Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce admitted that his side really struggled to deal with the threat of Chelsea’s Timo Werner on Monday night.
Chelsea secured a 2-0 win at home to Newcastle last night in the Premier League, which is a result that lifted them into the top four.
Werner was involved heavily in the build-up to Olivier Giroud’s opener, plus he ended his own goal drought by scoring the second inside the first half with a close-range finish.
The £170,000-a-week (Spotrac) German operated in a left-sided attacking position and asked numerous questions when driving inside with pace, directness and accuracy.
Bruce acknowledged in his post-match interview that Werner really hurt Newcastle:
“We knew how they would set up, but they caused us problems, with Werner in particular in that inside left position. We found it a bit of a struggle first half,” Bruce said, as quoted by Sky Sports.
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Werner has come under a lot of criticism so far during his first season in a Chelsea shirt, but he’s still contributing in most matches without getting anywhere near the kind of goalscoring form he showed at former club RB Leipzig.
Aged 24, there is plenty of time for him to keep improving and he’s adapting to the Premier League.
Blues manager Thomas Tuchel has used him heavily since his appointment at Stamford Bridge and it looks like he’ll be central to the plans moving forward.
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