An in-depth look at Timo Werner’s career so far, his strengths & weaknesses, and recommendations for using him in fantasy football.
It goes without saying that Chelsea have purchased themselves an accomplished, clinical forward, who at 24 years of age, could well enter his peak years, fuelling success at Stamford Bridge.
His 34 goals and 13 assists in all competitions during the 19/20 season, is exactly the kind of fire power Chelsea have been looking for, with an ageing Giroud, and in-experienced Abraham’s lack of clinical finishing, costing the team at times in 19/20, Lampard will be rubbing his hands together at the thought of Werner leading the line.
See below all 34 goals of 19/20…
Werner broke the record for the youngest player to make 100 Bundesliga appearances at 20 years and 169 days old in 2016. Before turning 20, he already had three full seasons of professional football at Stuttgart under his belt. He has scored 15 or more non penalty goals in 3 of his last 4 league seasons, under three different managers, and has clocked up 28 assists in the last four seasons. Prior to his departure, he became the highest all-time scoring player at RB Leipzig.
There’s no doubting that Timo Werner is a mouthwatering prospect in fantasy football. Below, we’ll look at a variety of considerations for managers, looking to bring Werner into their 20/21 teams.
Fitting into Chelsea’s system
At present, Chelsea play with 3 forwards, including a target man in Oliver Giroud in the middle of the 3. Whereas, Werner has been playing predominantly in a 2-man leading attacking system for Leipzig (4-4-2, 3-5-2, 4-3-1-2).
When involved in a 3-4-3 system, he has been positioned as a LW (where we have become prone to seeing Christian Pulisic thrive). For Leipzig, he failed to score when playing as the last man, and all three of his hat-tricks in 19/20 came in a 4-4-2 system.
This indicates that he performs better when playing alongside another striker. His strengths include his ability to come deep and bring others into play, these qualities could be likened to Firmino’s role within the Liverpool team. He is extremely quick, reaching highs of almost 35km/h, and uses this to his advantage. He likes to pick up the ball in deep areas and run at the opposition, he is able to score with both feet, and achieved 63 shots on target from 99, converting 28 (20.70 xG) in 19/20.
However, a weakness in his game is his aerial threat, he does not offer height or an aerial presence. He failed to register a single headed goal this season, and has never averaged more than one successful aerial duel per 90 minutes. This suggests Werner will bring a very different style of attacking play to the likes of Oliver Giroud and Tammy Abraham.
If Lampard is to place Werner up top alone, he may not draw the best out of the German. Thus, a change in attacking system for Chelsea may be on the horizon, and with the arrival of Hakim Ziyech bulking the options in RW and AM, Lampard has found himself with a rather pleasant headache when it comes to his attacking options. He played 6 different formations throughout the 19/20 season, which suggests he is flexible in his approach, however none of these changes in formation led to two strikers leading the line.
We’ve started him a bit deeper, we don’t want him right on the last line, because he needs a bit of a head start, a bit of tempo, in order to really show his pace on the pitch. When he’s on the last line, he often finds himself static when he needs to get going, but with a bit of room in front of him, he can hit top speed. And from this deeper position, he’s much more involved in our build-up play and combinations
Julien Naglesmann discussing Werner’s best position.
It would be worth managers keeping an eye on Chelsea’s pre-season matches, to see how Lampard is planning to utilise Werner. To get the best out of him, given his strengths and weaknesses, you’d imagine he’ll need a strike partnership, and without this, we may need to throw caution to the wind before bringing him in to our teams.
Consecutive Blanking
Werner had two periods within the 19/20 Bundesliga season where he didn’t record a goal or assist for 4 consecutive games.
This rough patch of form came between games 4-7 and 19-22. He then scored once in 23, before blanking again between 24-26.
19 of his goals came in the space of 8 games, suggesting he is a player who is both capable of several double-digit returns, and several consecutive blanks. That said though, we can’t necessarily predict when his dry spells will come, as they came against a mixture of opposition in the German league. His overall stats also massively out-weigh the mild inconsistency, and below we see just why he would be an excellent asset if he can convert his performances in Bundesliga to the PL.
Werner in FPL (19/20 stats)
Timo Werner’s Bundesliga performance translated into FPL points is 203 (without BPS).
How does this compare to other FPL forwards?
This graphic demonstrates the gargantuan level of Werner’s performance in 19/20, although it is definitely worth noting that whilst his performance is so high, it cannot be factually compared with the PL, due to the different nature’s of the league’s, and the arguable higher difficulty level across the PL.
Bundesliga -> PL… first season performances
As discussed above, Werner’s stats for Bundesliga are phenomenal, and make great reading. However, the Premier League is a completely different proposition and should be a consideration when deciding when to bring Werner into your team. Below we’ll assess a couple of strikers who have previously transferred from Bundesliga to the Premier League, and look at how their first season faired in comparison to their Bundesliga performances.
Edin Dzeko
Edin Dzeko scored 66 goals in 4 seasons (111 matches) in the Bundesliga, in comparison to 50 in 5 in the Premier League (130 matches).
Dzeko transferred to Manchester City during the January transfer window in 2011, and his stats in the 2010/11 season were as follows:
Despite his poor first half-season at Man City, Dzeko went on to record 14+ goals in his next three seasons at the club, proving himself to be an able goalscorer. This begs the question, does it take time for a player to adjust to the way of playing in the PL?
Below, we look at Lukas Podolski as a means of comparison.
Lukas Podolski
Podolski managed 7 fewer goals in 4 more games in his first season in the PL.
His comparative stats for his final season for Koln and first season for Arsenal are as follows:
Podolski’s second season with the Gunners again saw him failing to meet expectations, netting 8 times in 20 appearances, before a goal-less opening 14/15 campaign led to his loan out to Serie A. Podolski is perhaps an example of a player who couldn’t do it on the big stage.
His spell at Bayern Munich again saw him failing to live up to expectations, with him only achieving 15 goals in 71 appearances. Thus, when we look at Podolski to draw comparisons to Werner, we should also consider that Werner has already proved his talent consistently, and has been able to perform in big moments.
Werner has registered goals against the likes of World Champions France, and The Netherlands, in international matches for Germany, and helped RB Leipzig to their first ever win over Bayern Munich, scoring the winning goal, back in 2018. He also scored the winning goal in Leipzig’s away match Vs Spurs in the UCL last 16 first leg back in February.
So…should I get him in my 20/21 team?
Werner certainly looks an extremely promising talent and a fantastic asset to bolster Chelsea’s forward line.
His consistent high-scoring record from different areas of the pitch, demonstrate his ability to return, and his assist stats are also pleasing to the eye.
However, as with any new player in the Premier League, it may take him time to settle, and both he and Chelsea may need to alter their way of playing to fit each others strengths.
Verdict: Werner could well prove one of the highest scoring forwards in the 20/21 season, but may take time to hit top form. With his predicted high-price, and uncertainty over how he will fit into the Chelsea attack, this may be a player to monitor in the opening gameweeks and bring in on the first wildcard.
FPL_LiverGirl 