Timo Werner has not given up
It was Thomas Tuchel who brought Chelsea, and Timo Werner, back down to earth.
Southampton had just been dispatched in ruthless fashion, the Germany forward running riot with his first league goals in over six months as Chelsea equalled a club record of seven successive away victories in all competitions. Their display had been as rampant as it was restorative after recent unanticipated setbacks.
Suddenly, the task of overturning a two-goal deficit against Real Madrid did not feel quite so daunting. Maybe this team can prevail at a baying Bernabeu on Tuesday night to prolong their Champions League defence.
Perhaps there is cause for optimism after all.
“It had all been about the goals we’d conceded and the lack of concentration, and everything that had come from the two defeats (to Brentford and Real), but now we have this result, this performance, and I’m sure it will lift everybody’s spirits,” offered Tuchel. “We needed the response now and not only in Madrid. This is the best way to prepare.
“But let’s be honest — the task is still huge. Everything is possible in football, and we are always very competitive, but let’s also be realistic. It’s still the Bernabeu, still a crowd there, and an opponent who are very different from today.
“And with Timo, he faces a completely new formation and challenge on Tuesday, so it’s very hard to compare. The game there will absolutely not be the same game as today.”
There will be no obliging high line to exploit in Madrid and, most likely, far less hesitancy across Real’s rearguard inviting the striker to scuttle through them in possession. The leaders of La Liga are far too canny for that. But, if nothing else, Werner would still travel to Spain with his confidence pepped by this display, surely? “I’d like to think so, yes,” added the Chelsea head coach through a broad grin before taking his leave. If not now, then never.
For Tuchel, Saturday’s trip to Southampton had been all about re-establishing Chelsea’s poise after those strangely off-colour recent defeats at Stamford Bridge. His had been short-term objectives. He had demanded more discipline, more energy and more commitment to the cause in that team meeting back at Cobham in the aftermath of the Real loss and, with standards duly raised, his team were instantly more recognisable.
The Chelsea head coach will have gleaned encouragement for Tuesday’s trip to Spain from the excellence of Mason Mount and Kai Havertz — players who would have been shaken by just how ineffective the unit had been in the first half against Real — and Mateo Kovacic’s busy, snarling presence in the centre. N’Golo Kante, too, looked far more like his old self.
They pressed and tackled. They hassled and harried. The flurry of goals, all six claimed well before the hour mark, allowed key personnel to be withdrawn and rested over the latter stages. Throw in a defensive performance that rendered Southampton utterly toothless, with all the frailties exploited in the two fixtures immediately after the international window apparently banished, and the collective far more robust, and this had the feel of a perfect all-round response.
In Werner’s case, it was also timely.
So much of the forward’s Chelsea career has been slapstick to date, a calamitous comedy of missed chances or peripheral performances, usually orchestrated from an offside position, since his £47 million arrival from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2020. He has appeared forlorn at times, lost in the clutter flung down by deep-lying opponents or isolated in a side that have not been able to play to his strengths. Yet Tuchel and Southampton, rather too generously, provided him with a stage upon which to revel at St Mary’s, and he reminded all of his true capabilities.
It was still breathlessly chaotic. He had struck both posts and the crossbar — a kind of imperfect hat-trick in keeping with the pantomime — by the time the game edged beyond the half-hour mark, as well as forcing Fraser Forster into one of numerous instinctive saves from point-blank range. Thankfully, by then, he had also claimed his first league goal since the corresponding fixture between these sides back in October, sprinting onto James Ward-Prowse’s misplaced header to scurry away from Jan Bednarek into enemy territory.
There was an age to contemplate the finish, time that might normally have panicked Chelsea’s Werner into indecision, but this was a throwback to his Leipzig days. His touches were slick and assured, the third taking him past Forster. Werner’s shot, from a relatively tight angle, was reassuringly true into a gaping net. The drought had extended to 530 minutes of top-flight football but, against opponents to whom he has taken a liking, was broken.
