It’s been a tough few years for Timo Werner. He was meant to be the next best thing at Chelsea, finally, they had signed a top striker! But it didn’t work out, and he returned to RB Leipzig. Then, after a fruitless loan at Tottenham, he made the move to San Jose.
By Alex Roberts
It was one hell of a risk; the San Jose Earthquakes aren’t exactly a footballing powerhouse. The early 2000s were their golden era, winning MLS in 2001 and 2003, and they haven’t won a major trophy since taking the Supporters’ Shield in 2012.
They’ve only made the play-offs proper once in the past five seasons (2020), and then they were eliminated in the first round. San Jose were then a wildcard pick in 2023, meaning they would face off against their ‘wildcard’ counterpart from the Western conference in a one game pre-play-off to reach the play-offs. Yeah, it’s not the easiest league to follow.
The club have been in need of a marquee player to come in and put an end to the stagnation, and, just as luck would have it, there was a rapid German forward moping around Leipzig looking for his redemption arc.
Timo Werner played 13 minutes across all competitions for RB Leipzig in 2024-25. He’s still just 29-years-old, in his prime, he still has so much to offer, but his time at the top level in Europe was done.
San Jose had been tracking him since December, with manager Bruce Arena flying out to Germany in the off season to woo Werner. It worked, and he joined the club in January, giving him plenty of time to get situated before their MLS campaign got underway.
For those that don’t know Arena, he’s a pretty divisive, veteran American coach, more of a Robert Duvall in Kicking and Screaming than Ted Lasso. He’s never claimed to be tactical genius, famously saying: “we have a very important analytic, and that’s the score.”
Arena lost his biggest attacking threat before the season started. Cristian Espinoza had been with San Jose for seven seasons but decided to swap them for Nashville. The pressure was on Werner and given his lack of game time back in Germany, there were doubts.
No one is doubting him anymore. Werner has been electric, his recent brace against St Louis City puts him at four goals and three assists in his seven MLS games with San Jose the most inform side across the two conferences.
Werner hasn’t been a starter in all of his games as he continues to build up his fitness – he’s played just 58 games and 2250 minutes across the previous three seasons – but hasn’t needed to be.
Arena has been doing this for a while now, and he has a habit of getting the best out of the players he has at his disposal. Werner has always been a confidence player, one that needs an arm around his shoulder. He’s found one.
“He came over to Germany, and that was already like a big thing for me, because seeing a person coming seven, eight, nine hours flying to you, seeing you in person to convince you. That was something not everybody would do,” Werner recently told GOAL.
“He said ‘You are the top player, and I want to win something with you.’ And that gave me a good feeling from the start. He always said he would be behind me. He will help me.”
Of course, it helps that Werner has been put in a system that allows him to do what he does best. He’s always been quick, a quality finisher, despite what some Chelsea fans might tell you, and a good reader of the game.
His numbers so far this season are decisive. Werner’s four goals have come from an xG of just 2.89 and eight shots on target. Considering two of those have been from the penalty spot, he’s not short of that much needed confidence.
Interestingly, Werner hasn’t been a high-volume dribbler with just six completed at a rate of 37.5%, but that’s largely because he’s spending most of his time in the opposition box, in which he’s had 52 touches.
Tracking back and running with the ball has not been a part of his game since he joined San Jose, he’s been more of a luxury player, in fact he’s only made five defensive contributions in his seven games. David Romney, San Jose’s left back, has been a busy boy.
One player who’s probably enjoying playing alongside Werner a little more than Romney is right winger Ousseni Bouda. All three of the German’s MLS assists so far this season have been for Bouda.
Arena has played Werner off the left, but he’s not fixed to that position. Werner has floated, allowed the freedom of the attacking third, sometimes finding himself on the left, other times the right, and even down the middle.
His first assist came on his debut, the 2-0 win over Atalanta United. Werner scampered down the right, tricked his defender into thinking he was about to take him on, took a quick look up, and sent in a perfect driven cross to Bouda, who slotted home.
The game after, with San Jose putting the pressure on Philadelphia Union, some trademark clever Werner movement gave him the chance to play a Kevin De Bruyne-esque ball through the defenders to Bouda. Timo Werner the playmaker has arrived.
The aforementioned win over St Louis City has been his best performance so far. His first goal was from the spot, but his second was exactly what we have come to expect from Werner, before his move to Chelsea, anyway.
Werner was completely open, but his movement wasn’t hasty. He could have easily arrived into the box too early, alerting a defender, but he took his time, and Bouda picked him out perfectly, allowing Werner to score on the volley.
Europeans may look at Werner’s move to the USA and see a player that has given up, but they’d be dead wrong. Werner needed a fresh start, something different, and he’s found it in San Jose.
(Images from IMAGO)
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