No one could have predicted the speed at which some of these moves would occur in a summer transfer window that was expected to include a few big moves.
Chelsea have agreed to a deal to sign RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner after activating his buyout clause.
This scout report will examine Werner’s style of play and how he fits into Chelsea’s tactics.
Through tactical analysis, using data and footage, we will determine how he can improve Chelsea’s attacking style of play.
RB Leipzig system and Timo Werner’s role
Werner is a dynamic, eccentric centre-forward who can play as a lone striker or as part of a duo.
Usually taking up the role of a complete forward, Werner is clinical and that is seen in his goal scoring exploits of 25 goals in the current Bundesliga season.
His main attributes revolve around movement, space creation, positioning, and tactical flexibility.
Werner has been instrumental to Leipzig’s attacking success, and through this Timo Werner analysis, we will pinpoint the areas that illustrate his capabilities.
The heat map gives us an indication of his movement and positioning this season. We can see that he prefers coming in off the left.
Before we discuss Werner’s strengths, it is important to examine the system he played in at RB Leipzig.
RB Leipzig mainly utilised a 4-4-2 (27%) often switching to a 3-5-2 (17%) throughout the current season.
The common theme here is the two-striker system that Julian Nagelsmann looked to implement.
Werner played as part of the two and played as the deep-lying forward and poacher.
The fluidity of the front two allowed for unpredictability and kept the opposition’s defensive line guessing throughout the game.
Leipzig relies on vertical passing to create space and chances, and Werner’s ability to find space in and around ‘zone 14’ is a major contributor to this. It pulls defenders towards him and creates space for his teammates.
Through quick passing combinations, Werner is able to play in the final ball or intercept a similar pass to unleash his lethal finishing.
This pass map shows us the average positions of RB Leipzig’s players from a league game against Köln.
Werner (#11) is perfectly situated next to his strike partner on the left, with the two full-backs playing high and wide.
From here is where Werner makes his movements both vertically and horizontally.
Timo Werner Link-up play
Werner is able to create space and link-up play through his passing and movement.
The Leipzig striker is equally adept at dropping deep and getting on the end of through passes from his teammates.
Looking at his statistics, Werner averages 2.54 passes to the final third with a 74.6% success rate.
Even more so, he averages 3.91 in the penalty area with a 56.9% success rate.
Both of these statistics show that Werner can become a playmaker and help unlock stubborn defences.
As we mentioned earlier, finding space and playing quick passes was part of the system employed at RB Leipzig and played to his strengths.
Not only this, but Werner’s ability to drop deep gives Leipzig’s defence another passing option.
His progressive play makes him an excellent option, as most high-pressing teams will not pick up his off-the-ball runs.
He can create space from half-space and make diagonal runs to offset the opposition’s defensive line, creating confusion and an extra yard of space.
This example against Mainz is a prime example of Werner’s ability to link play.
Here, Werner drops deep into his defensive third to give Péter Gulácsi a passing option, while Mainz presses and marks their defenders high.
From here Werner is able to pick up possession and progress play forward having bypassed the first line of pressure.
Another example can be seen here against Köln where Werner drifts out to the left side, receiving a pass from Angeliño.
Werner’s movement brings his marker with him, opening space between the centre-back and full-back.
Werner holds up the ball long enough for Angeliño to make an immediate run after his pass.
He saw the space when he received the initial pass and waited for the right moment to deliver the final pass.
From here Angeliño is able to deliver a quick cross for Schick.
We’ve seen this sort of movement between Mason Mount and Marcos Alonso on the left side for Chelsea, and Werner will be comfortable with it within the Chelsea setup.
Timo Werner Attacking movement
A lot of Frank Lampard’s system is predicated on movement and quick decision-making between the forwards.
Werner’s spatial awareness and off the ball movements will be a good fit in Chelsea’s system.
His ability both on and off the ball is exceptional and is what his main game is based around.
In addition, his movement through dribbling and shot selection make him one of the most dangerous forwards in world football.
