Timo Werner, Earthquakes bring best kind of chaos to MLS

"It was tough to get off the plane and on the training pitch. I’m still only sleeping six hours every night," Werner laughed after the match. "But it’s worth it to play in front of this crowd, enjoy the football here, and win at the end."

MLS's biggest wild card

In many ways, Werner is an archetypal MLS player: a global superstar with Champions League experience looking for a fresh start.

But there's a lot about Werner's unique journey that sets him apart from his MLS peers like Lionel Messi and Thomas Müller. They joined the league in the twilight of their careers; Werner joined it in peak condition at age 29. He's still got a lot of game left in him.

It's rare to see a globally-recognized player like Werner join MLS at that age, but Werner isn't any globally-recognized player. He's a fascinating forward who rode high highs (a Champions League final victory with Chelsea in 2022) and low lows (a confidence-crushing loan spell with Tottenham Hotspur in 2025) in equal measure. For many teams in Europe, Werner's lack of consistency was a red flag; for San Jose, and specifically for coach Bruce Arena, it was a massive opportunity.

Arena is the most beloved coach in American soccer for a reason. He's made his name on being the best man-manager in the business, and that attitude has helped him turn around the careers of countless struggling athletes. Chicho Arango and Josef Martinez, two frustrating MLS wildcards, thrived under him at San Jose in 2025; Werner may reach similar heights under Arena's tutelage.

"As a person, he's like a father figure—not just for me but for everyone," Werner said of Arena. "Everyone respects him because of what he did in his career, what he presented on the pitch, but also off the pitch. Not many guys are so open to the players."

Werner and Arena are two immensely talented individuals, and their talents are well-suited to one another. If Arena can use his man-management expertise to bring Werner back to his Champions League-winning best, the two of them—alongside a young, fast and hungry San Jose team—could shock MLS in 2026.

A fascinating opportunity

San Jose, under the leadership of coaches Luchi Gonzalez and Ian Russell, was the worst team in MLS in 2024. When Arena took over for the 2025 season, he took it right back into competitive territory, ultimately losing out to a Western Conference playoff spot on a tiebreaker. It was a remarkable turnaround for a club that looked dead in the water before Arena's arrival.

As heartening as 2025 was for San Jose, though, 2026 looks set to be even better. The club addressed its biggest weakness—leaking too many goals—by revamping its back line and investing in attacking players who were comfortable defending out of possession. Just two games into the 2026 season, Arena's San Jose's record is spotless: two wins, five goals and zero goals conceded.

All of that happened without Werner being fit to contribute as a starting player. As he warms up with San Jose and gets more familiar with the league, San Jose's ceiling could get dizzyingly high—and after a wild introduction to the league, that's exactly the kind of chaos Werner and San Jose want to see. 

San Jose will continue its MLS journey on Saturday, March 7, on the road against the Philadelphia Union.