Germany has lost back-to-back matches with Arsenal's summer buy Kai Havertz at left-back for his country.
Arsenal’s big-money signing Kai Havertz has continued his intriguing new role for Germany after the latest outing against Austria.
Havertz was in action as Die Mannschaft suffered another defeat following Austria’s comfortable 2-0 win in an international friendly match on Tuesday.
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Havertz for Germany
The unorthodox move continues to raise dust after new manager Julian Nagelsmann started him in the previous game against Turkiye.
Kai, 24, is a summer signing from former Champions League winners, Chelsea, to city rivals Arsenal.
The German joined the Gunners in a deal that was worth 65 million pounds, putting pen to paper on a five-year contract with the North London side.
However, the attacking midfielder has had to endure a difficult start to life at the Emirate which has now affected his position in the national team.
The Arsenal star first started at left-back against Turkiye and went on to score in a 3-2 defeat.
As the second game against Austria kicked off, it became clear that Germany’s Julian Nagelsmann is pushing on with his tactical experiment as Kai retained his place at left back.
The decision seemed to catch both fans and pundits off guard as a player known for his attacking abilities was tasked with a defensive role down the flank.
Nagelsmann, the coach of the side, provided an insight into the idea behind that decision after a second consecutive defeat for his team.
According to the former Bayern Munich manager, his team is not a defensive side and players play in attacking setups at their respective clubs.
"We're not defensive monsters,” he stated per a post by iMiaSanMia. “We won’t be defensive monsters next summer either. That's not us. Our players play at clubs where they have to focus less on defense and more on attack. But if you lose the ball cheaply, you get in trouble."
Germany lose again
Despite the tactical switch, Havertz could not help Germany return to winning ways against its less illustrious neighbours, Austria.
Two goals in either half from former Bayern star Marcel Sabitzer and Christoph Baumgartner handed Ralf Rangnick’s men a deserved 2-0 win.
Arsenal’s Havertz spent 77 minutes on the pitch before he was subbed off. He was the most fouled player and also created one chance and a key pass.
Nagelsmann's Germany has now gone three matches without a draw and two consecutive defeats now.
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