Three-time Premier League winner Robert Huth has blasted Kai Havertz and says he wants to ‘shake’ the German midfielder due to what he perceives as poor body language.
Much was expected of the Chelsea summer signing after he completed a £72m transfer move to Stamford Bridge from Bayer Leverkusen over the summer.
The 21-year-old has been poor so far, however, scoring just once in 16 Premier League games. Havertz’s struggles have coincided with a shocking run from Chelsea, who have lost five of their last eight games to slip down the Premier League table.
Huth, who won two titles during his spell at the club, has criticised Havertz and claims he doesn’t look ‘bothered’ at times.
‘It’s all well and good saying he needs to be the main guy but he’s at a big club and he needs to make that happen himself. Now is the time to shine,’ Huth told Stadium Astro.
‘I just don’t like his body language at all, he looks a bit lightweight. It’s his first year, but he looks like he’s not bothered at times.
‘He loses the ball, gives it away and doesn’t work back. It is a difficult time to come in with no fans, but you just want to shake him.
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‘We used to have [Riyad] Mahrez in our changing room [at Leicester] who got a lot better, but the team took care of him by saying “you can’t just do one side of it or 10 minutes of the game”.
‘Maybe Chelsea lack that internal leader or leaders where that conversation happens. It’s not always a nice conversation to have when you’re not performing well, but it needs to happen.
‘He needs someone to tell him what it takes to play in the Premier League. Maybe the whole changing room is a little bit too nice.’
‘Werner started well,’ Huth added. ‘We can talk about whether he should play down the middle or on the wing, but the fact is that he just can’t score at the moment.
‘He does get chances. He does get in positions, we have seen it before with strikers, he is in one of those phases where he needs a goal and his confidence builds.’
