Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher has compared Timo Werner’s positioning to that of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry’s.
Werner ended his 14-game Premier League goal drought on Monday night, scoring to help Chelsea defeat Newcastle United 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
The German forward has been heavily criticised in recent weeks after his £47.6million transfer from RB Leipzig in the summer, particularly after his goals dried up following four goals in his first eight league outings.
But on Monday evening, he produced a man of the match performance, scoring and assisting as he continued to build confidence under new boss Thomas Tuchel.
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And after the game, former Liverpool defender turned Sky Sports pundits Carragher spoke about Werner’s positioning, comparing it to Henry’s in the way he drifts from central positions out to the left, and vice versa.
He was (the key man). I want to look at his touch map, because when he came into England, you were asking what sort of position he was and what position does he play in a formation,” said Carragher.
“Frank used him on the wide left and through the middle. It was really interesting how he was used tonight; it was almost a mixture of both.
“You see his touch map and you think of Werner from Leipzig, he was almost in that Thierry Henry role – Im obviously not linking him to Henry in terms of ability just yet – but that position just on the inside left, he wants to make runs there, he wants to get the ball there.
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As Carragher eluded to, Werner spent much of his time out wide under former boss Lampard, but he is now playing in more of an advanced midfield role under Tuchel, given licence to get forward and drift out wide.
Speaking about Werner’s position, Tuchel told Sky Sports after the Newcastle win: “I’m convinced Timo was very decisive for us today with an assist and a goal. I’m very happy for that, he really deserved it, he’s been working hard and we could feel this would come.
“I think he can also play as a double striker, sometimes as a No.9 if he’s clever enough to use his speed and runs. His favourite position and his biggest strengths is if he can drift out to the left side.”
The goal and assist took Werner onto 10 goals and 10 assists across all competitions this season.