These attributes contribute to Werner’s playstyle, which is predicated on vertical movement and positioning through dropping deep and linking play, which can lead to two results.
Making runs into the channels to either create a shooting opportunity himself or play in an overlapping or underlapping runner and position himself in the 18-yard box into a goal-scoring position.
His movement can be unpredictable because he can move towards the central areas or make his way into the channels at any time through his effective dribbling and shooting.
Werner ranks first in most touches in the 18-yard box in Europe’s top 5 leagues this season combined with his 25 goals; this shows the effective decision making Werner has made in his games.
To further emphasise Werner’s dribbling, he has 6.24 dribbles per 90 minutes and a 51.1% success rate, which has seen him rank 20th in Europe’s top 5 leagues this season.
RB Leipzig rank 19th in progressive runs, citing the importance of Werner’s combined ability to connect play through his dribbling.
Werner will often start on the left, drifting into the central areas and running at defenders when on the ball, moving on to either foot to deliver a cross or shot.
Here Werner is able to pick up possession in space and is able to drive forward into the box running at the defenders.
Schalke’s defenders have left too much open space in the left channel for Werner to be able to dribble and get his shot away.
We can see here how no defender is close to him and despite there being four defenders, Werner is able to get his shot away.
Alternatively, here we can see Werner pick up possession in a much smaller space, coming up against two defenders with three more in behind.
This is where Werner can either hold up possession and pass back, dribble through or slide in a pass.
He trusts his dribbling ability and manages to find a way through both players and get a shot away.
Werner is an intelligent centre-forward who creates space for himself and others around him through his decisions and movements.
The earlier examples showed how Werner creates space through his link-up play, but it was also his movement that opens up space.
Like Liverpool‘s Roberto Firmino, Werner can effectively create this space on and off the ball by dragging defenders out of position through intelligent runs.
Through a mixture of RB Leipzig’s system and Werner’s ability, defenders are pulled out of position just enough to open up shooting or passing opportunities.
We can see an example of Werner’s movement and spatial understanding below.
Although the central area is congested, there is still enough space to create a goal-scoring chance through the middle.
While the initial pass goes through to the left, Werner makes a similar movement and drags the central defender away.
This allows the running midfielder space to run into and seize on the shooting chance.
This is what gives Werner his playmaking and finisher tag in his complete forward role.
He can pick up possession, connect passes between the thirds and finish.
However, he is at his most dangerous when he gets in between the lines, especially when he’s given an extra yard of space due to his extreme pace.
Werner’s understanding of space has heavily contributed towards his incredible goal tally.
Knowing when to make runs and when not to has been a feature of his game this season.
As the example above shows, Werner playing in the number 10 position behind Yussuf Poulsen allows him time to make a decision and make a late run in the box.
As Konrad Laimer makes a wide run down the flank, Werner waits patiently for the right time to move.
Werner’s perfectly timed run has allowed him to bypass opposition markers, giving him all the space he needs to get on the end of the pass to take the shot.
The Mainz defenders don’t pick up the late run thinking Laimer wouldn’t make it through.
However, Werner’s calculated gamble pays off and results in a goal.
Chelsea & Timo Werner
Lampard’s Chelsea have a very fluid and attacking style of play.
A possession-hungry team, their current system revolves around a 4-3-3, but they have also used a 4-2-3-1 and 3-5-2.
The use of different formations allows Lampard the flexibility to adapt to the opposition and avoid becoming predictable.
However, their overall structure remains consistent throughout each system.
In this 4-3-3, most players are centrally located, and the full-backs are the widest on the pitch, as shown in the pass map below.
Typically, Kepa Arrizabalaga passes the ball to the centre-backs, who look forward to playing into the attacking players.
The dynamism of N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovačić, and Mount allows Chelsea to become much more dynamic in midfield, allowing the forwards to make more off-the-ball movements to find space.
The full-backs play high and wide, providing wide attacking and crossing options for Chelsea’s forwards.
Often playing two attacking midfielders, the two players will look to drift into the central areas, allowing for the overlapping runs of the full-backs.
