Werner an absolute embarrassment after what he did in Tottenham win v Tamworth
Tottenham Hotspur were left to rue the decision to start Timo Werner against Tamworth in the FA Cup third round.
Werner made little impact against the non-league hosts at The Lamb Ground on Sunday (12 January), as Ange Postecoglou elected to bench stars such as Son Heung-min, Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski for the tie – during which Tamworth dragged Spurs to extra time having themselves looked closer to edging the win.
Spurs eventually advanced through to the fourth round from an own goal from the hosts’ Nathan Tshikuna via Solanke’s intervention, taking 101 minutes to break the deadlock, before Kulusevski netted off the bench, and Johnson finished late on for 3-0.
The German has endured a difficult campaign in North London and missed key chances in the second half of normal time as he looked to get back in the goals, before being replaced by Son ahead of the additional 30 minutes.
Ian Wright was fiercely critical of Werner, Mikey Moore and Brennan Johnson at half-time, claiming live on ITV 1 (12 January, 13:29): “If I’m being totally honest, between Moore, Werner and Johnson, they’re not doing anything. Their final ball has been poor. If anything is going to come it’ll come from James Maddison.”
Timo Werner in horror show for Tottenham v Tamworth
Werner was named in a front three with Johnson and Moore – the latter, just 17, who lasted until midway through the second half despite missing a sustained spell through illness.
But it was the teenager who arguably offered the biggest threat of the trio as Werner was twice denied by golden opportunities to open the scoring, with just a 79 percent pass accuracy to attempt to link the play [Fotmob].
Werner’s last goal for Spurs came against Manchester City – a far cry from Tamworth with several part-timers in their side – on 30 October, but he could not break his duck and offered little in build-up play, with just 17 percent of his six dribble attempts executed.
The 28-year-old made up an xG of 0.72 but failed to justify it, having also failed to bridge a seasonal xG of 0.98 [Sofascore] with no Premier League goals so far this term.
Out on the left-hand side, Werner also offered little defensively as Tamworth were bold in their own approach to win the tie and cause a major upset – he made no tackle attempts, no interceptions and just one recovery, with 44 largely ineffective touches in 90 minutes.
He also lost 80 percent of his five ground duels [Fotmob] at The Lamb and did not challenge for an aerial battle, frankly a horrific drop-off from his old form in Germany.
With Postecoglou already openly frustrated with his out-of-favour forward, it appeared to be a confidence-boosting opportunity gone wrong in the third round contest, with a loan cull the best route for Werner to rekindle his career.
In other Tottenham news, a new attacker could be one step closer to a January arrival at Spurs following the latest development from Europe.
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