This Arsenal star has endured a difficult season at the Emirates Stadium but has improved one aspect of his game that Mikel Arteta highlighted
Kai Havertz’s poor discipline caught Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta off guard when he first arrived at the club. But the German appears to have taken his manager’s concerns on board and shown marked improvement.
The Gunners have reached only their second-ever Champions League final following Tuesday night’s 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid. Havertz, whose strike secured Chelsea the trophy in 2021, was confined to the substitutes’ bench, with his campaign proving disrupted throughout.
Following Viktor Gyokeres’ summer arrival, Havertz was always likely to see reduced minutes, though fitness setbacks have compounded matters. In August, he sustained a significant knee problem that sidelined him for more than four months, ruling him out of 32 fixtures. He made his comeback in January but has since been hampered by hamstring issues.
Yet despite these fitness concerns, an enhancement in his discipline appears evident. This follows Arteta’s warning to Havertz that he must reduce the frequency of cautions he was collecting.
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During his maiden full season as a Gunner, Havertz accumulated 14 yellow cards, with 11 coming in the Premier League. He finished the campaign as Arsenal’s most-cautioned player in the top division and served a ban after reaching five bookings.
This prompted Arteta to address the issue, stating in 2024: “We’ll have to improve because we don’t want our players having that many because we are the best in the league for that. It’s something to improve.”
Since that point, Havertz has received just eight yellow cards across two seasons. During the previous campaign, he was cautioned only seven times, with five of those coming in the Premier League from 23 appearances.
This term, despite featuring on just 20 occasions, Havertz has picked up merely one yellow card. It’s evident he has modified his approach following his manager’s request. Speaking in March, Havertz acknowledged that while this injury-plagued season has proved challenging, he remains determined to assist his colleagues during the final stretch.
“I think we all know this season was not what I expected it to be, but I always think that things happen for a reason, and now I’m back and I feel good, and I’m happy to help the team again,” he said.
“It has been stop-start, but sometimes football is like this. I haven’t really faced a challenge like this before in my career, so I just tried to give everything to be back as soon as I could.
“Now I’m just happy to be back and be here and help the team. For me it was just tough, because I never felt that pain before in my life and it just came randomly, but I tried to go through these things.
“Obviously I got my support at home. My family helped me a lot during that time. Having two surgeries after another is not easy, but I think I’m professional enough to know that this is also part of football sometimes.
“I know that there are so many players out there that went through stages of their career also. And I think I’m still young, so I’ve got a lot of years hopefully in front of me.”
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