Jamie Carragher laid into Kai Havertz after the Arsenal star missed a close-range opportunity to make it 2-0 against Man City on Sunday.
The German fortuitously found himself through on goal after Declan Rice pounced on a wayward pass from City keeper Stefan Ortega.
Rice slotted his team-mate through and, despite having time to pick a corner, Havertz dragged the ball wide and failed to double the Gunners’ lead.
Earlier in the game, Havertz opted to pass to Martin Odegaard when he was in a position to shoot himself.
Havertz picked up an assist, but Carragher was unimpressed. He argued that the forward is not just struggling from a lack of confidence, but that he also lacks quality.
‘That has to be the game, he [Havertz] has to score that. That’s a lack of confidence but also a lack of quality,’ he said of the missed opportunity to make it 2-0.
‘Almost every centre forward in the Premier League would look at a situation like that and fancy themselves to score.’
Thierry Henry agreed, but maintained that Havertz was right to pass to Odegaard for the first goal.
When asked whether Odegaard was a better option, he said that passing can be the smarter choice if a striker is low on confidence.
‘I think we talked about it – lack of confidence,’ Henry concurred.
‘Yeah, when you’re lacking confidence, maybe the other guy is a better option. And by the way, when you score you are right, so he [Havertz] was right [in his decision to pass].