Focusing on the centre-forward position, Lampard always looks to have his centre-forwards be as mobile as possible.
The traits revolve around movement, link-up play, and spatial awareness.
The striker will be expected to drop deep and link play by bringing in either the two wide players or onrushing central midfielder.
Once they do this, they are expected to find space in the 18-yard box to capitalise on a potential goal-scoring opportunity.
Werner excels at finding space both through his dribbling and passing abilities.
Chelsea often struggled to break down low-block defences and had to rely on persistence, most often the movement combinations of the forward players, where the striker was key.
Here, Tammy Abraham is marked by two centre-backs.
Jorginho sees Barkley in a good position.
Instead of playing a direct pass that could be intercepted, he finds Abraham, who drops deep and plays in a quick through ball for Barkley to open up space behind the two centre-backs.
Additionally, because Chelsea’s forwards need to be mobile and play both a deep-lying forward role and poacher role, getting on the end of long passes is also critical.
This is especially important when Chelsea plays on the counter-attack.
The Abraham goal against Arsenal stands out as a perfect goal.
Playing as a poacher requires pace and anticipation and Werner’s ability in both is obvious and would give Lampard an extremely potent option against more open teams.
Here against Tottenham Hotspur, we can see Jorginho receives a pass and immediately sends a through ball into the vacant space for Giroud to run into.
In the next frame, Giroud moves before Jorginho receives the pass and watches him.
This also shows the understanding that the players have developed.
While this example resulted in a goal, Werner’s movement would have been much quicker, and he would have been able to lose his marker much more easily.
Chelsea’s creativity and link-up play between the forwards will only increase and become much more sophisticated.
The addition of Hakim Ziyech is an exciting prospect, and the sight of both Werner and Ziyech has the potential to produce the displays that Diego Costa and Eden Hazard produced for Chelsea.
Out of possession
Chelsea’s out-of-possession tactics include a high-pressing system.
Werner is an excellent presser of the ball and his pace allows him to counter-press effectively.
Giroud or Abraham, along with the two supporting forwards, will look to press.
Werner’s off-the-ball movement will be an asset to Chelsea, and his incredible work rate is a perfect match.
This example shows Chelsea’s high pressing against Bournemouth as they try to play out from the back.
It starts with Giroud pressing the lone centre-back who is then forced to pass out wide.
This triggers Mount to press Nathan Ake and Barkley the next ball receiver.
Chelsea’s press has forced the ball to be played out wide where James is coming to join the press.
The right-back successfully intercepts the pass and puts Chelsea on a very quick counter-attack.
Werner has averaged 2.2 defensive duels per 90 with a 61.29% success rate, showing he can slot into the system and contribute off the ball.
Will there be a change in system for Frank Lampard?
However, one issue we can see here is Werner’s preference to play in a two.
Chelsea haven’t paired two strikers together and even in their 3-5-2 will often play an attacking midfielder in behind Abraham or Giroud.
Lampard signing Werner could also indicate a desire for more tactical options, and playing a version of a 4-4-2 could be on the horizon.
Pairing Abraham and Werner could be an interesting option, as both players could play the role Lampard wants.
Like the Werner-Schick combination, Abraham could focus on finding space in the penalty area with Werner playing around him.
However, this could affect how Chelsea fits in with their abundance of attacking midfielders, but it certainly gives Lampard options.
Chelsea’s attacking structure is quick and agile, so Werner could play as the sole striker upfront.
The movement of Barkley, Mount, and Pulisić means Werner will be involved in numerous positional exchanges, which are in line with his overall play style.
Conclusion
Overall, Werner will be an excellent addition to Chelsea’s attacking lineup.
Throughout this Timo Werner analysis, we’ve mentioned his key strengths regarding Chelsea’s system.
Still, it shouldn’t be forgotten that his clinical finishing abilities are one of his key assets that results in goals.
When you analyse the overall picture, it’s easy to see why Chelsea and Lampard moved quickly to secure his signature.
