Alan Shearer performs U-turn on Arsenal star who has proved him wrong

Alan Shearer admits he was wrong about - with the forward continuing to excel in the final third.

The German was widely criticised after a slow start to life at the Emirates. His hefty price tag was held against him as he took weeks to find the net in north London. However a positional switch allowed to unlock Havertz, who has excelled as a No 9.

Prior to the Havertz was chasing records. He was seeking to find the net for an eighth straight game at the Emirates, although his purple patch did ultimately come to an end. Already though he's found the back of the net on six occasions.

Shearer was among those who thought Arsenal needed to pursue a natural No 9 in the summer - which they failed to do. However, having seen Havertz, he believes the ex-Chelsea man can provide what they need.

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He said on : "I've been really impressed with him this season. Not only because of his goal involvements but the way he's led the line. At times Arsenal have been under pressure and they've needed someone to win a foul or bring one his teammates into the game and lead the line which is maybe not something we associated with him in the past."

He added: "He's more the modern centre forward. I'm not saying that he doesn't come deep and doesn't want to get on the ball and when he does that he's very good at that. But he still needs people running in behind and they're doing that now.

"I was one of the ones in the summer saying that Arsenal needed a centre forward to a win the or the but at the minute he's actually proving me wrong. He's filling that role and doing a splendid job."

Robin van Persie had been the only man to score in seven successive home games at the Emirates, doing so back in the 2011-12 season. Havertz has continued to highlight his appetite for goals, but fired a blank against the Ukrainian outfit on Tuesday night.

Arsenal dominated Shakhtar in the first-half and led at the break, owing to an own goal from the goalkeeper. However they couldn't add to that total in the second-half with missing a penalty.

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