“Don’t judge me by my goals!”…Werner fires back at critics

Timo Werner has hit back at the criticism directed at him.

Tottenham Hotspur drew 2-2 with Manchester United in the 21st round of the 2023-24 Premier League (PL) at Old Trafford in Manchester, England, at 1:30 a.m. ET on Friday. The draw extends Tottenham’s unbeaten record to three games in all competitions.

It was a hard-fought first half. Rasmus Höwelun opened the scoring in the third minute of the first half, only to be leveled in the 19th minute by a brilliant goal from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, before Rashford put United back in front in the 40th minute off a pass from Höwelun to give United a 2-1 lead at the break.

At the start of the second half, Spurs were back in the game. In the first minute of the second half, Rodrigo Bentancur rattled the United net with a left-footed shot from a Werner pass. The rest of the game was evenly matched, but no further goals were scored and the game ended in a 2-2 draw.

The game was highly anticipated, with Tottenham’s ‘freshman’ Werner getting the start. Werner played 80 minutes and had a decent game, assisting on Bentancur’s equalizer. According to soccer stats site Sofascore, Werner had one assist, one key pass, and a 91% pass completion rate in 80 minutes.

In his post-match interview, Werner spoke about his return to PL action after a year and a half away. He also addressed some of the criticisms that have followed him from his time at Chelsea. Asked if he was at his best during his two years at Chelsea, Werner said: “It’s hard to say, there was always criticism of my play there. At first I started on the left, just like at Tottenham. I think the fans wanted me to score more goals,” he revealed.

“But at Tottenham, with the tactics we have and the way the manager wants to play, even if you don’t score goals, you can still contribute to the team through assists. It’s about creating space for other players and making deep breaks to create assists, like we did today.”

“Sometimes it’s not about the fans or the coach, sometimes it’s about you and how you’re playing. Now that I’m older, I realize how important assists and deep runs are to the team. I want to score goals too, but it’s not the main part of my game anymore. I can bring so much more, especially in this tactic,” he said, emphasizing his role at Spurs.

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