Chelsea: Kai Havertz needs to start against Real Madrid
Kai Havertz joined Chelsea in the summer of 2020 for a fee of around £70 million, after proving how great he is in Germany for a couple of years at Bayer Leverkusen. He was one of the best players in that league and he caught Frank Lampard’s attention, who then brought him to Chelsea.
Ever since then, all the way up till a few months ago, everyone started calling him a flop, because honestly, either he wasn’t playing, or he wasn’t performing. He just didn’t fit in Lampard’s system — whatever it was. It was all a bit chaotic towards the end of it and there’s nothing from this season that you can look at and say, “Hey, Lampard did that thing right.”
Then Tuchel joined. He’s a German coach, so obviously one of his main jobs was to get the best out of Havertz and Werner. It’s been a work in progress, but we’re getting to that stage where all the work in the background is finally showing on the pitch, for both Havertz and the Blues.
How has Havertz played for Chelsea under Tuchel? How will he be important vs Real Madrid?
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Ever since he started playing the False-nine/proper striker role, Havertz has been great for Chelsea every time he’s played. He has also helped Werner play well beside him too.
Havertz was sensational against Fulham. Yes, I know Fulham’s a team in the relegation zone and haven’t been very good. But if you saw the way Havertz played, you’d know what I mean. He’s just such an intelligent player. He knows how to work around tight spaces and keep the ball. He keeps his movement just right all the time, so because of that he doesn’t need to make amazing runs; he’s almost always in the right place at the right time.
That would be really important in the second leg vs Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final. Chelsea drew the first game away at Madrid and took home an away goal, and a slight advantage over the Spanish giants. Chelsea would need to work and finish their chances if they want to get past Madrid, because the tie is still far from over.
And I think Havertz is one of the most dangerous players that Tuchel can use against Madrid. We saw that Real can give you a lot of space during transition defense, and there are not many players in Chelsea that can capitalize on that better than Havertz himself. He’s so good in space and is such a good decision-maker. That can hurt Real Madrid.
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Obviously, you’d need some sort of pace because of the high-line that Real play while having the ball. So, to hit them on the counter, Chelsea would require Pulisic — who would probably start since he didn’t feature against Fulham. Werner is a great option too, and obviously, Mount is crucial to their success. But, in my opinion, Tuchel would need to start Havertz to have an even bigger chance of securing his second Champions League final spot in two seasons.