Timo Werner is Hansi Flick’s favourite, but he did not make many points against Romania. The national coach became clear afterwards – also in terms of backing
Sometimes it is important for a coach not to make a change. When Germany played Iceland on 8 September, Hansi Flick deliberately left Timo Werner on the pitch until he finally scored. And because that didn’t happen until the 89th minute, Werner played through.
Flick called this goal “very important”, even “elementary”, in an interview with kicker, and he could have been referring to two people: on the one hand Werner, who even after almost a year and a half at Chelsea FC is not the goal-scorer he was before in Leipzig, but on the other hand also himself.
Flick on Werner: “He didn’t always have the positioning it takes “
The national coach is fully committed to Werner as a centre-forward because he is convinced of his qualities in the centre, but also a little bit because he has to be convinced of his qualities in the centre. The DFB couldn’t just buy Romelu Lukaku in the summer. It was noticeable these days how often Flick sought out Werner after practice sessions and gave him verbal caresses.
On Friday evening, however, Flick’s attempts at building up received a visible setback. Against Romania, Werner played so poorly that this time Flick did not want to wait to see if he would score. In the 67th minute, he replaced him with Thomas Müller, who later scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory.
Why was Werner (kicker grade 5) so far away from scoring his fourth goal in the fourth game since the change of national coach in Hamburg? “It was the case that he didn’t always have the positioning it takes,” Flick analysed critically. “You had the feeling he was too much on a level with whoever had the ball on the outside – whether Serge (Gnabry) or Leroy (Sané).” Then, when the ball came “a bit in the back”, he, Werner, had “no chance”.
“He’s already a striker who can score goals, who knows how it’s done. “
HANSI FLICK ON TIMO WERNER
So the number 9 had “acted too close to the goal instead of going in. He can do better than that, and that’s what we expect from him,” Flick made clear. “We have to train the processes again.” In general, it is about “having a good positioning in the sixteen”.
So does Germany simply lack a so-called classic centre-forward who has the right positioning in his genes? Not only the young fan who became an internet hit (“Hey Hansi, where’s Terodde?”) with his described cardboard box in the Volksparkstadion posed this question.
“Counter question,” Flick replied when confronted with the classic centre-forward discussion after the final whistle: “What is a classic centre-forward?” The national coach continues to believe that a correct answer is “Timo Werner”.
“Timo is quite capable of opening up spaces even where it is tight. He also has a nose for rebounds,” he thinks. “In Leipzig he has had at least 25 to 30 goal contributions every year. He is already a striker who can score goals, who knows how it is done. He plays for Chelsea in a top team that has enormous quality in its ranks.”
That’s why Flick is sticking to his path: “He’ll get the assignments he needs with us. He’ll get the backing, that’s the most important thing for a striker.” It looks as if Werner will get his next opportunity to convert Flick’s submissions in northern Macedonia on Monday.
