Timo Werner Scouting Report At RB Leipzig 2018/2019 – Player Analysis

RB Leipzig erupted into the Bundesliga and caught the world’s attention.

The East German club gained promotion through big spending, as is commonly done by the vast majority of new European superpowers, but the club took an interesting route to signing players.

Instead of seeking out experienced players, Leipzig opted to sign young, up-and-coming talents to power them through promotion.

After achieving their goal of reaching the Bundesliga, they were in search of a new talisman to partner Yussuf Poulsen and eventually landed the prodigious talent Timo Werner.

The German striker started his career with Stuttgart and first played for the club in the 2013/14 season, coming on as a substitute in a Europa League qualifier.

He initially started out as a right-winger and became the youngest player to play for Stuttgart.

After impressing in his first few games, Werner continued to play and keep his place in the squad.

Over the next two seasons, he was used as a right-winger because of his incredible pace, agility and willingness to take on isolate defenders, usually getting the better of them.

Werner encountered his fair share of struggles early on.

Between November and May of the 2014/15 season, he failed to register a single goal or assist, despite having only played a handful of minutes every week.

The young forward was struggling to find consistency and rhythm in attack.

Turning point

The manager at the time was Huub Stevens, who Alexander Zorniger replaced.

The new coach immediately declared his expectations from Timo Werner, acknowledging his talents, but he needed to work harder.

Zorniger shifted Werner into a centre-forward role with the winger struggling to adapt at first.

However, four straight defeats caused havoc and disharmony between the coach and player.

He failed to replicate the form and play style he showed in his natural right-wing position. He ended the campaign with six goals from 26 appearances, which resulted in Stuttgart’s relegation from the Bundesliga.

Werner’s time at the club was coming to an end and he needed an escape route.

Enter RB Leipzig, who were promoted to the Bundesliga and were in search of a talented striker.

They purchased Timo Werner for an estimated €10m and gave the German a new lease of life and started to build a team around Werner supplemented by other young talented stars.

The rest is history, we’ve seen Timo Werner set alight the Bundesliga with his electric pace and high-octane pressing and even making his international debut after proving his exploits with the East German club.

In this article, we will examine Timo Werner’s strengths and weaknesses and what qualities he brings to RB Leipzig and the Bundesliga.

The Leipzig way

RB Leipzig’s primary strategy involves centre-backs launching long balls towards Yussuf Poulsen or build up play from the wing-backs.

The old-fashioned target-man was limited in function; their only contribution would come through their hold up play and heading but the modern-day centre-forward needs to have an all-around skill set to stay relevant, especially given the modern managers preference to play with a single striker.

Long balls from the centre-backs or crosses from out wide, Leipzig try to keep the opposition guessing.

Lucas Klostermann, Marcel Halstenberg, Nordi Mukiele, and Marcelo Saracchi are Ralf Rangnicks first-choice options and are vital to Leipzig’s style of play.

Even Kevin Kampl and