Polarising Werner shows promise on Spurs debut
WHAT you deduce from Timo Werner’s return to the Premier League will depend largely on where your agenda is positioned.
If you think Tottenham’s decision to provide the former Chelsea forward with a second crack at England’s top flight is a good idea, then you would have watched his role in assisting Rodrigo Bentancur for Spurs’ second equaliser with a certain smugness.
But the doubters were wearing the ‘I told you so’ smirk as Werner squandered three first-half chances with the same lack of poise that embodied his Chelsea spell. The truth is somewhere in the middle. Explosive? No. Something to work with? Absolutely. Tottenham’s selection problems owing to international call-ups, injury and illness saw Werner handed an immediate start just days after his arrival on loan from RB Leipzig.
His pass into Bentancur’s path provided optimism. So, too, his willingness to track back with the sort of ferocity that has become a staple under Ange Postecoglou. He has an innate ability to find himself in positions of real threat — but in many ways, that’s where the frustration lies. Because some of the defects that saw him leave Chelsea in the summer of 2022 as a £45million mistake appear to remain embedded 18 months on.
There was certainly evidence of those glitches here.
His finishing was wayward — regulars at Stamford Bridge during Werner’s two-year spell in west London know that frustration all too well. The lack of composure and finesse he displayed when presented with an excellent opportunity from Oliver Skipp’s beautifully executed pass in the 44th minute was unconvincing.
While there was little sign of improvement in front of goal, making decisive judgments off the back of 80 minutes is unwise. He needs to settle and should be afforded the time to do so before we appraise Werner 2.0.
Yet it is difficult to see a regular place for Werner in the strongest starting XI once Dejan Kulusevski, who missed the game through illness, and Son Heung-min, who is at the Asian Cup, are available.
‘He’s had two sessions with us and hasn’t started a game for ages but I saw today that he is going to be really exciting for us once he gets to know our game, gets up to speed with our training — he was always a threat,’ said Postecoglou.
There were shoots of encouragement. Werner played his part in a dominant Tottenham display, one that Postecoglou gushed over after the final whistle. ‘Performances like that give you growth, you come out of it knowing you’re probably not going to have it as hard as we had it today in terms of a build-up to the game and still live up to those levels,’ he added.
He’s right. Once everyone is available, this Tottenham team can go toe-to-toe with the Premier League’s best. What role Werner can play is up to him, though the sound of the travelling fans crying: ‘Timo, Timo, Timo’ will offer the 27-year-old reason to believe his second stint in England will prove more memorable than his first.