The Germany assistant manager Danny Rohl, back at the club where he once assisted Ralf Hasenhuttl and watching from up in the directors’ box, would have recognised the composure in the finish from Werner’s performances for the national side. He has tended to look more at home in those surroundings than the Premier League, and admitted as much after scoring for Hansi Flick’s team against Israel in a friendly last month. That was his sixth goal for his country this season. Rohl is travelling to Spain, too, to monitor Chelsea’s German contingent.
“Timo’s attitude is good, always, but he still needs to learn to adapt through moments like this,” said Tuchel. “He used to play regularly and in teams that were built for him. He played for a transition team (in Leipzig) and sometimes we have a lot of ball possession. He needs to adapt, and adapt to the physicality still of the league. It’s still a process and the process is surely not finished, but this was a step in the right direction.
“This was his position. He had the players around him; the connection with Mason, with Kai and Kova. He loves to play with these players. He was the half-left position in a double striker (formation) against an opponent where we imagined we’d find spaces in behind because they’re a high attacking opponent. It was set out for him to deliver and to make a statement that he has not given up, that he is still an important player for this club and for this group. And he did. It was a very strong performance but also very necessary.”
Werner’s second, and Chelsea’s fifth, was tapped into an empty net from Forster’s save immediately after half-time to complete his afternoon’s reward. Southampton were feeble, so some perspective is required, but this was still a fillip.
Had Tuchel needed to take Werner to one side and raise his spirits of late?
“Yes, but that would be a long talk from October until April,” added the head coach. “At some point, there are no more words. When you sign up for Chelsea, you sign up to play for a top club. You have to live up to it. You have to accept the pressure that comes with it and you have to help yourself. That means in training, or when you come on the pitch as a substitute. You have to be ready when the chance comes.”
At Southampton, Werner was. Whether he starts in Madrid remains to be seen but, when his opportunity does come on Tuesday night, he should be sufficiently bolstered to maintain the standards set on the south coast. The same applies to his team as a whole.
The blip is over. The task is still huge. But now for the Bernabeu.
https://theathletic.com/3240193/2022/04/10/timo-werner-has-not-given-up/
Timo Werner has not given up
It was Thomas Tuchel who brought Chelsea, and Timo Werner, back down to earth.
Southampton had just been dispatched in ruthless fashion, the Germany forward running riot with his first league goals in over six months as Chelsea equalled a club record of seven successive away victories in all competitions. Their display had been as rampant as it was restorative after recent unanticipated setbacks.
Suddenly, the task of overturning a two-goal deficit against Real Madrid did not feel quite so daunting. Maybe this team can prevail at a baying Bernabeu on Tuesday night to prolong their Champions League defence.
Perhaps there is cause for optimism after all.
“It had all been about the goals we’d conceded and the lack of concentration, and everything that had come from the two defeats (to Brentford and Real), but now we have this result, this performance, and I’m sure it will lift everybody’s spirits,” offered Tuchel. “We needed the response now and not only in Madrid. This is the best way to prepare.
“But let’s be honest — the task is still huge. Everything is possible in football, and we are always very competitive, but let’s also be realistic. It’s still the Bernabeu, still a crowd there, and an opponent who are very different from today.
“And with Timo, he faces a completely new formation and challenge on Tuesday, so it’s very hard to compare. The game there will absolutely not be the same game as today.”
There will be no obliging high line to exploit in Madrid and, most likely, far less hesitancy across Real’s rearguard inviting the striker to scuttle through them in possession. The leaders of La Liga are far too canny for that. But, if nothing else, Werner would still travel to Spain with his confidence pepped by this display, surely? “I’d like to think so, yes,” added the Chelsea head coach through a broad grin before taking his leave. If not now, then never.
For Tuchel, Saturday’s trip to Southampton had been all about re-establishing Chelsea’s poise after those strangely off-colour recent defeats at Stamford Bridge. His had been short-term objectives. He had demanded more discipline, more energy and more commitment to the cause in that team meeting back at Cobham in the aftermath of the Real loss and, with standards duly raised, his team were instantly more recognisable.
