Germany manager Joachim Low highlighted Chelsea striker Timo Werner’s poor finishing following their 2-0 defeat to England in the Euro 2020 round of 16 on Tuesday.
It was actually Werner’s first start in the tournament.
Prior to this game, the 25-year-old had mostly been deployed from the bench, with Kai Havertz, Thomas Muller, and Serge Gnabry all ahead of him in the pecking order.
So was rather a surprise that Werner started in the first place.
“We need depth up front,” Low explained about Werner’s inclusion in the starting line-up against England before the game (via Sport1).
“Timo Werner can hurt the defense with his speed.”
The plan was to stretch England’s back-three with Werner’s pace, which he actually did pretty well.
But when Werner had to finish a big chance created by his Chelsea teammate Havertz in the first half, he failed.
Low, whose tenure as the national team manager ended with the defeat, insisted that Werner’s miss, along with Muller’s, cost the team the game.
“We didn’t take opportunities of the two great chances we had with [Thomas] Muller and Werner,” the Germany boss said in his post-match press conference (via BBC).
“You need to take advantage of them if you want to succeed.
“The English team did that.
“We were not clinical enough or effective enough.”
Chronicle view
To be fair, Low had a point. Both Germany and England made just two and three big chances throughout the game, respectively.
Being clinical eventually led England to victory.
From Chelsea’s point of view, Werner’s finishing problems should also underline the need for a new No.9 in this transfer window.
The former RB Leipzig ace certainly has the pace and quality to create spaces in the final third. But the signs so far suggest he is too inconsistent in terms of converting his chances to be the primary goalscorer.