‘Werner was working like a dog’ – Chelsea boss Tuchel pleased with ‘relentless’ forward

Timo Werner may have found goals hard to come by in his debut season at Chelsea, but boss Thomas Tuchel is nevertheless delighted to see the forward working non-stop for his club. 

The German’s haul of 12 strikes in all competitions during 2020-21 is significantly down from the 34 he plundered for RB Leipzig during his final season in the Bundesliga. 

According to his compatriot, though, his contribution cannot solely be measured on how many times he has put the ball in the net. 

What was said? 

“In the last week he’s really adapted well to the situations,” Tuchel said of Werner to BBC Sport following Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat of Manchester City in the Premier League.

“The way he works he’s relentless. He really wants it and I am very happy with his performance today.

He added to Sky Sports: “Werner was working like a dog, he was really working hard. He gave them a hard time with his runs.”

Champions League dress rehearsal? 

Chelsea are one of the few sides to have got the better of City this season, beating Pep Guardiola’s men in the FA Cup semi-final to end their quadruple hopes and now in the league, a result which meant the leaders could not clinch the Premier League crown at the Etihad Stadium. 

Hakim Ziyech and Marcos Alonso both hit for the visitors to overturn Raheem Sterling’s opener, leaving Tuchel delighted with their comeback. 

“I think the second half was a fantastic response to the last five minutes of the first half where we almost lost it all,” he said to the BBC. To me it was a clear 0-0 half but suddenly we did one decisive mistake and maybe the match becomes out of reach at half-time.

“With every minute we gained confidence and quality. We got better and better. It was a tough battle and once we got the equaliser we never stopped attacking. [The winning goal] was a huge reward.

“This tells us we can rely on our fitness which is a fantastic feeling at the end of a season. We can also rely on our team spirit, we keep going. This team never stops, they don’t want to lose, they want it that bad.”

The Blues now hope they can record a third consecutive win over City in the upcoming Champions League final, which will be played on May 29.

Further reading