The Chelsea head coach will have gleaned encouragement for Tuesday’s trip to Spain from the excellence of Mason Mount and Kai Havertz — players who would have been shaken by just how ineffective the unit had been in the first half against Real — and Mateo Kovacic’s busy, snarling presence in the centre. N’Golo Kante, too, looked far more like his old self.
They pressed and tackled. They hassled and harried. The flurry of goals, all six claimed well before the hour mark, allowed key personnel to be withdrawn and rested over the latter stages. Throw in a defensive performance that rendered Southampton utterly toothless, with all the frailties exploited in the two fixtures immediately after the international window apparently banished, and the collective far more robust, and this had the feel of a perfect all-round response.
In Werner’s case, it was also timely.
So much of the forward’s Chelsea career has been slapstick to date, a calamitous comedy of missed chances or peripheral performances, usually orchestrated from an offside position, since his £47 million arrival from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2020. He has appeared forlorn at times, lost in the clutter flung down by deep-lying opponents or isolated in a side that have not been able to play to his strengths. Yet Tuchel and Southampton, rather too generously, provided him with a stage upon which to revel at St Mary’s, and he reminded all of his true capabilities.
It was still breathlessly chaotic. He had struck both posts and the crossbar — a kind of imperfect hat-trick in keeping with the pantomime — by the time the game edged beyond the half-hour mark, as well as forcing Fraser Forster into one of numerous instinctive saves from point-blank range. Thankfully, by then, he had also claimed his first league goal since the corresponding fixture between these sides back in October, sprinting onto James Ward-Prowse’s misplaced header to scurry away from Jan Bednarek into enemy territory.
There was an age to contemplate the finish, time that might normally have panicked Chelsea’s Werner into indecision, but this was a throwback to his Leipzig days. His touches were slick and assured, the third taking him past Forster. Werner’s shot, from a relatively tight angle, was reassuringly true into a gaping net. The drought had extended to 530 minutes of top-flight football but, against opponents to whom he has taken a liking, was broken.
The Germany assistant manager Danny Rohl, back at the club where he once assisted Ralf Hasenhuttl and watching from up in the directors’ box, would have recognised the composure in the finish from Werner’s performances for the national side. He has tended to look more at home in those surroundings than the Premier League, and admitted as much after scoring for Hansi Flick’s team against Israel in a friendly last month. That was his sixth goal for his country this season. Rohl is travelling to Spain, too, to monitor Chelsea’s German contingent.
“Timo’s attitude is good, always, but he still needs to learn to adapt through moments like this,” said Tuchel. “He used to play regularly and in teams that were built for him. He played for a transition team (in Leipzig) and sometimes we have a lot of ball possession. He needs to adapt, and adapt to the physicality still of the league. It’s still a process and the process is surely not finished, but this was a step in the right direction.
“This was his position. He had the players around him; the connection with Mason, with Kai and Kova. He loves to play with these players. He was the half-left position in a double striker (formation) against an opponent where we imagined we’d find spaces in behind because they’re a high attacking opponent. It was set out for him to deliver and to make a statement that he has not given up, that he is still an important player for this club and for this group. And he did. It was a very strong performance but also very necessary.”
Werner’s second, and Chelsea’s fifth, was tapped into an empty net from Forster’s save immediately after half-time to complete his afternoon’s reward. Southampton were feeble, so some perspective is required, but this was still a fillip.
Had Tuchel needed to take Werner to one side and raise his spirits of late?
“Yes, but that would be a long talk from October until April,” added the head coach. “At some point, there are no more words. When you sign up for Chelsea, you sign up to play for a top club. You have to live up to it. You have to accept the pressure that comes with it and you have to help yourself. That means in training, or when you come on the pitch as a substitute. You have to be ready when the chance comes.”
At Southampton, Werner was. Whether he starts in Madrid remains to be seen but, when his opportunity does come on Tuesday night, he should be sufficiently bolstered to maintain the standards set on the south coast. The same applies to his team as a whole.
The blip is over. The task is still huge. But now for the Bernabeu.
https://theathletic.com/3240193/2022/04/10/timo-werner-has-not-given-up/
