IF Werner

One of the most nailed on TOTW selections in recent memory, Timo Werner locked himself into TOTW8 after a 3 goal performance against Mainz last weekend … and then added three assists to round out the half dozen goal contributions; seriously how is this guy still at Leipzig??  Worth noting he banged in another two this weekend while also adding an assist, which would normally be a good TOTW shout in itself.  Werner blazed into my WL squad leading the line in a 4-2-3-1 this weekend, and soon after was deployed to excellent effect in the Mbabu RTTF challenges.  The DEADEYE chemistry style trumped both MARKSMAN & SNIPER in my tests, and is how Werner delivered the Weekend League goods in the following squad:
 

Overall

Rating: 8.5/10
Pace Rating: 9.5/10
Dribbling Rating: 8/10
Shooting Rating: 9/10
Passing Rating: 7.5/10
Physical Rating: 8/10
Defending Rating: N/A

Werner just about earns all of this 8.5 and matches the rating I experienced with Ben Yedder a weekend ago.  The two strikers are incredibly effective goal scorers but go about it in different ways.  With Werner, you are getting the raw pace that is so crucial in the front line, mixed with some incredible and clinical finishing.  I felt Werner’s 99 POSITIONING & 99 FINISHING were adequately represented in the quality he showed on the pitch… and the statistics he racked up in 20 games only cements my thoughts.  Time and time again Werner was popping up in quality positions … and time and time again he was ripping the ball into the back of the net with serious venom.

Linkability

Rating: 4/5

This guy offers some excellent links across the Bundesliga, with Germany offering some interesting squad building options as well.  Perhaps the biggest downfall in linking Werner is the lack of a quality Leipzig hyperlink.  Scream Sabitzer is an intriguing strong link, but at this point in my squad, he is simply not of a high enough quality.

Current Game Strength

Rating: 5/5

The state of the current game is where a player like Werner can truly thrive and there are not many defenders who can match his pace.  94 ACCELERATION & 93 SPRINT SPEED puts this guy in League of Extraordinary Speedsters and he can blow away opponents not prepared to back off and give him a step.  If this was September this card would be God-tier, but the slowing of the game has slightly reduced his effectiveness.

Value/Coins & Good vs. Bad

Value/Coins Rating: 5/5
Good vs Bad Rating: 5/5

Call it the Vardy Effect, the Black Friday Pre-Crash, the Panic Extravaganza of 2019... it doesn’t matter the name, cards are losing value fast.  Werner is no exception and his price plummet cost me dearly as I went to sell him and move on with reviews.  But, my loss is your gain, and IF Werner is currently sitting at an incredibly reasonable 185k.

If you were to do the quick maths it would be soon obvious that Werner just scraped an 8.5/10 for me.  The negative qualities with this card are noticeable and frustrating, to say the least.  The entire reason I initially tried SNIPER was to boost Werner’s 82 AGILITY & 77 BALANCE.  I can tell you that it made minimal difference and this card just does not have the swivel action of other options on the market.  North and South down the pitch Werner moves like a German engineered locomotive… East and West like a German engineered tugboat.  The difference is both noticeable and frustrating as defenders get inside of your dribble and pinch the ball with ease.  Even worse, if you try to play the pass early to avoid turning past defenders, Werner serves up some awfully wayward passes.  Again DEADEYE was an improvement and why I stayed with this choice… but not enough to avoid this negative column.  The good though, is simply too good even with these inadequacies Werner simply delivers the goals you need for success, match in and match out. 

Closing Words

The comparisons between Ben Yedder and Timo Werner stop at … they just score goals for your squad.  Which, in all honesty, is all you can really ask for in your strikers and you just need to make choices that match your play style.  From a statistic perspective, Werner blew Ben Yedder away in the 20 game reviews, but Werner is more of my style of player and his pace and clinical nature were the gift that kept on giving.  The price is a key point for me here and offers a good opportunity to fit the Leipzig man into your squad to bolster most front lines.  All I can say is that the next IF Werner will be a scary option, but don’t count out this goal machine before giving him a run-out yourself either.  Cheers for reading.

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