Frank Lebouef felt Timo Werner was keeping his place in the Chelsea team because he has Thomas Tuchel as a manager, speaking on ESPN.
Werner came under fire once again following the Blues recent 1-1 Champions League draw with Real Madrid on Tuesday.
He missed a glorious chance to put his side in front after ten minutes, a moment that encapsulated his Chelsea career so far.
Thankfully, the 25-year-old’s blushes were partly saved by Christian Pulisic, who scored a slalomed goal just moments later.
Unfortunately for Werner, many failed to forget his wasted opportunity and questioned why Tuchel continued to favour him in attack.
Lebouef believed the German forward had been saved by the arrival of his compatriot coach in January.
“I think Werner is very fortunate right now to have Tuchel as a coach, because I’m not sure he would’ve stayed,” said the former Blues defender.
It must be frustrating for natural goal scorers like Tammy Abraham or Olivier Giroud to continuously play second fiddle to their faltering teammate.
However, Lebouef did come to Werner’s aid by highlighting his impact towards the start of the campaign.
“Don’t forget that he had a very good beginning of the season, Werner.
“When (Kai) Havertz was nowhere near it and (Hakim) Ziyech was injured, we were fortunate to have Werner.”
Life in South West London didn’t start too badly for the £45m (Sky Sports) summer signing.
In his first three Champions League games, he scored three times and provided an assist.
His Premier League journey didn’t kick start until match week five, where Werner netted twice against Southampton.
The road has been very rocky since, with only patches of flat surface for him to cruise along.
Tuchel is keeping the faith for now, but how long can his trust last?
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