Mikel Arteta has firmly dismissed any insinuations that Arsenal fans are beginning to criticize Kai Havertz.
Havertz was one of Arsenal’s substantial acquisitions during the summer transfer window, arriving from Chelsea for a reported £65 million fee.
However, the German player has yet to meet the anticipated standards, evident in his performance during Arsenal’s 2-2 draw against Fulham on Saturday.
Subsequent to the match, Arteta, the manager of the Gunners, was questioned about the possibility of fans showing dissatisfaction toward the 24-year-old.
You can watch the footage below.
🗣| Mikel Arteta speaking on fans turning on Kai Havertz, says he’s confident that Havertz will prove everyone wrong. 👀 pic.twitter.com/ePUxw2yznN
— Foulside (@thefoulside) August 27, 2023
Arteta said: “No I saw an action where he played backwards when he could have turned but that’s more I think the demands of everybody to play forward and to impact the game in the final third.
“Because we had the urgency to win but no.”
When asked if he is confident Havertz will win the fans over, Arteta said: “Yes I think so, I think he’s done good things today. It was tough for him in certain moments.
“He got in great areas again and the ball didn’t arrive, it didn’t arrive. A lot of situations he could have scored a lot of goals already and that’s the thing he is missing.”
In what was billed to be a routine victory for the Gunners, they were behind after just one minute after Andreas Pereira latched onto a poor back pass by Bukayo Saka before putting the ball beyond Aaron Ramsdale.
Saka then equalised from 12-yards with 20 minutes to play, before Eddie Nketiah gave the Gunners the lead with 72 minutes on the clock.
However, Fulham were not to be denied as Portuguese midfielder Joao Palhinha earned a well deserved point for Marco Silva’s men.
Speaking to BBC Match of the Day afterwards, Arteta said: “We dominated the game and created countless chances and should have scored five, six, seven goals easily.
“We have to show another level of commitment and desire and ‘over my dead body’. With 10 men, you cannot concede a goal.”