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Paul Merson left shocked as he says something ‘unacceptable’ has happened at Arsenal this week
It’s been another rollercoaster of a week for Arsenal.
Indeed, Arsenal have had a number of ups and downs this week.
Arsenal will have been buoyed when watching their title rivals, Liverpool, drop points against Everton this week, while Ben White is on his way back from injury too in another boost.
However, Arsenal also received a massive blow this week as Kai Havertz was ruled out for the season with a hamstring tear.
Havertz was injured during a pressing drill during Arsenal’s training camp in Dubai, and speaking to , Paul Merson has shared his reaction to Havertz picking up this injury.
Paul Merson reacts to Kai Havertz injury
Merson shared his verdict on Havertz’s injury.
The pundit says that the German can miss key chances for Arsenal, but he will be a massive miss.
Merson also derided the fact that Havertz has torn a hamstring in what shouldn’t have been an overly-intense training session, claiming that a hamstring tear simply wouldn’t have happened if the player had stretched and warmed up properly.
“He does miss chances but he gets in good positions and he is going to be a massive miss for the Gunners,” Merson said.
“To tear a hamstring in training is near on unacceptable. if you stretch properly that doesn’t happen. I was flabbergasted by the news of tearing a hamstring on a warm weather training camp.”
Kai Havertz injury history
This injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for Havertz and Arsenal.
Indeed, Arsenal need Havertz now more than ever, especially as Gabriel Martinelli is injured, Gabriel Jesus is out for the season and Bukayo Saka is also sidelined at the moment.
Frustratingly, this injury has come from out of the blue.
Indeed, Havertz hasn’t had many major injuries in his career so far, and the injuries that he has had haven’t related to his hamstrings.
| Kai Havertz injury history | Season | Games missed |
|---|---|---|
| Illness | 2024/25 | 2 |
| Knee prblems | 2024/25 | 3 |
| Flu | 2023/24 | 1 |
| Corona virus | 2021/22 | 4 |
| Cold | 2020/21 | 1 |
| Knock | 2020/21 | 5 |
| Coronavirus | 2019/20 | 6 |
| Muscle problems | 2019/20 | 2 |
| Torn muscle fibre | 2018/19 | 4 |
| Knee injury | 2017/18 | 1 |
Major hamstring injuries are often suffered by players who’ve had long-standing issues with that particular area of their body, but, that hasn’t been the case for Havertz in his career so far.
As Merson says, this is an injury that shouldn’t have happened, and there is an argument to make that Mikel Arteta should be giving his players at lighter schedule.
Arne Slot is great at managing injuries with Liverpool, and maybe Arteta needs to take a leaf out of the Dutchman’s book.