Alan Shearer has praised Timo Werner’s strong mentality after an eyebrow-raising performance in Chelsea’s 1-0 win over West Ham on Saturday.
The 25-year-old ended his two-month goal drought with an important winning goal in the first half.
However, his performance in the game might have demonstrated why some Chelsea fans are frustrated with him.
As a forward who likes to roam on the pitch, he has a very good positioning, which is evident in the numbers of chances he has had this season.
Unfortunately, he has often failed to capitalise on it.
His glaring miss in the second half is an example. Even Werner himself admitted that he should have scored that.
Unsurprisingly, Shearer, Micah Richards, and Gary Lineker were left in disbelief after the miss when discussing the game.
“A man of his quality should be putting that in there,” Richards told BBC MOTD.
Having listened to Werner’s cheerful post-match interview, however, Shearer seemed to be impressed by the Chelsea striker’s mindset.
“You know what I like about him, though? I like that he doesn’t seem fazed, he’s not bothered that [how people] highlighted his missed chances this season,” the former England striker explained.
“That doesn’t seem to bother him.
“The secret is you keep getting in there, like he did, and eventually [the goals] will start flowing.”
Chronicle view
While having second-most big chances missed in the Premier League (17 — via Premier League’s official website) clearly doesn’t look good for Werner, he still contributes a lot for the team.
He is the first Chelsea player to be directly involved in 20 goals (11 goals, nine assists) in all competitions this season.
But Chelsea signed him for his goalscoring record, and they will expect him to be their 20, 30-goal striker in the next seasons.
Hopefully, as Shearer pointed out, with his mentality, the goals will start flowing.
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