Arsenal: Arteta must bench ‘useless’ signing who lost the ball every 5 touches

The Gunners must finally drop their “useless” dud.

Arsenal will likely still be delighted with last night’s EFL Cup triumph over Brentford, as their battling 1-0 away victory saw them extend their unbeaten run for the campaign to seven across all competitions.

Whilst many stood out, there were also a host of disappointments, who failed to step up during their opportunity to impress…

Who played well for Arsenal vs Brentford?

Jorginho was not one of them though, whose 8.1 Sofascore rating in the middle of the park marked the highest of anyone on the pitch as he made a mammoth seven tackles during the contest.

Another who shone was Jakub Kiwior, who again was given his opportunity to impress, admittedly in a less familiar left-back role. Despite that, a 93% pass accuracy alongside one key pass suggests he rose to the challenge, whilst still maintaining two interceptions and two clearances, one of which was off the line to prevent a goal, via Sofascore.

Mikel Arteta will be delighted with the way these two out-of-favour stars performed upon earning their recall, but such stellar displays actually exacerbate yet another poor showing from the £65m man Kai Havertz.

How did Kai Havertz play vs Brentford?

Once again starting in that carefully crafted left-side of a midfield three, the German is expected to create from deep whilst using his intelligence to push forward when possible without risking the defensive integrity of the side.

This is a role still new to the former Chelsea man, who at Stamford Bridge again suffered from his own versatility, often being deployed in positions that were unsuited to his skillset. It seems like lightning is set to strike twice.

Although his figures are not outstandingly bad, it marked another mediocre showing with little to write home about, which is far from what is expected given the huge figure spent in the summer.

As such, he would only manage an 81% pass accuracy, enduring a tough time in the engine room losing 50% of the 18 duels he competed in, as per Sofascore.

However, and perhaps most alarmingly, the 24-year-old would only manage 62 touches all game, yet still somehow lost possession a whopping 12 times. That meant that, for every five touches Havertz enjoyed, the Bees would dispossess him and kickstart their own attacks.

Given he managed just one key pass, it was almost like his on-pitch exploits boosted the opposition more than his own side.

Although Arteta will be keen to guarantee his hefty investment soon pays dividends, he must also ensure that it does not come to the detriment of the team. After all, pundit Andy Goldstein sought to lambast the versatile midfielder, with former Sunderland striker Darren Bent coming to his defence.

The former would tell talkSPORT “I can see he’s rubbish”, to which his co-host responded: “He’s not rubbish, he’s a good footballer.” This spurred on the pundit to go one step further, boldly claiming: “I’m being honest, he’s useless.”

Given what Havertz has shown in an Arsenal shirt, it would be hard to argue with Goldstein’s summation at the moment. The hope will be that he can turn such form around, but not before he is dropped after another average display in which he was notoriously profligate in possession.