Player Watch Player Watch: Timo Werner

[Dr Know]

It's not appropriate to compare him with BJ in my opinion.

Brennan is a young player very inexperienced at this level, just starting to learn his job, and has already made some very valuable contributions despite have a huge amount to learn. In his case we pain for the huge potential he has.

In Timo's caseI think we know he's capable of being a very valuable member of the squad. His positive, intelligent attitude today simply confirms that getting him on the terms we did was a very good move.

I agree with you regarding BJ but I don’t think I would call it “comparing him”
Timo played better than BJ today and that’s an observation/opinion not a comparison. BJ was a key player for NF and showed great skill hence why we spent big money on him. Like Timo, it’s going to take time adapt to different tactics/formation and training style. I honestly feel BJ can play much better than he‘s shown so far.

 

[guy]

Good debut for someone who's not played much over the last few months.

I want to see more confidence and ruthlessness from both Werner and BJ though, really attacking their fullbacks and using their lightning pace. Both didn't do it enough today

 

[DannyNZ]

I don't think we saw anything we didn't know today. A little concerned with how many of our players need a few opportunities to score. He's very similar to Johnson in end product.

When everyones fit he's an impact sub for me with son right, Richy in the middle and Kulu right but I like the options we have.

He seems a likeable guy and I hope he does well for us.

One game one assist, not a bad start to life at Spurs

 

[ButchCassidy]

One game one assist, not a bad start to life at Spurs

I think there’s a chance Werner ends up providing a lot more assists than goals, he might really benefit from a system where instead of smashing every half-chance towards goal, he can stretch play, get his head up, and just pick out a nice pass to Udogie/Bentancur/Sarr/Porro/Deki as they crash into the box.

 

[Farmdog]

What I saw from Werner was a distinct line between the good and bad.
the good. He made some great runs from positions he made himself, always came to show for the ball and made some good link plays to help us get the ball into space from the left. He struggled with patterns of play and movements and clearly he’s struggling from a lack of belief when shooting.
He’d a great first start for the club overall and I think his negatives are from his lack of playing time and familiarity of the players around him.

it had a similar feel to how the whole team played in our first game. Technically 100% but the lack of familiarity showed a tendency to not be able to click and not 100% confident in their conviction.

Ange will get the best out of him, I’ve no doubt.

 

[Japhet]

Plenty of effort and plays with his head up. Just lacking a bit of sharpness and self belief but I'm sure he'll improve. Made a decent contribution overall and you can't ask much more than that.

 

[luRRka]

A bit about how Ange wants him to play according to Timo. I've pasted pertinent parts below

Werner not focused on goal tally after Tottenham move

Timo Werner has insisted he is no longer as focused on scoring a high number of goals and is instead concentrating on other areas of his game. Werner joined Tottenham Hotspur from RB Leipzig this month on an initial loan until the end of the season and made his debut in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at...

theathletic.com

https://archive.ph/AbO05 - archive link

“Sometimes it’s about you, how you are getting things together, how you look at your stats and think, ‘I wanted to score more goals’.

“I think now I’m a bit older, I see how important assists and deep runs are for the team.

“I also want to score goals but it’s not the main part of my game anymore. I can bring so much more especially in this kind of tactic for the group.”


“I think a lot of people wanted to see me scoring more goals but at Spurs, with the tactics we have and the way the manager wants me to play, I can bring a lot to the group, also with my assists and maybe [by] not being the main man who scores the goals.

“To make deep runs to create space for the others and like today to create an assist".

 

[mil1lion]

Sounded really happy in the interview for german SKY a minute ago.

Said good stuff about Anges plans, loves the stadium and training ground and is really up for the next games.

Ahead of Johnson for me right now

Him left, Son middle, Deki right and Maddison behind them sounds tasty.

I think he has some proving to do before we put him in the 1st team. Richarlison scored again and was good so he's a starter with Son and Kulusevski at this moment in time. He has shown enough that he could be a threat though and is genuine competition unlike Gil. It's just a question of how good is Son left compared to central and how much is there between Werner and Richarlison. It will be interesting to see how they both do with that competition.

I'm hoping we start to get to a point where the front 3 switch around more in games. Then you bei g 1 or 2 on and it causes more problems. I love the versatility of our forward players. Aside from the youngsters Veliz and Scarlett they all look like they can play more than 1 position each.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Not a cat in hell’s chance we get better value for 15m anywhere else.

He’s got a great attitude, great pace, Is credible LW and as a CF and works his ass off. You’d buy that alone for that fee, and that’s before you consider that he’ll add goals and assists. He might miss some, so be it. But for that money that’s a total no brainer. Pleased to have him

Fantastic post

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

A bit about how Ange wants him to play according to Timo. I've pasted pertinent parts below

Werner not focused on goal tally after Tottenham move

Timo Werner has insisted he is no longer as focused on scoring a high number of goals and is instead concentrating on other areas of his game. Werner joined Tottenham Hotspur from RB Leipzig this month on an initial loan until the end of the season and made his debut in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at...

theathletic.com

https://archive.ph/AbO05 - archive link

“Sometimes it’s about you, how you are getting things together, how you look at your stats and think, ‘I wanted to score more goals’.

“I think now I’m a bit older, I see how important assists and deep runs are for the team.

“I also want to score goals but it’s not the main part of my game anymore. I can bring so much more especially in this kind of tactic for the group.”


