TIMO WERNER insisted he will be fit to face Liverpool on Sunday after Chelsea’s new striker finished their 3-1 win at Brighton with an ice pack on his thigh.
Werner marked his Premier League debut by winning a penalty that Jorginho converted to put Chelsea ahead, but the Germany star took a whack on his leg as he was tripped by Brighton keeper Mat Ryan in the incident.
The 24-year-old close-season signing from Leipzig was able to play the entire 90 minutes despite the knock and was one of Chelsea’s standout performers.
When he was interviewed after the final whistle with the icing on his injury, Werner said he expected to be fine for the visit of Premier League champions Liverpool.
“The knee of the goalkeeper hit me directly in the muscle and it went very hard,” Werner told Sky Sports.
“The rest of the game it hurt a lot. I couldn’t do some movements because the muscle went very hard, but at the end I’m happy that we won.
I don’t care about this. In one week it will be good. We did a good game today, we did well, and I’m happy I won the penalty because it was important for our game.”
Werner’s pace and astute movement made him a handful for Brighton’s defence even with the injury.
One of the most prolific strikers in the Bundesliga in recent years, Werner admitted it was a fascinating challenge to adapt to the different demands of the Premier League.
“The game is totally different. There is more space but you come out in the second half and the game was totally different. Brighton gave us a lot of problems,” he said.
I played against three massive defenders, you don’t have that in Germany. Happy to be here and I think it was a good first game for me and the team.
“The second game will become harder because it is Liverpool. I tried and did my best and got an assist for the team.
“We had a lot of players not in the rhythm now but I think we will get better and better when we play more games together.”
He’s gonna be the one.
@Tommy Mitchell: he is aye. He can be the one all he wants because that defence is going to leak in goals
@Minamino: yeah their defence was awful but Werner really does look like a hell of a player
Looks a good player, would he get into the front 3 at Liverpool, definitely not.
@Seosamh: perfect impact sub
@Seosamh: He would, Firmino is massively overrated. He doesnt do anything, except for run around. Werner can also run as well as being a quality player
@Gareth Ward: yeah, coz that’s all Firmino does. It’s fascinating that he’s so highly rated by the best coach in the world, and one of the first names on the team sheet of the champions but Gareth off the 42 knows better than Klopp.
@The Bloody Nine: How do you know he’s one of the first names on the team sheet? You’ve just pulled that out of thin air. There’s a good 8 or 9 players more important to liverpool than firmino. Even liverpool fans would tell you that.
Werner is definitely a better player.
@Gareth Ward: that fact that you think Werner (who is a top player) is interchangeable with Firmino shows how little you know of the role he plays for Liverpool. “8 or 9 players more important” ffs… If you’re too ignorant to gain an understanding of his role in the team you could just listen to Klopp talk about it. But you won’t since you clearly know better than the best coach in the game!
@The Bloody Nine: Tell me this who of alison, trent, robertson, van dijk, mane, salah, henderson and fabinho is firmino more important than?
@Gareth Ward: I don’t know any Liverpool fans who’d say something like that. He’s often central to their best attacking play, and is very likely to be one of the first names on the team sheet when available.
@seancreaven13: If you were to think about it logically though. without just throwing out the statement, he wouldnt be ahead of those 8 players i mentioned in terms of importance. If so please explain, or are you saying he is number one most important player in the team?
@Gareth Ward: they all play key roles in Klopp’s system and I’m not sure any one of them is more important than the other, bar VVD. In saying that I believe you could replace Fabinho, Henderson, Mane, and Robertson with players that could do as good a job as them. But I think Firmino is more difficult to replace, his selflessness for the team, and especially for Mane and Salah is difficult to replicate. Quite similar to Gini in midfield, these players link it all together. Liverpool are a far worse team when Firmino doesn’t play. Answer me this – If all Firmino did was run around with little quality then why would Klopp play him week in week out for the best team in the league?
@The Bloody Nine: Id agree with you on henderson and fabinho. They are both good solid players, but the likes of keita can replace them. However i think Robertson and mane are world class. He starts firmino because he’s the only central striker he has. Origi definitely isnt up to standard for liverpool. Firmino is worth his place in the team, i never said he isnt.
The point im making is if klopp had the money to sign werner before chelsea took him then he’d be in the team. Not the same player as firmino, but better. He would improve liverpools team
@Gareth Ward: I’m gutted we didn’t sign Werner but do you not think he would have been competing with Salah and Mane for a place. Firmino isn’t really a centre forward, he’s an attacking midfielder essentially playing as a false nine, and his game intelligence is vital to how Liverpool play. Take Lewandovski for example, best number 9 in the world, put him in Liverpool’s team and he probably doesn’t score as much because our midfield is more hard working than creative. But it works for us as Firmino’s kind of fulfilling that creative-link/Coutinho role. Anyway, we’ll have to agree to disagree on it.
@Gareth Ward: you don’t know ball.
@Seosamh: Saying im wrong without any basis, ya fairplay you know your stuff
Better get some popcorn in, in case he bangs a hat trick
Love the way a story about a Chelsea player gets turned into a Liverpool crying session