balls

often from the wingers or the full backs initiating small space play

with Havertz in the side we see him receiving the ball further up the pitch

more central and the pass he's receiving from wingers are long balls into the box

into the spaces he's bested now that's a really important difference as subtle as it may seem

having Jocherez in small space play is dragging him into zones he's simply not comfortable in

Now obviously it has its benefits. Having him link in play allows Arsenal's wingers

to spin in behind and attack the space he vacates and can allow Arsenal to get out of pressure

But it means he has to go into small spaces. And now with all due respect, Victor Jokeres isn't quite a small space player, is he

Like here, Jokeres is occupying both centre-backs and that's great because the wingers

can then dart into the 18-yard box. However, he's receiving in a small space

and he's not good enough at receiving in a small space. So he plays the ball backwards and Arsenal then have to pass sideways

I mean, only two Arsenal players with over 10 appearances this season have averaged more unsuccessful touches per 90 than Victor Jokeres

So, having him in those sportsman scenarios increases the chance of him having to go backwards

or simply being dispossessed and it often ruins Arsenal attacks. I get Arteta's viewing of Jokeres in this sense

He's almost a decoy player to create space for the goal scorers that usually do play out wide for Arsenal

or at least have under Arteta. However, this can all be changed with Kai Havertz

and we've already seen that be changed at stages this season. Arsenal are coming out here in a 3 Eze has tucked in meaning that his mark has split between him and the wide man which means the midfield have to step forward and watch Eze with the ball which allows Havertz to get in between the lines

And then this is where Jocharez can get into his best zones. He's no longer coming deep

Instead, he's put his centre-back on his heels. He's darting behind. And that centre-back doesn't know whether it'll mark Havertz

whether it'll mark Jocharez, which gives Jocharez that extra yard and time to take minimal touches and shoots

Basically, Havertz coming in and replacing one of those number eights. and acting as almost more of an auxiliary number 10

allows Jokeres to get out of those uncomfortable zones, which is what he's been criticised most for

playing like he's got jeans and Timbaland boots on. But that's always been the case with Jokeres

At Sporting, he averaged 9.5 touches per shot. Now at Arsenal, he's averaging 11.5 touches per shot

So if Arsenal can minimise the touches that Jokeres is taking facing away from goal

and maximises the touches that he's taking facing goal, then they'll reap the rewards

which again, we've already seen when Kai Havertz has been fit. But Jokovic getting on the ball in these positions doesn't only hurt him and his game

it has a huge knock-on effect for the whole Arsenal attack. This season, Arsenal's Open Play XG has dropped by 9

and Bakayosaka has suffered as a result in particular. His goal contributions have gone from averaging every 104 minutes

in the Premier League and Champions League last season to now every 176 minutes in the same competitions this season

and a lot of that is down to having to come central to support Jokeres in his ball-to-feet play

Saka's heat map from last season shows him coming central at times, but he's doing so in the final third

whereas this season he's coming central before he even reaches the final third

which means a lot of his football is being played in front of the opposition defence rather than in wide 1v1s or going in beyond that defence

Now if you have Havertz in that role in front of the opposition's defence, you allow the wingers to stay a little bit wider until they enter the final third

when you combine that with Yokarez's relentless running in behind, you have a defence who are already preoccupied

which means then wide space of the box are open for people like Maduike Trossard or Bikai Osaka to get into and score goals But it not just about the final third because Havertz can equally be involved in build He can eliminate Jochrez doing all that dirty work and coming deep

and instead Jochrez can run, Havertz can receive and be that facilitator

and because of his wider passing range, he can find those wingers in 1v1s

rather than having to come short to play it off of Jochrez. Now, popping Havertz into that team may feel like a minor change

And you may be thinking, so you're saying to me that if Havertz comes into this team

Jokic is going to stop winding me up by doing step overs on the halfway line and Bakayo Saka is going to score a million goals

Now, I'm not saying that, but a minor change of personnel can make a huge difference to a team

Shifting the midfield shape can have huge knock-on effects for manipulating the opposition

And as we've seen with Arsenal this season, they've been at their best when they've played against more passive presses

Leeds aren't putting much pressure on the ball here, which means that Arsenal can get five players on that last line

and as you can see where Jokka is, he's looking to stretch that back line by spinning him behind

Then we've also got Saka and Marueke, who are 1v1 by the touchline, and that fifth player, that extra player in that last line

you can count as Ethan Lanieri, who's occupying two players there, or you can count Declan Rice

who's also occupying two players, which means Leeds are basically man-to-man with Arsenal

which gives the winger's room to have that space to receive the ball and then run at them

Because having multiple of your players occupying multiple of the opposition's players is what creates confusion and that confusion is where

you attack it with those quick fluid rotations which again we're starting to see a lot more of

from Arsenal in the back end of this season. For example Saka Marueke here don't have to come

inside to escape a man marker because their marker is split between them and another player which

gives them that extra little yard to get on the ball and then make a decision rather than having

to drift onside in search of the ball which is why I think Kai Havertz as that number 10 player

makes so much sense because he has the ability to operate all over the place

He can float quite fluidly, which gives the wingers more freedom off the ball as they don have to come inside and search the ball and Jokeres can do what he did best at sporting that bombing it in behind rather than trying to do step overs on halfway line now we talked a lot about haver we talked a lot about yviktar jokeres and we

talked a lot about the wingers but it's not just theory otter has already put things in place

to try and change things against wigan ebrechtieze started as the left-sided player in a double pivot

yet he found himself operating further forward between the lines creating a line of four behind

Arsenal centre-forward. Due to Nogard slotting into the back line and Eze stepping forward

the Wigan midfield are split on who their actual target is, which means they put no real pressure

on either of Eze or Nogard, which means Eberetti Eze becomes the defence's problem

pulling their attention away from Martinelli, who's on their shoulder, and he can then dart

in behind on the blindside of his marker. And that role that Eze was in was something that we've also

already seen from Kai Havertz, and that was just a few weeks ago. Havertz's touch map against

Sondland shows up picking up the ball in so many different areas, and his average position map

shows him in line with the centre-forward, despite him playing as a right central midfielder. Kai

Havertz is an attacker at heart, that's where he really made his name in Germany, by being an

attacker, so having him on the pitch brings you more attacking threat, more attacking quality

especially when someone like Morten Odegaard has been a little bit off his game this season

and lacked that bravery that Arsenal have so desperately needed. Onnigar's pass mark against Brentford shows a lot of negative and sideways passes

whereas you compare that to Kai Havertz against Sunderland, and there's so many forward passes

So instantly you can change things. You have someone who's maybe a little bit less risk averse

and someone who's a little bit more willing to make the mark, make something happen, and that changes everything for Arsenal

That allows them to bring, again, more attacking quality to this team

Now, unfortunately, Havertz has picked up an injury, but I imagine as soon as he's back

we'll be seeing him very very regularly for Arsenal and causing chaos like King Kai always does

That's it from me for today there's loads more tactical insight coming up on the channel so make sure you do subscribe, leave a like

and let me know how many goals is Kai Havertz going to get in the back end of the season