Mikey Moore’s thrilling second-half performance in Tottenham Hotspur’s Europa League victory over AZ Alkmaar last week appeared ominous for Timo Werner.
When Moore then started in the Premier League for the first time against Crystal Palace on Sunday, it seemed to confirm a changing of the guard. With the 17-year-old now providing backup to Son Heung-min and Wilson Odobert on Tottenham’s left, would Werner even make it into their matchday squad?
Since Werner joined from RB Leipzig on an initial six-month loan in January — a deal that was extended by a further year in the summer — he has only scored twice in 20 top-flight appearances. The last time he found the net for Spurs was in the 4-0 away win against Aston Villa on March 10. According to Opta, those two goals have come from an expected goals (xG) score of 4.4, and Werner has missed seven big chances in the Premier League as a Tottenham player.
He wasted a couple of great one-on-one situations in the 3-0 away win over Manchester United last month, and was substituted at half-time against AZ after another underwhelming display.
“He is definitely down in confidence, you can see that,” Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou said after their 1-0 win in the latter game. “It is a difficult thing to get out of sometimes. It can feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. All we can do is try to support him and keep trying to get him to a place where he feels a little bit more confident with certain things.
“He has played a great ball in for Mikey to score early on, and if that goes in that’s an assist for him, it gives him a lift, but it doesn’t happen. It happened at Ferencvaros as well (in the previous Europa League tie): he played a great cross that Will Lankshear just missed. But these things happen.
“He needs to find a way out of it, because for us, in those positions, we need players to make an impact. I thought in a couple of moments he lacked some self-belief that we need to try to restore in him somehow.”
Moore’s promotion into the first-team group, combined with the anticipated returns to fitness of Son and Odobert, appeared to leave Werner with limited chances to make that impact. But in football, things can, and do, change quickly.
Son’s recovery from the hamstring injury he suffered last month has not been as smooth as hoped.
He missed three club games in all competitions, and South Korea’s two World Cup qualifiers this month, before scoring as he made his comeback in the 4-1 win against West Ham United. But he has not played in either of Tottenham’s two matches since, and is unlikely to feature when they host Manchester City in the Carabao Cup tonight (Wednesday). Postecoglou is “confident” Son will be available when Aston Villa visit on Sunday, however.
Odobert injured a hamstring in the first half of the 2-1 win against Coventry City in the previous round of the Carabao Cup on September 18 and only returned as a late substitute in the AZ game. However, the 19-year-old signed from Burnley for an initial £25million ($32.5m) in the summer has suffered a setback, which “seems like a serious one” according to Postecoglou.
All of the above means Werner is in line to receive more playing time in the next few weeks than was previously anticipated.
Even when Son and Odobert are fully fit, there is value in keeping Werner.
Son is 32 years old now, and his minutes need to be managed carefully to ensure he can perform at the top level in the biggest games. Odobert, 20 next month, is still learning the intricacies of Postecoglou’s style of play and forging relationships with his new team-mates. Moore is younger still, having only turned 17 in August, and it is important not to heap too much pressure on him. He certainly cannot be expected to play every week and it will take time for him to adjust to the physicality of senior football.
Moore showed flashes of his quality in the 1-0 defeat at Palace but struggled to find space and get into threatening areas consistently. James Maddison compared the academy graduate to Brazilian superstar Neymar last week but Postecoglou is cautious of letting the hype around Moore build to an unsustainable level.
Richarlison is another option out wide. That is where he played most of his football in his 2022-23 debut season at Spurs, but now he is primarily needed as a backup striker to Dominic Solanke.
Werner’s lack of composure in the final third is frustrating but his explosive speed is still a dangerous weapon.
The 57-cap Germany international’s performance in his second Premier League appearance for Spurs back in January is a prime example of that. He attacked the space behind Brentford’s right wing-back Mads Roerslev to create Destiny Udogie’s equaliser and then sent in a low cross for Brennan Johnson’s goal to make it 2-1 in a memorable 3-2 win. Werner’s pace on the counter led to Maddison scoring against Brighton last month, to make it 2-0 to Tottenham, too.
He blows past defenders with such ease that it prompts other opposition players to try to intervene. The benefit of that is space opening up for Werner’s team-mates to exploit.
It is important to remember that Johnson has at times been criticised for his decision-making and erratic finishing, and yet the Wales international has been one of Spurs’ better players this season with six goals in 13 appearances across all competitions — already more than he managed (five) in 38 matches in the previous one.
A similar upturn for Werner in 2024-25 may feel unlikely at the moment but those flashes of brilliance last season should offer some belief it can happen.
Before that Brighton game, Postecoglou was asked about Werner’s form and said, “Where we are at in this world, people think because he has missed two chances he is hopeless — no, he is not hopeless.
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“He has been taking on his players, getting into good areas. Yes, goals help — we have seen that with Brennan, from those types of positions. That doesn’t mean he (Werner) is not a good player. I get really annoyed when they put everything into that moment to say he is not a good player. Of course he is a good player. He is a fantastic player. Scoring goals would help him and us, but we will persevere with him because I still think he is contributing to the team.”
The perfect way for Werner to repay Postecoglou’s faith would be by helping them beat City tonight to book a place in December’s quarter-finals.
(Top photo: Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images)