3 Ways Timo Werner Has Been Useful To Chelsea Despite Goalscoring Woes
Timo Werner has been useful to Chelsea despite finding it difficult to put the ball at the back of the net every time the opportunity knocks. The German may not be scoring a lot of goals but Werner’s value to the team cannot be underestimated.
As per stats, no Premier League player has missed more big chances (23) across all competitions than Timo Werner this season. His recent miss against Real Madrid getting fans exasperated as they discuss the future of the 24-year-old who scored more than 30 goals just last season for RB Leipzig.
But despite his bad finishing still, Timo Werner has been useful to Chelsea as highlighted by these three ways.
The 3 Ways Timo Werner Has Been Useful To Chelsea Despite Bad Finishing
Assist and Goal Build-Up
Werner is the Chelsea player with the most assists this season in the Premier League and Champions League. The German striker has 6 assists in the league and 3 more in the Champions League. He has been directly involved in 20 goals this season more than any other Chelsea player.
He can also link up well with other forwards as he can drop deep to pick up the ball going forward while finding space with his passes from out wide too.
So far this season, Timo Werner averages 2.4 progressive passes per game as well as 5.49 progressive carries – in the latter category, Werner ranks among the top 11 percentile amongst all forwards in Europe.
Below is a look at his most important passing stats (the numbers on the right-hand side indicate his percentile as compared to all forwards in Europe):
High and Constant Workrate
When compared to Chelsea’s other two forwards in Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud, it’s apparent that Timo Werner covers much more ground.
According to Fbref, Werner has ‘applied pressure’ on the opponents 327 times in the Premier League this season – a pressure is defined as: “Number of times applying pressure to opposing player who is receiving, carrying or releasing the ball.”
Out of which 101 have been successful, meaning that he has regained possession for his side within 5 seconds of applying the pressure 101 times. Also, 137 of these attempted pressures have been in the final 3rd of the field, which again points to his constant movement in the dangerous areas.
Again, Werner averages 0.81 tackles per game too – a decent amount for a striker.
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Timo Werner’s Versatility
As per WhoScored, the German has played as a center-forward 15 times this season. He equally played on the left side of the attack 14 times and 6 times as the central attacking midfielder.
Meanwhile, no other forward at Chelsea can do this, and very few in the Premier League are capable of playing across different positions in this manner.
Timo Werner’s presence gives the manager flexibility to move him around the final third as he is comfortable in at least 3 positions and can do a decent job in all of these when needed!
We are hopeful the striker gets back to scoring form and once this is done, the league better watch out as he has the potential to be one of the most complete forwards in the game.
