Kai Havertz endured a tough first season in English football, though it culminated in one of the most glorious ways imaginable when he netted the winning goal in the Champions League final. Frank Lampard brought Havertz to the club but couldn’t seem to find a defined position for the German. Then Havertz was struck down by Covid and had to work his way back carefully to fitness. The arrival of Thomas Tuchel, who deployed his countryman in a false nine role, looked to have paid dividends but Havertz’s season was very much up and down through peaks and troughs. Tuchel was asked on Friday for his thoughts on how Havertz returned to the club after his EURO 2020 exertions and rest and what he wants see from the player throughout the season.
Thomas Tuchel said: “I found him very strong when we came back,” Tuchel revealed. I was pleased with his attitude to training and the pre-season matches very early in the season. I felt him very self-confident after his end to the season after he was very decisive in the Champions League. He didn’t lean back on that and took it as a given that he has made an impact now and has his place. He is fighting hard with a different attitude and self-confident. He is also using his body to play physically in training, if he misses in training, he still takes the next shot with full belief. These are little details where I could see that he is in a good place. He pushes himself and he wants to continue to get better and have another impact and another impact. This is what we demand because the guy is so full of talent that we won’t let him relax for a second. If you have this amount of talent, we will push him to the absolute maximum and this guy has the body, talent and head. He has everything and the belief to play at the very top level. This is it. I felt him a little bit tired after the national break where he was a bit ill during his matches for Germany but now he is in very good shape. He had a good physical impact versus Zenit where he came off the bench. We count on him. He’s super important for us.”
