Pundit criticises Chelsea star for blaming Tuchel’s tactics for his poor form

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ESPN pundit Steve Nicol was not impressed by Timo Werner’s saying he felt more comfortable playing for the Germany national team than Chelsea.

Werner, who has six goals in his last six appearances for the national team, recently said Germany’s style of play “suits him better” than Chelsea’s.

The 26-year-old has lost his regular spot under Thomas Tuchel and has only scored seven goals in all competitions for the Blues.

He still gets to play as a striker, mostly in cup competitions, but Kai Havertz and Romelu Lukaku are both ahead of him in Chelsea’s striking pecking order.

Former Liverpool star Nicol was not happy with Werner’s blaming his poor Chelsea form on the different style of play.

“The fact that he’s saying that he prefers to play with the national team as opposed to Chelsea would suggest in the back of his head, he doesn’t believe he can [replicate his Bundesliga form in the Premier League],” Nicol told ESPN FC about Werner’s admission.

“If he’s not realistic enough what Jan [Fjortoft] said that it’s not because he doesn’t get chances [at Chelsea], it’s because he’s missing them.

“If he’s not realistic enough to understand that, then this guy’s walking around at the end of the day thinking, ‘What’s going on here? It’s not me, it’s them, it’s the manager, it’s this and that’.

“Right now, I would say that the odds are against him to turn it around and [start] doing what he did before he went to Chelsea.”

To be fair to Werner, he is a player who relies a lot on pace, and Chelsea’s patient, possession-based football often does not allow him to make use of his speed.

Unlike Havertz who is comfortable operating in tight spaces or Lukaku who is physically good enough to compete with defenders, the former RB Leipzig man lacks the technical ability to play against teams that sit back.

However, as Nicol pointed out, the Germany international is also not clinical enough to capitalise on a number of counter-attacking chances he has had, which is why he has slipped down in the pecking order in the first place.

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