Chelsea had a massive summer transfer window and brought in some high profile new faces to supplement their already capable and talented young squad.

They’ve started well in this campaign. They sit in third place in the Premier League and have already qualified for the knock-out stages of the Champions League.

Although they’ve enjoyed a bright start to the season, there’s room for improvement and they’ll need to see that improvement if they’re genuinely going to challenge for major honours come the season’s end.

The above description of the Chelsea team could also be used to describe new striker Timo Wernermaiden campaign thus far.

The German international has done well in his first few months at the club but there’s scope for him to go onto that next level and become a Mohamed Salah type figure at The Blues. (When I say that I mean the Salah we see at Liverpool not the one that we briefly saw at Stamford Bridge.)

Werner is a player that excites me. He has great work ethic, he’s pacy, has a keen eye for goal, can dribble beyond opponents and has that ability to ghost into space which really unnerves defences. I also adore the fact that he can be as explosive on the left flank as he is when deployed centrally.

So far, Timo has bagged himself eight goals and three assists in a Blue jersey. Four of those goals have come in his nine league starts, that’s a stat that will have to improve. Chelsea will be hoping that they’ve signed a twenty league goals a season forward in Timo Werner!

But we have to remember that the twenty-four year old only joined the club in the summer, this is his first move away from his homeland. So in reality he has done well to get into the team and make an instant impact.

Many people scoffed at Werner’s missed chance against Rennes this midweek. I would suggest people re-watch that miss and properly analyse it.

It came at him at terrific pace, it skidded off the turf three times before it came to him and it arrived just behind the attacker. Now I’ll also state that he did make errors, he opened up his body and leaned back but all in all it wasn’t as bad a miss as people are suggesting.

The best thing to do when you miss those chances, and every striker has those moments, is to understand them and then move on. I am sure it won’t dent Timo’s confidence for too long.

I liked Chelsea boss Frank Lampard’s reaction to that particular chance:

‘The chance today, Timo wants to score that but the ball’s bobbling as it comes along and I know myself that those finishes look a lot easier from afar than they always are.’

‘I think it’s just normal that a player of Timo’s quality and where he is that he’s going to get even better, because he’s a top class player.’

Via The Metro

I also like the stirrings of a partnership we saw forming between Timo and Tammy Abraham against Newcastle United last weekend (BBC Match Report). Werner unselfishly laid Tammy’s goal onto him on a plate. They linked up a few times and Abraham should’ve scored more from the chaos the two provided the Toon defence.

It’s in a bigger games that Werner needs to really excel in. Those outings will be the difference between winning honours and not this season.

Against Liverpool – Nothing. Against Manchester United – Nothing. Against Sevilla – Nothing. Those were games that Chelsea also didn’t win.

Hopefully as Chelsea get firmly into their stride and as Timo becomes even more accustomed to his new surroundings, he’ll show the world that he can really be a difference maker in the games that count!

They’ve got fellow in-form Londoners Tottenham Hotspur arriving at The Bridge this weekend. What better time to really announce yourself in the Premier League than in that powder keg of a fixture!

Posted on November 27th, 2020 by scott
Filed under: Article