Timo Werner reaping rewards of Thomas Tuchel link-up to take another step on road to becoming a Chelsea hero
EVEN TIMO WERNER could not miss that one.
And from barely a yard out, the erratic German who has endured the most testing of introductions to English football, took another step along the road to becoming a cult hero at Chelsea.
Luckily for Werner, it is impossible to be offside when the ball comes crashing back off the crossbar and finds you unmarked, with a gaping goal stretching wide before you like a panoramic view of the Grand Canyon.
Bread and butter for almost any striker from pub level up but then Werner is no ordinary striker.
By the time he nodded Chelsea ahead against Real Madrid on 28 minutes he had already been caught offside once which cost him a goal.
It was a similar situation ten days ago, when he got the wrong side of West Ham’s defence just at the wrong time and it cost his team an early lead before they ultimately went onto win.
Just last week, he missed a sitter from two yards by punting the ball straight at Thibaut Courtois when clean through on goal.
Rewind to Fulham away back in January and after coming off the bench, Werner was one-on-one with the keeper but sliced his shot like a duffer on the golf course.
He has looked nervous, shot of confidence and too eager at times to impose himself on the Premier League following his £47million move from Red Bull Leipzig.
Werner has been falling over his own feet at times this season, yet somehow he is bumbling his way into the grain at Stamford Bridge.
The nippy forward who could run county level times for the 100 metres dash at 15 years old, has been in too much of a hurry to become a key component of a new era at Chelsea.
Like a teenager growing too fast, Werner has been falling over his own feet at times this season, yet somehow he is bumbling his way into the grain at Stamford Bridge and repaying the admirable patience of his boss Thomas Tuchel for sticking with him for so long.
Quite how, it is entirely possible that nobody on earth knows because even after his fourth Champions League goal of the season put Chelsea well in command, Werner still raises more questions than he answers.
Last Saturday at home to Fulham, Werner was on occasion a hindrance to his fellow forwards. Off the pace and too hasty when all he needed to do was put his foot on the ball for a second or two.
He did that with a cushioned pass that set up his German team-mate Kai Havertz for the second goal in the second half which secured three Premier League points last weekend.
Tuchel has been determined to keep faith with ‘Turbo’ when most people taking a view from distance have been crying out for him to be as ruthless with his unpredictable forward as he has been with other players.
Tammy Abraham’s continued absence from the squad has prompted intense speculation and understandable questions, because he has been the club’s leading scorer for nearly three months on 12 goals yet has been in deep freeze as far as first team football goes.
Werner’s goal was handed on a plate to him last night but saw him finally draw level with the England striker on a round dozen.
Abraham, a Chelsea academy graduate, cost nothing compared to the near £50m splashed on Werner by Tuchel’s predecessor Frank Lampard last summer.
For somebody who prides himself on being so speedy, it has been a painfully long time waiting for Werner to come good. Particularly when he proclaimed so confidently upon arrival last summer that it would take two or three games maximum to get up to speed with our game.
Tuchel has been proved right again by refusing to give into his instincts and drop Werner to try yet another formula up front for Chelsea, the area which has been the club’s only weak area since he took over in January.
Each time he has been asked about Werner, patient Tuchel has insisted the best thing to do has been nothing.
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He even ordered Werner in from extra training some weeks back because he believed the best way forward was to chill out instead of overcooking his failing striker.
Tuchel’s measured approach taking things slowly must have been alien to Werner because he broke so many records as a youngster in Germany to earn his nickname ‘Turbo Timo’.
But the manager who has transformed Chelsea in just three months since taking over has shown that despite a reputation for being abrasive and volatile with his superiors, he is actually a superb man-manager.
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