{"id":295751,"date":"2023-11-20T18:24:54","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T18:24:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=295751"},"modified":"2023-11-20T18:24:54","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T18:24:54","slug":"havertz-should-not-play-in-defence-for-germany-again-claims-matthaus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/havertz-should-not-play-in-defence-for-germany-again-claims-matthaus\/","title":{"rendered":"Havertz should NOT play in defence for Germany again, claims Matthaus"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Kai Havertz should NOT play in defence for Germany again, claims Lothar Matthaus&#8230; despite Julian Nagelsmann hinting the Arsenal star could line up at left back at Euro 2024<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Havertz played at left back for Germany in their recent friendly defeat to Turkey<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>He scored in the game but also gave away a penalty in the 3-2 loss on Saturday<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Trent and Bellingham can play together but can&#8217;t get in each other\u2019s way &#8211; IAKO<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Former Germany star Lothar Matthaus has slammed Julian Nagelsmann\u2019s decision to play Kai Havertz at left back against Turkey.<\/p>\n<p>The new Germany boss raised eyebrows when his German side lined up with Arsenal forward Havertz in defence for their final match of the current international break.<\/p>\n<p>It looked like the move could have been a stroke of genius when Havertz scored just five minutes into the game, but he struggled at times in an unfamiliar position throughout the rest of the tie with Germany conceding three times in their 3-2 defeat and the 24-year-old giving away the penalty that led to the final goal.<\/p>\n<p>Nagelsmann was pleased with Havertz\u2019s efforts, insisting that the player \u2018wanted\u2019 to play the role that and he was \u2018probably our best player\u2019 despite playing left back for the first time in his career.<\/p>\n<p>But Matthaus, who played 150 times for Germany between 1980 and 2000, criticised the call, insisting in his latest Sky Sports column it should be the last time the experiment happens.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/20\/17\/78029369-0-image-a-1_1700500565807.jpg\" height=\"453\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Kai Havertz (right) should not line up in defence again for his country, former Germany star\u00a0Lothar Matthaus has claimed<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/20\/17\/78029391-0-image-a-2_1700500569359.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Matthaus (pictured) said that a player of Havertz&#8217;s quality should be utilised in forward positions for his side<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/20\/17\/78029377-0-image-a-3_1700500572181.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann said praised the 24-year-old for his showing in his side&#8217;s friendly defeat to Turkey<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Havertz brings a lot of quality, but he was not trained in this position, but in the offensive and mainly centrally,\u2019 he wrote. \u2018I accept that the national coach wanted to try something out, but I hope it doesn&#8217;t happen again &#8211; even though Havertz was one of the better players against Turkey.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018If I want to have his qualities in the team, I have to find a place where he can show the extra class that he partly embodied during the last World Cup.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It can&#8217;t be a permanent solution if I suddenly let one of the best German offensive players of recent years play full-back. This is also a slap in the face to those who last played there, even if there were problems on the left side of the defense recently.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/20\/17\/78029397-0-image-a-4_1700500611819.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Nagelsmann said that Havertz was one of his side&#8217;s best playing despite giving away a penalty<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/20\/17\/78029399-0-image-a-5_1700500619394.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>He hinted that the forward could be used in defence at Euro 2024 to increase his chances of being involved<\/p>\n<p>Nagelsmann, who was only appointed Germany manager earlier this year, saw things differently, however.<\/p>\n<p>With his host nation already qualified for Euro 2024 this summer, expectations are high for them to improve on their performance at the Qatar World Cup, which saw them knocked out in the group stage with just one win to their names.<\/p>\n<p>And with plenty of attacking talent on show, Nagelsmann hinted that Havertz playing in defence could be a way to get him into the team for the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I don\u2019t see this as a risk for him, but as a very, very big opportunity to play a key role at the Euros,\u2019 he said. \u2018For a first time in an unfamiliar position, he did extremely well and probably was our best player.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/20\/17\/78029403-0-image-a-6_1700500622781.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Havertz has struggled for Arsenal since joining the club in the summer, scoring just once so far<\/p>\n<p>Havertz has had a difficult time of things since moving to the Premier League when he joined Chelsea for \u00a371milion from Bayer Leverkusen in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Despite scoring the winning goal in the 2021 Champions League final, he failed to live up to expectations in his three years at the club before moving to Arsenal for \u00a365million this summer.<\/p>\n<p>It was clear Gunners boss Mikel Arteta had ideas to play him in a deeper role than he had been used at Chelsea, but he struggled to adapt and has found himself out of the side more often than he would have liked.<\/p>\n<p>Havertz has scored one goal in 19 games for Arsenal so far this season.<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off\u00a0is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, launching with a preview show today and every week this season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12771813\/Kai-Havertz-play-defence-Germany.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Kai Havertz should NOT play in defence for Germany again, claims Lothar Matthaus&#8230; despite Julian Nagelsmann hinting the Arsenal star could line up at left <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/havertz-should-not-play-in-defence-for-germany-again-claims-matthaus\/\" title=\"Havertz should NOT play in defence for Germany again, claims Matthaus\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295750,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Havertz should NOT play in defence for Germany again, claims Matthaus - Sportstoft<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/havertz-should-not-play-in-defence-for-germany-again-claims-matthaus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Havertz should NOT play in defence for Germany again, claims Matthaus - Sportstoft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kai Havertz should NOT play in defence for Germany again, claims Lothar Matthaus&#8230; 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