‘Anonymous’: Pundit unimpressed with 24-year-old Arsenal player, he forgot he was on the pitch

New Arsenal signing Kai Havertz had a game to forget against Manchester United last night.

Mikel Arteta’s side were defeated 2-0 before losing a penalty shootout after the 90 minutes was completed.

Pundit Ben Thornley, commentating on the match, was unimpressed by the 24-year-old German international.

Arteta named a very strong side to face Manchester United last night with only a couple of players missing from what is expected to be his best team.

Aside from Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back and Gabriel Jesus up front, the rest of the side could easily be the starting XI on the opening day of the Premier League.

Kai Havertz was playing in the left-sided midfield position and was selected alongside Declan Rice for the first time.

Arsenal FC v Manchester United - Pre-Season Friendly

Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

However, Havertz struggled to make any sort of impact on the game, lasting 70 minutes before being substituted.

Manchester United did well to thwart plenty of Arsenal’s players including Havertz.

He managed just 14 passes while on the pitch and failed to complete a dribble.

His defensive output was poor to being with although it did improve after the break.

Havertz anonymous for Arsenal against Man UnitedSpeaking about the 24-year-old, Thornley said: “I have to say, as much as we haven’t mentioned [Alejandro] Garnacho, we haven’t mentioned Kai Havertz either.

“In fact, I forgot he was even on the pitch for Arsenal, he’s been anonymous in these opening 18, 19 minutes.”

There were question marks before Arsenal signed Havertz about what position Mikel Arteta would play him in.

He never thrived as a centre-forward at Chelsea and always looked more suited to playing in a deeper role.

However, if Arsenal can’t get Havertz on the ball like yesterday against Man United, then he will quickly become a passenger.

Arsenal v Manchester United - Pre-Season Friendly

Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images

He has the capacity to trigger a press and contribute off the ball although he can be clumsy when tackling.

It’s still so early in his Arsenal career that it feels harsh to judge his performance too much.

Arteta has suggested Havertz allows him to play several different tactics next season.

He will need to play better than he did last night to justify a starting role wherever Arteta wants to play him.