Thomas Tuchel has told Timo Werner that he needs to “adapt to the physicality” of the Premier League following the German forward’s brace against Southampton on Saturday. The Chelsea forward scored his first goals in the Premier League since the beginning of October. There’s been plenty of criticism thrown towards Werner in recent times, with the speedy forward not living up to expectations after making a big-money move from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2020. Tuchel was very complimentary of Werner after the game, but the German coach also told his countryman how he can continue improving his game.
Thomas Tuchel said: “He looked confident today, he took the chance that he got. There were a lot of things made for him and his style of play and it suited him very well. He took the chance and he made his point. He could have scored more. These are the types of performances that strikers need and we need from the strikers. It is a give and take.”
Asked if he had a talk with Werner before the match to try and gee him up,
Thomas Tuchel responded: “Yeah, but it would be a long talk from October [his last league goal] and April. At some point there are no words. You have to help yourself. You sign up for Chelsea or a top club you have to live up to it and accept the pressure that comes with it. You have to help yourself in training and you come on the pitch as a substitute. You have to be ready when the chance comes to be there and this is what he did. But he still needs to learn to adapt through moments like this because he used to play regularly and used to teams built for him and he played for a transition team before. He needs to adapt to the physicality still of the league and it is a process. The process isn’t finished but it was a big step in the right direction.”
Whether or not Werner is given the nod in Tuesday’s crucial Champions League quarter-final second-leg with Real Madrid is another question. Chelsea are trailing 3-1 going into the decisive clash at the Santiago Bernabeu, and Tuchel said after the first-leg that the tie was over. He was asked if his thoughts have changed,
Thomas Tuchel replied: “The question was if it is still alive. I said probably not. The task does not change. It is still a big task and like I said after Madrid, let’s have the response today because it was already too much about goals conceded and lack of concentration and everything that came with these two defeats. Now we have the result and performance and this is good because I am sure that lifts everyone’s spirits, but the task is huge. We are always up for a competition, we are competitive, we will try to win the game and then see what is going on. Everything is still possible in football, but let’s be realistic – it is still Bernabeu and there is still a crowd there and an opponent very different today. But it is the best way to prepare.”
