"Needs confidence and a smile": For Werner Tuchel is the great opportunity

Timo Werner imagined his first year in the Premier League to be very different. At Chelsea, things are not going well for him or for the rest of the team. As the new coach, Thomas Tuchel should now do everything better. This opens up a new opportunity for Werner.

Timo Werner and Chelsea FC, that fits. The club that expects so much from itself, that has the many millions of owner Roman Abramowitsch behind them and the striker, for whom many predict a world career. Actually meant positively. This is currently the case here: the club, which is eleven points behind leaders Manchester City in eighth place, lagging far behind their own self-image and the German national player, who has severe teething problems in the Premier League and just scored four goals in 19 games , nine less than Liverpool FC's Mohamed Salah.

Chelsea FC cost the 24-year-old a 53 million euro transfer fee last summer. According to transfermarkt.de, its market value is 70 million euros. But the great expectations are currently weighing heavily on the shoulders. Werner himself had also expected more: "Last year at the end of the half-series I had 18 goals, now four. Slightly missed the goal," said the ex-Leipzig recently in the Clubhouse app. "I missed too many chances for that and in many games I didn't play the way I wanted." The changes from the Bundesliga to the Premier League are big, but he also said: "Many say that in the Premier League you have the first year to study."

Only half of it has passed, but the criticism has long since been loud. Time to get used to is exactly what you don't have in fast-moving football. The DFB striker has already been dubbed "German Chancentod". "But it is so – not only in England – that you are criticized very quickly if you are a top transfer and do not deliver immediately. But that is the lot of the players in this price range and at this level," said his Leipzig Ex-coach Ralph Hasenhüttl of the "world".

Tuchel praises him – and lets him sit

It is headlines that do not reflect the status in the team, as ex-trainer Frank Lampard had repeatedly defended him, constantly emphasizing the quality Werner has. He'd used it again and again, giving it a new chance in every game. It did little. Lampard has now been fired for failure and Thomas Tuchel follows him as head coach. Could a German have a more positive effect on the German? In any case, he brings a new recipe with him: "He just needs confidence and a smile again," said Tuchel about Werner. "The strikers are sensitive and need a sense of achievement."

Nevertheless, Tuchel's first game against Wolverhampton Wanderers was also the first game in which Werner had to watch this season. At 0-0 he was not used, so there could be no sense of achievement. Tuchel even has a plan with his compatriot: "We need a good position for him so that he can play a little between the left wing and the center forward and we can get him behind the last line there at speed."

"Points will follow"

An idea that should be well received by Hasenhüttl. "Timo needs a lot of space, but that is no longer a secret," he told the "world". "It was already clear to me that it wasn't going to be that easy for him." The 53-year-old, who has been coaching Southampton FC since December 2018, keeps an eye on Werner on the island. He trusts his coaching colleague Tuchel "with a lot" with this squad, which for me is one of the best in the league.

Tuchel himself knows that the title won't be it anymore, at least not this season. "We have to be realistic," he said after his debut after just one training session. But he also noted that "there is no room for disappointment and doubt". And further: "We shouldn't lose focus, but stay with ourselves. And work on the details every day. The points will then follow." Now it's the game against Burnley FC (1 p.m. in the ntv.de live ticker). The table 15. Shouldn't be a hurdle for Tuchel's team, there was a 3-0 win in the first leg – including a goal from Werner. It would be the perfect time for a fresh start – for the club and for their promising striker.