Ally McCoist says 24-year-old Arsenal star was a nightmare for Newcastle pair

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Ally McCoist shared what he noticed Kai Havertz doing on a couple of occasions for Arsenal during the first-half of their emphatic win over Newcastle United on Saturday.

The Gunners made a real statement as the Premier League title race continues to threaten to go right down to the wire. Arsenal blew Newcastle away, only taking their foot off the accelerator once the scoreline was 4-0.

Mikel Arteta made the decision to start Kai Havertz up front against the Magpies. Havertz has been excellent in recent weeks, showing a lot more often why Arsenal signed him in the summer.

Ally McCoist praises Kai Havertz as Arsenal thrash Newcastle

Many of the German’s best performances for the club have come when he is up front. But that is probably because he asks so many questions of the centre-backs tasked with dealing with him.

Havertz scored one and set up another against Newcastle. And speaking on TNT Sports (broadcast on 24/2; 20:44), Ally McCoist suggested that he was hugely impressed by the forward’s work as the half-time whistle loomed.

“Just talking about Declan Rice and playing one forward, I’m watching Havertz there, clearly in that position, just dropping 10, 15 yards back. He’s actually on a couple of occasions slightly deeper than two of his midfield members,” he said.

“It must be a nightmare for Botman and Schar. He just disappears into that hole and they can’t go with him. And then he appears late. As I said, he’s playing that role very, very well tonight.”

Many of us being proven wrong

Havertz arrived at Arsenal actually not wanting to play the striker role any longer after struggling at Chelsea for some time.

But Arteta appears to have found a way to get the best out of him. Both Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli love to make those runs beyond the striker. And that allows Havertz to drop between the opposition’s defence and midfield and cause problems from there.

Only Saka and Leandro Trossard have scored more goals in the league than Havertz this season. So many of us do have to admit that the 24-year-old has proven us wrong.

And with that, Arteta deserves enormous credit for seeing what Havertz could be capable of despite his issues at Stamford Bridge.