Timo Werner may not have been prolific in his first spell in the Premier League but he was problematic for coaches to manage against. His record was unspectacular, in fact wildly underwhelming and disappointing for a player that had arrived at Chelsea as one of the hottest properties on the market.
He came in as the favourite to win the Premier League golden boot but only managed six in a debut season that saw him go 14 games without a goal between November and February as well as ending the season with one in his last 12 matches. Although it was Werner that made the run creating space for Kai Havertz’s Champions League final-winning goal, it was a poor two years that he had.
However, the German international remained central to plans under Frank Lampard and Thomas Tuchel throughout his time and did prove to be an effective assister. That these often came in an entirely profligate Chelsea side does reflect the nature of Werner’s work at the time.
Now. it is Tottenham that will look to harness this raw speed as they close in on a totally unexpected six-month loan move the player. Werner is expected to complete his temporary move over the weekend with Ange Postecoglou looking to find cover for his threadbare squad now missing Son Heung-min until next month.
Although the pair are completely different players, it was Werner’s relentless running that made him such a threat for opposition coaches and Pep Guardiola himself was extremely wary of the chances he often helped create. “Why do Chelsea play so well?” he quizzed BT Sport ahead of the Champions League final in 2021.
“Because they have three central defenders closer [to each other and two holding midfielders who correlate to each other. [In the structure] the five players [back three and two midfiders] and two [inside forwards] are so close.
“The distances [between them] are so close, but at the same time, they are so wide with the wing-backs and so [direct] with Werner making runs in behind. That’s why you cannot close [them down], because they push you [up front] and [wide], and have good, good players in the middle.
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“That’s why it’s difficult to face them with the way they want to play with the ball.” Werner would go on to miss two key chances for the Blues before Havertz scored, something entirely symptomatic of his time at the club.
The danger posed by Werner’s pace and runs led Guardiola to try and sign the player before he moved to Chelsea. The Spaniard wasn’t the only one, either, with Liverpool the hot favourites to bring him over from Bundesliga before a late U-turn. It wasn’t Werner’s attributes that stopped Jurgen Klopp’s side either.
“All clubs are losing money,” Klopp told Sky Germany at the time as Chelsea spent heavily during the first Covid-19 effected transfer window, unlike many of their rivals. “How do I discuss with the players about things like salary waivers and on the other hand buy a player for £50-60million — we’d have to explain.
“If you want to take it seriously and run a normal business you depend on income. And we have no idea how much the club will earn — especially because we don’t know when we can start playing in front of spectators again.”
Klopp had been a huge fan of Werner and pushed heavily to make him one of the options in a deadly front three at Anfield. It was Tuchel who ended up managing the forward for most of his time at Chelsea, though, and the current Bayern Munich man was often calling for Werner to calm down in front of goal.
“I see his face is a bit closed and the weight is on his shoulders,” Tuchel said of Werner shortly after his arrival. “He cares a lot and that shows he has a fantastic character. Sometimes as a striker it does not help if you care a lot. Sometimes as a striker it’s better to not care at all.
“But he’s not that guy. He cares and he’s not happy with himself and with the way things went lately. It’s important to rebuild his trust in himself and to find a smile on his face and stop doubting too much. It’s my job to to help him with this and then to find also a position where we can use his strengths.”
He continued: “From his profile, as a given, I would say he prefers to have space. He’s super-fast and he likes to play in the last line, very, very, very high up, but a little bit more to the left, half open to the goal and to receive the balls into the open space. This is a given.
“Can we develop movements, patterns, behaviour to use his quality in narrow spaces? That’s my job and I’m absolutely convinced we can because the guy is open, the guy is friendly and the guy is eager to learn.”
It’s now down to Postecoglou to teach Werner the way as he looks to unlock the scoring potential that had once made him a truly feared striker. Having started to get the best out of Richarlison and re-energising Son at Tottenham there is hope that Werner can be the next on the list.
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Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
