How Havertz Will Impact Chelsea?
This week it’s been confirmed that German starlet Kai Havertz is on his way to Chelsea for the upcoming season. This comes amidst what had been a previously astonishing summer for Chelsea and has only added to the excitement that Blues fans have been feeling ahead of the upcoming season.
Chelsea haven’t acquired the 21-year-old cheaply, however, with the rumored fee in the range of €90 million. This brings Chelsea’s total spend for the window to over €200 million. Havertz will now link up with Werner, Ziyech, Chilwell, Thiago Silva, and Malang Sarr, who have all completed moves to Stamford Bridge over the last month.
With so much attacking talent in Chelsea’s squad, it will be interesting to see how Havertz fits in. However, with the price tag that the Blues have paid, you’d expect Kai to be a regular feature in Lampard’s squad.
First of all, let’s look into how he fitted in at Leverkusen. Havertz is coming off of arguably his best season at Leverkusen, having thrived off Peter Bosz’s quick-passing attacking football. Leverkusen were one of the Bundesliga’s best possession-based teams last campaign, and Kai was crucial in this regard.
The 21-year-old was primarily used as an attacking midfielder but was perhaps most impressive in his 7 starts as a striker playing the false nine role. When playing as a number 10, however, he typified Leverkusen’s style of play. His pass accuracy in the league of 85.2% ranked in the 98th percentile among all attacking midfielders last campaign. This is made even more impressive by the fact that he played as a striker and as a winger on occasion.
This impressive work on the ball allowed Leverkusen to comfortably maintain possession in the final third of the pitch. This was crucial for Bosz and his style of play, as it allowed Leverkusen to progress the ball quickly but also pen teams back in their own half.
Another impressive feature of Havertz’s attacking midfield play is his ability to find space high up the pitch. In this way, Havertz acts much like a striker. The frequency at which he got into the box last season was rare amongst attacking midfielders.
This is shown by the fact that he averages 0.31 non-penalty expected goals (xG) per 90 in the Bundesliga. This ranks in the 88th percentile for players in his position. His ability to both get forward and play as a second-striker while also dropping into midfield is what makes him such a dangerous player.
The versatility that he has shown over his time at Leverkusen is really quite remarkable. He’s played most prominently through the center, and particularly as an attacking midfielder, but he also played on both wings last season and has been effective both deeper and further up the field.
For a manager like Frank Lampard, this is crucial. Lampard was experimental in his first league season with the Blues, using three different formations over the course of last season’s league campaign. As a relatively young manager, it’s hard to tell if this will be the norm over the coming seasons.
Much of Lampard’s tactical diversity at Chelsea last season came as a result of the lack of a solid defensive left-back, forcing him to play with a back three. However, with Chilwell now at the club, Chelsea will most likely stick to a four at the back for next season.
Before taking charge at Chelsea, Lampard’s Derby side were slightly less experimental, using just two primary formations over the Championship season.
This means that the majority of the minutes will most likely be split between a 4-3-3 and a 4-2-3-1, Chelsea’s most used formations last campaign. Lampard seems to prefer bulking up his midfield, with midfield options who can get further up the field. This, of course, is perfect for Kai Havertz.
Last season Chelsea primarily used a 4-3-3; however, one of the midfielders, typically Mason Mount, was required to venture forwards and exchange places with the wingers.
Pulisic and Willian both had the tendency to drift inside and pick up the ball, leaving room for another attacking player out wide. As you can see from the average position chart below, Mount (number 19) was encouraged to play a more free-flowing attacking role.
Chelsea operated with a narrow frontline over the course of last season, with flexibility amongst the front three. It’s also interesting to note the advanced nature of their midfielders. While the graphic shows how compact Chelsea were in forward areas, this is really more of an indication of the free-flowing nature of their attack.
Mount, Pulisic, and Willian were required to switch roles frequently in order to create a fluid attacking system. The striker (typically Tammy Abraham) was also required to drop slightly deeper in order to facilitate play.
However, this attacking system could be altered with new signings coming in. The arrivals of Werner and Ziyech have to be considered alongside Havertz. With a new attacking contingent, Lampard’s vision might now have shifted.
While Ziyech should fit this system quite perfectly, drifting inside from the right-wing onto his favored left foot, Werner is an entirely different player to Tammy Abraham. Last season, Tammy Abraham was almost a target-man come poacher for Frank Lampard’s side, dropping deep to facilitate play but hovering in and around the box once play progressed further up the field.
Werner is a much more energetic runner. At Leipzig last season, he was required to play both on the left and down the center. In both positions, his diagonal runs towards the flanks were a standout feature of his game.
Werner is also a slightly more complete forward than Tammy Abraham. Werner outperformed Abraham in both xG and xA last season while also completing more dribbles at a higher success rate.
This, of course, could largely impact the way Havertz fits into the squad, as well as the overall system that Lampard could employ. Havertz will likely play in a different role to Mason Mount, who was much more of an energetic midfield runner, required to play off of Tammy Abraham.
With the style of striker changing, the role of the most advanced midfielder will have to change as well. While Abraham played centrally, Werner loves making runs into the wide areas. This should open up space in the middle for Havertz to operate in.
Given that the young German played a number of games as a false nine last season, he could be quite well suited to this role. With Werner perhaps playing as more of a roaming forward, Havertz could look to fill gaps in behind, playing almost alongside his international teammate.
This would suit Havertz nicely. His ability to get into threatening spaces in advanced areas as well as get high-value shots off could be activated by playing in a slightly more advanced role. This could also get the best out of Timo Werner.
At Leipzig, Werner has typically had someone in the box to aim at, whether they were a strike partner or a lone striker when he was playing out on the left. This gives him more freedom when looking to make attacking runs but it also brings out his creative side.
If you look back at the graphic above, you can see that Werner is rare as a striker, in that he creates so many opportunities for his teammates. He averaged 0.26 xA per 90 last season, which ranked in the 95th percentile among other strikers. This means that having a strike partner or a false nine next to him could benefit him hugely. Otherwise, his ability to bring others into the game could go to waste.
This more advanced role for Havertz could also open up space in midfield for the likes of Ziyech and Pulisic who love to drift centrally. Again, all of this contributes to what could be a very free-flowing attacking Chelsea side, but perhaps in a slightly different system to last season.
When you look at Chelsea’s signings in this context, you can see that they didn’t just spend big. A lot of work has clearly been done by Chelsea’s scouting team in order to make sure that the players that they have brought in fit a common vision.
Werner and Havertz are players who should be able to work well together in the same attacking lineup. Their strengths play off one another nicely, and there is a clear system that Lampard could use to get the best out of them.
With these signings being made, it looks like Frank Lampard will now make the switch to a 4-2-3-/4-2-4. Although he experimented with this last year, his Chelsea side employed a 4-3-3 22 times. While I’ve briefly discussed the option of Havertz playing deeper in a 4-3-3, it makes more sense for him to play in and around the dynamic Timo Werner.
While it may not work out perfectly straight away, Havertz looks like a ready-made Premier League player and you’d imagine he’d have a successful Chelsea career. This move seems to have been well planned out, as Havertz is part of what is a promising intake of attacking players at Stamford Bridge this season.
Despite a decent debut season for Frank Lampard at Chelsea last campaign, it seems he’s set loftier ambitions for his side. The prowess and pull that Chelsea have shown in the market this summer has been impressive. Catching up to Liverpool and Manchester City will be the goal now for the Blues, and Kai Havertz looks well-posed to help them do just that over the coming seasons.
Comments