Kai Havertz is 'shackled' as Arsenal's No 9 as Mikel Arteta 'DESTROYS him psychologically' by playing him there, Chris Sutton says on It's All Kicking Off

Kai Havertz is 'shackled' at number nine and struggles with the pressure but plays with freedom at number eight and is clearly talented, Chris Sutton has claimed. 

The German started up top in Arsenal's 2-0 defeat to Liverpool in the FA Cup and failed to stick away chance after chance - five of his 19 first-half touches were shots - though he was up against one of the best goalkeepers in the world. 

Chris Sutton feels that Mikel Arteta's decision to play him there is negatively affecting the 24-year-old as well as the team.

He also told It's All Kicking Off that Eddie Nketiah has 'no future' at the club if Arteta is choosing a natural midfielder over him up top. 

'They don't have a recognisable number nine,' he told Mail Sport's football podcast. 'If I'm Eddie Nketiah, I'm wondering how am I benched and I probably don't have a future Arsenal if I'm starting as a central striker.

'But I don't think that Mikel Arteta picking Kai Havertz as a central striker or a false nine is doing any good for the Arsenal team, and I don't think he's doing any good for Kai Havertz.

'I think psychologically, when he knows he is playing as a central striker, he looks like he is shackled. He looks like the weight of the shirt is too great for him. He looks like he dithers and delays, just as he did on a couple of occasions in the first half. 

'He doesn't think clearly. I look back at the goals he scored this season and he scored the charity penalty away at Bournemouth, he scored the late winner at Brentford where he came off the bench to score a winner, so no real sort of pressure in that situation. 

'And then the other goals, he scored goals while he's playing in a team where just Gabriel Jesus has started as a centre forward, where he doesn't have that pressure. I think it affects him. When he knows he's number nine, and I've been there myself and we've talked about a spell in my career where I struggled, Chelsea. 

'But I think going to the game, getting changed, and thinking about playing in that position, I think it really affects him. 

'We saw at the start of his career when he played at Leverkusen. He always was so effective as a number 10. That's his position at Chelsea. He was thrown in at centre forward and it was unfortunate for him, having said that, he scored the winning in the Champions League final. 

'Kai Havertz is a good footballer, but I think Mikel Arteta playing him as a number nine, it just absolutely kills him, destroys him psychologically. He has to play him as an eight. And we've seen this season that when he does play as an eight, he seems play freer, he seems to enjoy it more. So I think that was a huge mistake from Mikel Arteta and something which he really needs to think about.

'What message does that send to Eddie Nketiah? If he's desperate and plays Havertz as a nine, what is Eddie Nketiah thinking? 

'If I'm Eddie Nketiah, I'm thinking I cannot stay at Arsenal any longer. If it's desperate and you play who's playing with shackles on, come on, he's got no future at Arsenal.'

Nketiah has scored six goals in 26 appearances this season and has been reduced to the role of a bit-part player. 

Ian Ladyman said: 'Nketiah came on in the 81st minute, which I think sums it up pretty well. I think that in itself tells Eddie Nketiah what his manager thinks of him. 

'Nketiah scored a hat-trick early on this season and you and I spoke on this podcast the day after and we both agreed that we both thought that he nevertheless wasn't quite the level needed by Arsenal.

'And subsequently I think that has been borne out by Mikel Arteta's selection policy. He never plays him, he never picks him and even when he desperately needs a goal like he did yesterday, he doesn't chuck him on until nine minutes from time.' 

He added: 'It's really fascinating to hear you say - and nobody is better qualified than you to say that - that the pressure of wearing the number nine is different, is greater than the pressure of wearing a number 10 or a number eight. I do think that's fascinating that you think that you tell me that and you suggest that looking at how much you think he can't cope.'

Sutton said: 'Yeah, yeah, you know, I do. And I actually got up early this morning because I was thinking about it all last night.

'And just his career, where he started off at Leverkusen, what a wonderful... I used to really enjoy, used to watch him in the Europa League, little snippets, what a talented player, his awareness, his vision. He's not an out-and-out number nine. But I thought the goals thing was really interesting, the goals he scored this season for Arsenal. He hasn't been prolific. And then when I've seen him play this season, at times he seems freed up when he's playing as a number eight. 

'But as soon as Mikel Arteta plays him up top, he's a different player. It's like his brother's playing. It's somebody else. And I do think it's that weight of pressure. It's the worry about getting an opportunity and missing an opportunity. 

'And that's where he looks at this moment to me, which is why I brought Eddie Nketiah into it.

'Mikel Arteta, and he'll say he does rate him, but he can't rate him that highly if he doesn't play him against a guy who doesn't even look like he wants to play as a centre forward.

'Anybody can miss a chance, but there were a couple of occasions, I think both were in the first half, where I think Nketiah scores [if the chance falls to him] - and you wouldn't say that they were unbelievable chances - but what Havertz did on a couple of occasions is take that extra touch.

'That was a ditherer. That was somebody who wasn't quite sure. That wasn't an instinctive finisher. And I think that was the weight of the jersey on him in that moment.'