Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has backed Timo Werner to come through his rough spell and did hit out at critics of the Germany international.
Werner’s goal scoring woes further deepened over the international break after he missed a sitter in Germany’s 2-1 defeat to North Macedonia in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday night.
The 24-year-old has struggled since a big money move from RB Leipzig in the summer, scoring just twice in his last 27 appearances in all competitions.
And only recently, the forward came under fierce criticism after his horrendous miss against Igor Angelovski’s men. But, Tuchel has come out and publicly defend his striker.
Tuchel said: “First of all, it was a bad pass from Ilkay Gundogan – that’s how I see it!
“He missed a chance and now everybody is passionate to talk about it, which is a bit annoying. The truth is he did not start three times for Germany, so maybe if he has more minutes, maybe they would have scored more.
“It’s an easy solution to point the finger at Timo, which I cannot fully understand and I will not accept. I am happy that he’s back here, because here he’s protected. We demand a lot from him; we get a lot from him.
“Yes, he is in a moment where he lacks confidence. The ball simply does not work out like it usually works out. But he works hard for us.
Tuchel continued, saying: “He scores for us, he’s doing assists, he’s winning penalties. So if this is the most critical point in your career, you can accept it and say, ‘it’s pretty impressive so far’.
Tuchel reportedly refused to let Timo Werner do extra finishing practice in training on Thursday, insisting that the striker was not in need of such.”Now is the moment not to think about it, not to read about it and not even to train extra. Yesterday I sent him in from training because he wanted to do some finishing.
“I said, ‘you don’t need that. Your body, your brain knows how to score. You did it since you were six years old. So don’t worry, it will come.’
“The best thing to do is to work hard and be fearless.”
Tuchel was named the Premier League Manager of the Month for March following his side’s unbeaten run.
Chelsea will host West Brom on Saturday to continue their pursuit of a top four spot in the League.