“I think a lot of people wanted to see me scoring more goals but at Spurs, with the tactics we have and the way the manager wants me to play, I can bring a lot to the group, also with my assists and maybe [by] not being the main man who scores the goals.

“To make deep runs to create space for the others and like today to create an assist".

For this also see Johnson… it’s not all about just goals in those wide areas.

 

[mil1lion]

Did anyone else find that offside annoying 2nd half? The flag went up but it looked close on the replay. Its super annoying when you get ones which are clear offside and the flag stays down but a close one and it goes up. I think his offsides are lot down to his pace and there's going to be some very tight ones if the linesman actually leaves it and lets var check after.

 

[Trix]

A bit about how Ange wants him to play according to Timo. I've pasted pertinent parts below

Werner not focused on goal tally after Tottenham move

Timo Werner has insisted he is no longer as focused on scoring a high number of goals and is instead concentrating on other areas of his game. Werner joined Tottenham Hotspur from RB Leipzig this month on an initial loan until the end of the season and made his debut in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at...

theathletic.com

https://archive.ph/AbO05 - archive link

“Sometimes it’s about you, how you are getting things together, how you look at your stats and think, ‘I wanted to score more goals’.

“I think now I’m a bit older, I see how important assists and deep runs are for the team.

“I also want to score goals but it’s not the main part of my game anymore. I can bring so much more especially in this kind of tactic for the group.”


“I think a lot of people wanted to see me scoring more goals but at Spurs, with the tactics we have and the way the manager wants me to play, I can bring a lot to the group, also with my assists and maybe [by] not being the main man who scores the goals.

“To make deep runs to create space for the others and like today to create an assist".

I said I thought it was this before he signed last week. He is not the best finisher around but from the eye test some of his attributes are simply world class, i.e. his pace work rate and movement. There was no way on earth Ange looked at him and brought him in for his strike rate, so it's about what else he can bring to the team. It's not easy to comprehend in a stats driven world, but it's clear attributes, mentality, and individual skillsets are far more important to Ange than numbers. It doesn't matter if he scores 1 or 10 goals to Ange. What matters is that the output of the team increases with him in it, and I'm pretty sure it will once he understands how Ange wants him to put his attributes to work.

 

[luRRka]

Did anyone else find that offside annoying 2nd half? The flag went up but it looked close on the replay. Its super annoying when you get ones which are clear offside and the flag stays down but a close one and it goes up. I think his offsides are lot down to his pace and there's going to be some very tight ones if the linesman actually leaves it and lets var check after.

In the same vein, I get annoyed with people only blaming the player making the run for being offside (as long as they aren't just standing in an offside position) when they play on the shoulder and expect a pass to come and it comes too late

 

[luRRka]

I said I thought it was this before he signed last week. He is not the best finisher around but from the eye test some of his attributes are simply world class, i.e. his pace work rate and movement. There was no way on earth Ange looked at him and brought him in for his strike rate, so it's about what else he can bring to the team. It's not easy to comprehend in a stats driven world, but it's clear attributes, mentality, and individual skillsets are far more important to Ange than numbers. It doesn't matter if he scores 1 or 10 goals to Ange. What matters is that the output of the team increases with him in it, and I'm pretty sure it will once he understands how Ange wants him to put his attributes to work.

It's also clever management in that it takes the pressure off him scoring. Reckon he will still bag a few without the pressure on his shoulders of needing to be the main goal threat

 

[yido_number1]

It's also clever management in that it takes the pressure off him scoring. Reckon he will still bag a few without the pressure on his shoulders of needing to be the main goal threat

That's exactly what that is and well done to Ange.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

Also - can we get this thread moved to SpursChat?

 

[SpartanSpur]

Very encouraging debut. Think he'll be a real weapon in the wide areas for us. Probably assist more than he scores but that's fine by me.

Looked surprisingly comfortable despite so few sessions and clearly has a great level of base fitness. Used the ball well. Quality movement and work rate/pressing was clear to see.

I'll be surprised if we don't take the option up on him in the summer. Think he'll be a key player for Ange.

 

[RJR1949]

I said I thought it was this before he signed last week. He is not the best finisher around but from the eye test some of his attributes are simply world class, i.e. his pace work rate and movement. There was no way on earth Ange looked at him and brought him in for his strike rate, so it's about what else he can bring to the team. It's not easy to comprehend in a stats driven world, but it's clear attributes, mentality, and individual skillsets are far more important to Ange than numbers. It doesn't matter if he scores 1 or 10 goals to Ange. What matters is that the output of the team increases with him in it, and I'm pretty sure it will once he understands how Ange wants him to put his attributes to work.

Quite right.

I’d add that there were times (in the first half especially) that he seemed not to know where Udogie was going to be. I don’t suppose he’s ever played before in a team that plays with the full backs coming inside. He’ll be much better after more training sessions and a couple of games.

 

[Lappi]

Uninspiring. Even just as a loan there's an opportunity cost to it.

I absolutely love Ange but with this and BJ I'm mildly concerned by his taste in forwards

I think I was wrong about this. Had made a snap judgemebt when grumpy after the Burnley game and seeing an off form Richy and BJ waste all our build up, was worried he'd be just more of the same, hard working but limited.

Seems quite a clever player with good awareness and runs in behind. I also adn't fully thought about how long Son might be away for and how tired he might be afterwards.

 

[ilya]

I think he looked promising tonight and maybe could've bring something into game but for some reason they didn't involve him very much? Seemed straightforward and pacy and coul beat his man unlike others.
Btw why is this in transfer section?