Last season, the Gunners exceeded the expectations of many fans by securing a second-place finish in the Premier League, just behind Manchester City. Arsenal is gearing up for the new season in the United States, where they are set to face strong opponents such as Manchester United, MLS All-Stars, and FC Barcelona. During the MLS All-Star Skill Challenge with his new club, Kai Havertz gathered the spotlight.
The 24-year-old German was Mikel Arteta’s first acquisition of this summer transfer window. After weeks of negotiations, Arsenal paid $83 million to their London rivals, Chelsea. However, a video of Havertz struggling to score in the MLS cross and volley skills challenge drew some mocking from Chelsea fans.
What is the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge
The MLS started to gather attention when high-profile players like David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, and Gareth Bale joined the American clubs. However, the spotlight has grown even brighter with Lionel Messi’s decision to join David Beckham’s Inter Miami. Every year, MLS holds a traditional game where the MLS All-Stars face a different opponent, and this year it’s Arsenal.
https://youtu.be/IMaXxX5dqj4
Before the actual game, there is the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge, featuring 10 players from each team, including eight outfield players and two goalkeepers. The five challenges are the shooting challenge, touch challenge, cross & volley challenge, passing challenge, and finally the most awaited crossbar challenge. Each challenge allows a team to add points to the overall scoreboard to win the event.
Kai Havertz becomes the first player to not score a single goal at the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge
Kai Havertz faced a social media backlash after struggling to find the net in the cross & volley challenge during the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge. In this challenge, each team had two 60-second rounds, where the player needed to score a volley from a cross by his teammate, with points awarded for style and accuracy. From the Gunners’ side, Kai Havertz was the first one to attempt the challenge. However, after performing excellently in the touch challenge, the cross and volley challenge proved to be a nightmare for the German.
Kai Havertz channels his inner Timo Werner, scores zero in Cross & Volley Challenge. Might want to look away Arsenal fans. 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/1MxjaleVHX
— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) July 19, 2023
In a light-hearted event, the 24-year-old set an infamous record of being the first player in the history of the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge to not score a single goal. After his performance, one fan humorously tweeted “All these balls ended up in my backyard in Australia.” Another fan suggested, “The keeper should have allowed one past him.”
Following Kai Havertz’s disappointing performance in the cross-and-volley challenge, Chelsea fans took to social media to mock the German superstar and claimed that they had gotten the better end of the deal. As the new season approaches, all eyes will be on the 24-year-old to see if he can be the catalyst in the Gunners title challenge.
