Kai Havertz: Variability in the DFB team is “sometimes” more of a curse than a blessing

“Childhood dream fulfilled” at Chelsea

Kai Havertz is ambivalent about his versatility in attacking the national team. This could be more of a blessing than a curse for the DFB team, “sometimes not for me personally,” he said in the “Kicker” interview. The 23-year-old Chelsea FC professional oscillates between attack and midfield ahead of the World Cup in Qatar.

National coach Hansi Flick has used Havertz in four different positions since taking office last summer. In ten starting eleven appearances, the left footer played four times in attacking midfield, three times as a central striker, twice on the left wing and once on the right wing. In general, he could “make friends with any position,” he said before the Nations League games against Hungary and England. In the end, the most important thing is always “what is best for the team.”

And the record since the knockout round of EURO 2020 against England is impressive. Under Flick, the DFB team has not lost any of the 13 games, winning nine of them. Predecessor Joachim Löw was also an “outstanding coach”, emphasized Havertz, “but a change can often release new strength and spark enthusiasm. A lot of young players are now new, who are also hungry for victories and titles and want to prove themselves in every training session. Such a series of 13 games without defeat, like the one we’ve had, is of course good for us because you feel that the new beginning is bearing fruit. If we play the next two games like this, it can give us a lot of self-confidence for the tournament.”

Kai Havertz: Change to Chelsea “the best thing I could do”

Havertz sees his own development in the Premier League positively. He rates the EUR 80 million move from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Chelsea two years ago as “the best thing I could have done”. The native of Aachen won the Champions League in his first season with Chelsea and scored the winning goal in the final against Manchester City. At the weekend he was the third German after Michael Ballack (167) and Antonio Rüdiger (203) to play his 100th competitive game for the “Blues”.

“In these two years I have fulfilled a childhood dream. It was very good for me to get out of Germany, to experience something new, to adopt the way of playing in England. It’s very different from the ones I got to know and love when I was young and turned pro at Leverkusen. I’m having a lot of fun and I feel like I’ve made a big leap forward in England,” said Havertz. With the Londoners, he usually oscillates between the attacking midfield and the storm center.

To home page